My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
A free afternoon found me
mws
lying in the grass at the park.
Above me a canopy of leaves
offering the gift of cool shade.
I take deep breaths and stay present
while leafhoppers jump around me.
I inhale the scent of freshly cut grass
and hear the unseen blue jay’s call.
Clouds drift above me in a sea of blue sky
as I take in the awe and wonder of nature,
a sanctuary without walls, doors or windows.
I close my eyes in reverence, gratitude, prayer
… and I’m never the same!
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.
Dalai Lama
Without them humanity cannot survive.
This morning I stood surrounded by the scent of sagebrush, listened to the happy songs of robins and meadowlarks, and felt fully alive in the cool morning breeze. For me this is a sacred time of the day, a time of quiet and prayer where words are not spoken. Is there any better way to greet the rising sun and the gift of another day? How can I not smile? And as I headed back to the car I reached down and rubbed sagebrush onto my fingers, taking its fragrance with me along with all the gifts shared with me this morning. It’s these moments that remind me of my humanity, my love and compassion in this wounded and troubled world.
We no longer coordinate our human celebrations with the great liturgies of the heavens… We have silenced too many of those wonderful voices of the universe that spoke to us of the grand mysteries of existence.
Thomas Berry
We are now moving into longer nights and shorter days which means I will be getting out to celebrate the morning sunrise more often. In all honesty I have missed participating and photographing these morning liturgies, listening to voices of the universe and the grand mysteries of existence. So this is a warning that you may see more sunrise photos in the coming weeks.
After prayer and meditation I made a smoothie, fed my soul with inspirational reading, and then journaled. It’s pretty much how I start every day for the past several years. I was scheduled to meet a friend for coffee this morning but she’s not feeling well and had to cancel. Instead I rode the bicycle to Mugs. We have overcast skies, 50 degrees and 100% humidity. Needles to say the ride was invigorating. Dean added her latte art to an Old Town mocha making life just a bit richer for me. I’m back home and laundry is started, which was the only thing on my to-do list. Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!
Most mornings I’m up to see the sun, and that rising of the light moves me very much, and I’m used to thinking and feeling in words, so it sort of just happens. I think one thing is that prayer has become more useful, interesting, fruitful, and … almost involuntary in my life. And when I talk about prayer, I mean really … what Rumi says in that wonderful line, “there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
Mary Oliver
This scene is the predawn light at Pineridge Natural Area from four years ago. It is not the same scene this morning as we have overcast skies and a steady mist. Everything is soaked and we may see 2-3 more days of this. I like this quote by Mary Oliver as it resonates with my life experience of prayer. The wrote prayer of my childhood has been “let go” which in turn has allowed prayer to become what it is in my life. And, like her it has become involuntary in my life. I find prayer of gratitude rising within me throughout my day. And when I am present to a morning sunrise it is almost always a prayer of gratitude. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
I pray to the birds. I pray to the birds because I believe they will carry the messages of my heart upward. I pray to them because I believe in their existence, the way their songs begin and end each day—the invocations and benedictions of Earth. I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen.
Terry Tempest Williams
We’ve had a steady mist all morning and they are predicting heavier rain later this afternoon. It is welcomed moisture and much the same for the next four days. Seems my photographer’s eye has been drawn to clouds and birds the past few weeks. The song birds have put on some wonderful concerts that keep me coming back for more. If I could change one thing in Williams quote it would be the phrase “pray to.” I would like it to say “pray with.” And, I do believe their songs are teaching me to listen! Happy Saturday!
How good it is to pray to God and meditate in the meadows amidst the grass and the trees. When one goes out to the meadows to pray, every blade of grass, every plant and flower enter into his prayers and help him, putting strength and force into his words.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslav
I drove to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area yesterday afternoon to journal but that’s not what happened. Instead I watched and listened. The the air was full of birds and their songs of prayer. And, the grass in the meadow was making music and praying with the wind. I never touched the journal but watched and listened to the concert of songs and whispers of prayers for about 45 minutes. It had to be afternoon prayers.
And today is my youngest sisters 70th birthday. Happy Birthday, Sheree!
The mystic knows that what really matters is the inner connection of the heart in which our heart opens and cries. It is something so simple and yet so easily overlooked. Prayer is a way to be with God.
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
It was 37 degrees and 82% humidity when I rode to coffee life this morning. Needless to say it was also cold coming home but so invigorating. My barista, Winter, made me a lovely heart this morning on my Old Town Mocha, and lets me know I’m loved.
I sit quietly on a rock looking out over the meadow and Dixon Reservoir.
mws
I feel gratitude for this morning sanctuary, this sacred and holy place.
With my journal and pen in hand, I try to express what I am seeing and experiencing.
My sense of hearing is alert to the chatter of the magpies and the songs of robins and meadowlarks.
I feel the gentle but cool breeze that reminds me it’s still early spring.
I’m noticing the color green beginning to dominate in the trees and grasses of the meadow.
I watch the ever changing and beautiful clouds along the eastern horizon
as they add a feeling of mystery to this moment.
Within me is a knowing that what I’m experiencing is an expression of the Divine
and the miracle is that we are here at all.This was inspired by the quote “The miracle is that we are here at all” by Richard Wagamese, Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations
today is the day for us all
Steven Charleston
to celebrate that divine moment again,
to believe together that we are loved, all blessed,
all given grace to breathe the fresh air of a new beginning