God who pursues us

 Surely your goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life. Ps23:6a

Dare we envisage a God who is on the move, who chases us, tracks us, follows us with goodness and loving kindness all the days of our lives? Ah such a comforting remembrance. 

I read this quote written by St Ambrose: The Lord is near to all of us, because he is everywhere. We cannot escape him, nor deceive him, nor lose him. God watches everything, he sees everything, he is close to each of us as he sys: 'I am a God close at hand.' and that makes me wonder why is it that at times like we are living in now some are so fearful. The God we envisage who is on the move, keeping pace with us, following us with all the goodness and kindness of his heart  will be there for us and with us always.

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

 In good times and barren times God is on the path with us.

and love, joy, hope like flowers

 The tide of time shall never, his covenant remove; his name shall stand forever, that name to us is love. TIS 275

As I look out the window at a wet day my surrounds are like living in a park. Lush green grass and everywhere in the garden flowers are springing up all over the place. Flowers in all their beauty and glory - Roses, Sweet Peas, Grandmother's Bonnets, Forget-me-nots sprinkling around like confetti , Azalais, Dutch Iris, none dressed the same, all showering us with their beauty and all washed afresh with streams of rain drops,  and the Pee Wees, bless them,  are  scratching the wet earth for worms to feed their family. Its a joyful and peaceful scene and  I get a sense that despite the crisis in our world there is hope and that hope shone when I found myself singing the words of a hymn; He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth and love, joy, hope like flowers spring in his path to birth. (TIS 275)

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                  Grandmothers bonnet's and sprinkling of forget-me- nots

Here they are.

 Is anything to wonderful for the Lord? Gen 18 : 14

I wonder sometimes why it is I hardly  see a butterfly. I was pondering this while I was out walking and then, almost unbelievably a mass of white, a mass of hundreds of white things were flying through the air and they were butterflies. They flew towards me and past me and I found myself stationary and in awe and saying, 'what just happened then.'  I had never seen anything like it. I think God was listening to my ponderings and with a chuckle said to himself, 'I will show you butterflies!'  Ann Levin wrote: 'You  do not have to look for anything, just look. You do not have to listen for specific sounds, just listen. You do not have to accomplish anything, just be. And in the looking, and the listening and the being, find me, (God.)

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                                  And one took a rest

The mystery of God

 Is anything too wonderful for the Lord. Gen.18:14

God is so clever, his skills and abilities are far beyond our understanding. He is the God of unexpected surprises in what he lays out before us for our joy, our  wonder. He is mystery, he is clever, he is skilled, beyond our understanding or comprehension, a God of unexpected delights and I saw all of  that in the small Pee Wee  birds( Mud Larks) who have toiled  to build their mud nest, their home. How is it that those tiny beaks can carry mud to and forth for days and mix it with some dry grass and 'glue' it somehow to a branch that despite torrential rain, and high winds, it holds firm. Only God can  make that possible and its a joy and delight to observe. It is sacred.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                    Home sweet home.

A grain of sand, a wild flower, a rose

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so  that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

For days I have been watching the rose bushes gather more and more buds and some are ready to burst into glory but then I saw one had escaped its tight cocoon and there it was, the first rose of summer dressed in its layers of colourful skirts, glorious in its beauty and literally smiling at its achievement. (How did that beautiful flower fit in that tiny bud?) I could not resist the pause to smell the flower  and I was blessed with a burst of rose perfume. William Blake said: I see the world in a grain of sand and  heaven in a wildflower. And Tertullian said: If I give you a rose you won't doubt God anymore.

Go find that first rose of the summer, created and blessed by God just for you to enjoy.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                                Dressed in their skirts.

What is your mantra?

This is my story, this is my song, praising my saviour all the day long. (Blessed Assurance.) Although born blind Fanny Crosby could still write beautiful hymns.

Don't let anything steal your joy! That's almost a mantra for me. There is so much good around us, there is so much beauty around us, there is so much love about us. Yes, and there is so much pain and  suffering yet, with God our joy can be complete. I mean, look about you - have you ever seen the earth so alive as in this spring? I look at the gardens, beautiful flowers all dressed in their best, each one a meditation in itself, and the green paddocks and those yellow with canola  and I just want to sing: Glorious things of thee are spoken. And 'the  birds are singing, throwing into the air praises.' (Mary Oliver) 

I like what St Benedict says:  Am I  fully alive - alive in my senses? Am I living with open ears and eyes?

Peace to those who are near and peace to those who are far off.

Anne, servant of the Lord

.            Green paddocks and yellow canola and the Lord is our shepherd.

 

Coincidence or God's grace

 The Glory of the Lord fills the temple. Ezekiel 43:5

It was a very dark overcast day, pouring with rain and as I sat in the service at the nursing home looking out the window. I could see the rain drops falling on the leaves of the tree and as they fell they ran down the seam of the leaf and fell with life giving droplets on the garden below and the words of the celebrant came to my ears .- 'May the Glory of the Lord shine upon us all' and at that exact moment the sun broke through the clouds and the room was bright with its rays and the world outside turned to a bright, deep yellow before the sun went again behind a cloud. It drew everyone who saw it to proclaim the presence of the Lord,. God's Grace or a coincidence? 

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.

Anne, savant of the Lord

The glory of the Lord.

Onward and onward.

 Peace I leave  with you; my peace I give you. John 14 :27

Sometimes I wonder about the people that are around me out in community. Who are they? What is their life like in todays world and do they have God in their lives? I was standing in a que outside a shop, socially distanced of course, just pondering these things and looking at the beautiful  pale blue wisteria climbing over a large trellis, its perfume filling the air. Politicians were gathered in a group each voicing their own views and ideas and from somewhere, I don't know where, I could hear gentle upbeat music and was astounded to hear it was playing Onward Christian Soldiers. I thought, no, it must be another song using the same tune but as it continued I turned around the the man standing behind me who was humming the tune and then I heard the person behind him also humming and I realised  how much the presence of God is around and about us in our community and I started to hum also. We made quite a choir as we stood there on sacred ground. And yes, it was Onward Christian Soldiers followed by When The  Saints Go Marching In, yet I still couldn't see where it was coming from!

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                            Peace in a rocky world.

Live with intention

 Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Philippians 4:4

I love what God does. This morning he brought two King Parrots  to my home and they were like visitors just spending time with me, sitting on the fence, watching, happy and content with their visit,  They stayed awhile, as visitors do, before flying off in song to scatter joy at some other  home or place. George Bernard Shaw wrote: Life isn't meant to be easy, my child: but take courage - it can be delightful.

Peace to those who are far off and peace to those who are near.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                                        Welcome.