Light and Shadows
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Light and Shadows -
A Feeling of Spring
Sunrise at the Oval A few patches of snow remain on any shaded area where the sun cannot reach. Students are walking on campus and riding the bus with t-shirts and shorts. The blue sky seems bluer. There is only a small patch of ice remaining on the pond. The days are getting longer. This warmer weather this past week is causing a bit of excitement within me. There is a feeling of Spring.
“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” ― Ernest Hemingway
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Use of Solitude
St. Josephs Steeple “In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone.” ― Rollo May
While on a walk last week I ventured into St. Josephs Catholic Church. It was the time of day I like to visit when there few people. There was one man praying the Stations of the Cross, otherwise I had it to myslef. Churches are still a place in our city where I can find a place of quiet. Very little external noise finds it’s way in. I then use these places to sit and journal or meditate or read or all of them. Before going into the church I looked up and noticed the steeple against the sky. That’s one image.
Baptismal Font at St. Josephs Catholic Church Solitude has become an important part of my life. I enjoy it and need it. My condo is a place of solitude, a sanctuary, a way to distance myself from the busyness of the world. Please don’t think I’m a hermit because I need community, to have people actively in my life. I find community with family, friends, coffeehouses, bookstores and libraries and in nature.
I think many people attend church for weekend services and avoid weekdays. I am the opposite. I do not attend a church but spend time in church when most people are working. I go to churches for the quiet and solitude. And, I admit I am also seeking photo opportunities during these times, stirring my creativity and being open to a scene that can appear before me. I noticed the baptismal font and have a second image.
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So Much for the Quiet
St. Josephs Catholic Church As some of you know I look for places to find a bit of quiet, a physical place with little external noise. I can find these in some churches. This past week in search for quiet I went to a local catholic church. The first thing i notice as I walked in was yhe quiet. I could hear every breath I took. This was what I was looking for. After about 10 minutes of this quiet in walked these five ladies who then proceeded to pray the rosary. So much for the quiet.
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Finding a Quiet Place
Church in Omaha How you see life, depends on your perspective, your angle of view, if something makes no sense, look again with new eyes.
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A Way to Escape
Incoming Light “It was a strange feeling going into a church I did not know for a service that I did not really believe in, but once inside I couldn’t help a feeling of warmth and security. Outside there were wars and road accidents and murders, striptease clubs and battered babies and frayed tempers and unhappy marriages and people contemplating suicide and bad jokes, but once in St. Martin’s there was peace. Surely people go to church not to involve themselves in the world’s problems but to escape from them.” ― Michael Palin,
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Listening
Window Light “Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.”
Doug LarsonQuiet time found in an empty church as light beams flow in.
