No sweeter sound.

 As we rejoice in the gift of this new day, so may the light of your presence, O God set our hearts on fire with love for you. (APBA Morning Office.)

 There is no sweeter sound at the break of day than that of a Magpie warbling in the silence of dawn - there is something sacred about it.  I see it as their prayer, their song of praise to their creator God for the gift of a new day.

Did you sing to the Lord at day break giving thanks for the gift of this new day?  Was there something sacred about it?

May the peace of Christ fill your life every single day.  Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                And thank you for food.

Dead yet full of new life.

 Beauty from brokenness. TIS 690

There is one particular old tree that has been in my life for over 45 years now. It was beautiful and  I watched it flourish, age and eventually fall down. It was a home for many a bird that nested in its branches and even when it fell it still provided shelter for the birds in the holes of its trunk. It still looked majestic and grand. I read these words: The gnarled old tree lay broken and dead, struck down,  yet in its brokenness is beauty, timeless weathered out beauty....mosses root in its crevices, birds nest in its hollows, a tree dead yet full of new life. Beauty from brokenness - life from death and I reflect on how nothing really dies, it just  lives on in another way, 

May the peace of God fill your life every single day.  Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                Still giving.

Little messages of love.

 Love divine, all love excelling, joy of heaven to earth come down. (Charles Wesley)

Silent in the sacred space I saw a feather, so  colourful, dressed in shades of blue, dancing in the breeze then gently it rested at my feet. Little gifts. Little messages of love and I said a silent prayer: Creator God -you clothe all your creation in beauty - may we also dance in the breeze leaving little gifts, little messages of love where we have been. Amen.

May the peace of God fill your life every single day.  Anne Servant of the Lord.

                                                        Dressed in shades of blue.

Christ in the heart

 Standing before the Grevilia bush had me in awe at how, with some seemingly dead brown branches, the bright, deep red of a flower were a delight...…deep, deep red amidst the brown bush.

'He heard things which cannot be put in words.' 2 Corinthians 12:4

This verse drew me to reflect on what it is that we 'hear in our hearts' and can not put into words. The magnificent scenery in a special place. The reflection on a pond. The peal of a church bell. The chorus of morning birds when all else is asleep. Time and history etched on the face of the elderly. The perfume of the Jasmine. The  quiet spaces. The reaching out of hands for the sacrament. They cause a small voice in our mind to say 'Ahhh' and sense the presence of God that can't be described.

Matthew Henry said: The ground of our hope is Christ in the world but the evidence of our hope is Christ in the heart.

Jehovah, shalom. The Lord is peace.                    Anne, servant of the Lord.

A quiet place - peace and Ahhh, the presence of God.

A soft morning

 Let my prayer stand before you like incense. Psalm 141:3

It was, as the Irish say, a soft morning with a mist hovering over all of the gardens and lawns and down into the little gully beside the house and it did have a 'soft' feel about it. I stood in wonder at the mystery of it filled with  the haunting sound of the Currawongs calling to one another.  They were the first bird call I heard this morning even before I was out of bed. I love this part of the day dressed in silence (except for those Currawongs!) and stillness, before thoughts of the days tasks have an opportunity to crowd my mind. It's a wonderful time to connect with God and lay the day before him. Annie Dillard wrote: 'If I am lucky I might be jogged awake by a bird call. This morning it was the wood duck.' We are lucky to be woken to the quiet mystery of the day that has no sign of the wailing of earthquake victims or war ravaged villages. Is it luck or is it that we are here in this place to hold up the suffering, the frightened, the devastated, in our prayers?

Peace to those who are far off and peace to those who are near.   Anne, servant of the Lord.

PEACE

What do we see.

Even birds and animals have much they could teach you.......all of them know that the Lord's hand made them. Job 12:7-9

I can sit in my sacred space and feel the presence of God all around me. Its like meeting God face to face. Like he is waiting for me there, calling come, look and see I am here.  He is there in the lovely pinks of the fuchsia flowers that always look like they have heads bowed praying,  he is there in the delicate violas dressed in purple, blue and yellow, he is there in the trees offering a haven for the birds and they too hold his presence singing in chorus to their God as day breaks. He is even in the thunder that rumbles around the hills and the aroma of the lavender that's drenched in the recent shower of rain.  I read this poem that says it all: I see his blood upon the rose and in the stars the glory of his eyes. His body gleams amid eternal snows, his tears fall from the skies. I see his face in every flower, the thunder and the singing of the birds........his crown of thorns is twined in every thorn, his cross in every tree. (Joseph Plunkett)

What we see is more than what we see and sometimes we need to sharpen our vision.

May the peace of God fill your lives every single day.   Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                In you I see God your creator.