My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
tired after a night of wrestling for sleep
mws
I settled into silence, prayer, and meditation
ignoring the cold, I mounted my red steed for
an invigorating bicycle ride to the arboretum
then placed a latte made with love by Allie
on a tabernacle at an east facing window
with beams of sunlight enkindling blank pages
I sought words hidden within a favorite fountain pen
So this morning I needed to take my car in because it was making a noise. I dropped it off then took the bus home. It takes two bus rides and a walk halfway across campus to get home and about 45 minutes. I discovered and appreciate just how easy bicycling really is.
I feel sadness today. Found out my medical insurance did not pay as much as expected so now I owe more. The car is going to cost more than expected. This country, and the world, seems to be bent on hatred and violence, unrest and division, all of which causes finger pointing, blaming, and always perpetuating resentments. Coming to mutual solutions doesn’t seem to be on the horizon. And believing our diversity is our strength rather than a problem doesn’t seem to be part of anyone’s vision.
But on a positive note we have beautiful blue skies and sunshine to bask in. So, once I arrived home, I let nature speak to my soul, as only she can. I sat in the warm sun, which feels almost like being hugged, and ate a refreshing orange. I watched leaves dancing with the wind and excitedly take to the air. I watched a group of Sparrows snatching insects out of the air. I listened to Blue Jays making a racket in the trees. They could be arguing but I doubt they will kill each other. And, I sit with inner silence, my journal, pen and let my breath be my prayer. Thanks for listening if you read this far.
“There comes a time on our mystical journey when prayer embraces all of life. We are always inwardly in a state of prayer….How can one not live a life of prayer when we have so much need, when so much is given?”
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Prayer of the Heart
I know that some viewers of this blog will be tired of all my landscape images that include clouds. I’ve actually been told that. I also know some won’t. But I never get tired of being there, experiencing all of it, taking a few images when I can to share, because we truly are given so much. And, I call it prayer…
You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.
Henry David Thoreau
Things are wet. And, because of that photo opportunities were everywhere. So, I took my camera with me to get the mail yesterday afternoon. And by doing that I stayed present as I’ve learned there is no other life but this. No mail but I did return with a few images that depict our weather condition. Even has a tinge of fall to it.
So I had an enjoyable, serene, quiet time of prayer and meditation this morning. Then a half hour later burst out in profanity at my phone. Shows I am a work in progress. It is a cold, humid, and misty morning. It’s the perfect morning for an Old Town Mocha at Mugs and made by my barista, Emily. Have a wonderful Friday!
If you are depressed you are living in the past.
Lao Tzu
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present.
It’s O’dark thirty or about 5:21 am. I’ve been up since about 3:33 am. After prayer and meditation, I am now sitting at Pineridge Natural Area. Bats quickly and silently feast above me. Smoke sits in low lying areas of the eastern horizon while a pink and blue glow rises above them. A Waning Crescent Moon hangs delicately in the sky. It is quiet and peaceful here. The new washer and dryer arrives today. Finally, clean underwear. May you shine your light brightly just as this moon this morning. I am so grateful to be living in this beautiful present moment.
“Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul and your very flesh shall be a great poem.”
Walt Whitman
And why not? How many of us will or have said I’m an engineer, a doctor, a salesman, a photographer, a Buddhist, a poet. Or worse yet? How many of us are told that we’re a sinner, or stupid, or too short, or worthless, and believed it. Maybe Whitman’s right, we will be a great poem or even prayer or maybe a saint, when we listen to the voice of our own soul.
Every breath is a prayer
Steven Charleston
This is along Weld County Road 15 looking west. The mountains are in the far distance while the clouds give warning of the rain expected to arrive later in the night, which it did. Something positive happens to my spirit when I spend time in these sanctuaries. The chaos of the world does not leave but my internal chaos subsides. I change! And, so I set up my camera and take a few shots, then inhale and exhale breaths of prayer. Grateful!! Happy Monday!