God's shadow

For the joy of ear and eye, for the heart and mind's delight, for the mystic harmony, linking sense to sound and sight. Christ our God to you we raise, this our sacrifice of praise. (TIS 137)
Crystal clear frosty morning with one long,  thin band of  deep pink cloud fringed the mountains and the reflection from it shone on the pockets of white snow in the valleys which changed them to a soft marshmallow pink, glistening in the sun like a million clear crystals and I recalled a quote by Gabriela Mistral:   'Beauty......is the shadow of God on the universe.'
How wonderful, O Lord are the works of your hands. What beauty to behold. You have created a divine song in our hearts from what our eye has seen.and your presence  fills the start of our day.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                               Behold the beauty of the shadow of God.

pockets of lights

Lord, the love of your light is shining........shine Jesus shine, fill this land with the Fathers Glory (TIS 675)
As I walk to  the rise of the hill and pause at the top I look back over the valley and across the suburb behind me and see clusters of street lights in the dark of the early morning and  it reminds me again and again of each one of us who carries the light of Christ into our community, often into areas of darkness, of isolation,loneliness  pain, and suffering. As I watch the light of day brighten  and the community  lights dim  I think of how the light of  mornings God encounters  fill us for this new day.

I can think of nothing more appropriate to say than.........let your light shine!
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord..

lift your face to the day star

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14
As I thing of the day that lies before us. I think of the challenges, the peoples paths we will cross; those who will be rejoicing, those who will be mourning, those seeking a shoulder to lean on, those who need encouragement, those who bless and please us, those who need a touch of God's love. Those who need a kind hand to pick them up and set them on the path again.
You know, nothing satisfies me more  early in the morning than to feel that call from God to come and spend some time with him. The quiet of the  morning seeps deep into my being and there it liaises with God taking in peace, hope, love, calm,joy, strength and understanding. Tools for the day, gifts to share and a sense of being sent forth with God's blessing.
Macrina Wiederkher wrote: Lift your face to the day star now, experience the coming of dawn, bathed in morning light, pray that the lantern of your life move gently through this day into all those places where light is needed.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ,
Anne, servant of the Lord

Those who need a helping hand

I see you Lord

And all the peoples behold his glory. Psalm 97:6
Sometimes we feel we are looking into the eye of God. I have a beautiful book called 'A Tree full of Angels' by Macrina Wiederkehr and in one section she talks of a 'meditation pause' quoting Guigo, and it says: Until your heart is touched....
I look in awe at the buds on the prunus tree just getting ready to bust and some have already popped out of their little cocoons of cover, blushing a spot of cheeky pink.
I look in awe at the deep red of the flowering gum blossom, dressed like little ballerinas in tu-tu's.
And I saw them.....a tree full of angels, and my heart was touched and my silent whisper said, ' I see you Lord.'
Look about but just don't look about, look and see the Lord
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

shine your light

The gifts of God for the people of God. (APBA)
Early morning and the dark was  bathed in the soft moonlight from the moon high in the sky, so bright that it cast my shadow onto the footpath and a silver reflection on the dam in the paddock and all the objects  of the landscape, the cattle, the mountains, the trees, the fences,were illuminated so I could see what was there regardless of the dark. The breeze blew across my face, icy but refreshing and there was a mystery occurring because to the east the sun was rising in a brilliant display of pink, orange and gold and between the two was my breath taking prayer as the glory of the Lord shone all around. I didn't quite know which way to look to capture it all.
I reflected on the brightness of the moon which has no light of its own. The light it casts is from the suns reflection, like its bouncing off a mirror.
I reflect on our lives with Jesus, the Son, and wonder at his reflection that shines off us. He is our source of light.
May the light of Christ that reflects in your life, shine on all you meet.
Anne, servant of the Lord

a good measure pressed down

Give, and it will be given to you. A good  measure, pressed down and shaken together, running over, will be put in your lap, for the measure you give will be given back. Luke 6:38
I tried to find a definition of a blessing and it was hard to come up with something I felt met the
feeling but Luke gives it plain and clear in his Gospel. What drew me to blessings this morning was that they were in my heart when I got up. I was thinking they were like boomerangs.You give one  out and it comes back to you and the blessing then becomes yours, as well as theirs. Time and again I have gone into my day and assisted those less fortunate than myself, people who the world passes by, and they are so grateful and often say the time together is a real blessing but I go home feeling blessed by the privilege of having been with them. God can give us a cold wet morning, shrouded in mist, yet the beauty of it takes our breath away and becomes a blessing prayer of 'thank you Lord.'
Blessings are something we don't forget. They are powerful, collected and save in the soul.
May the blessings fall like the rain on you today.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The blessing of a  surprised encounter

Prepared for anything

Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Mark 1:3

I was touched by the early morning,so still, so quiet with a magpie waking the dawn with a note perfect solo and I just sat and engaged.....God and me....a oneness. Its like the whole start of the day is on pause before it lunges into its business and strife.
 As I sat, over and over in my mind roll the words from Psalm 46:
Vocate et videte quomiam ego-somdeus. 'Be still and know that I am God.'
Do you know this is called the war psalm, said before soldiers engaged in battle?
I don't think there is a better way    of entering each new day than to be wrapped up in the love, protection and peace of God, prepared for anything.
Go well into this new day under the protective cover of your God.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

full but hungry

O Lord you light my fire, your face is all I see. (Song of Praise)
 Fresh, cold, snow on the mountains and an icy wind, the intensity of the winter season.
A night sky  full of stars, the deep colour of the rising sun and the softness of the sun set.
 Beauty of creation.
Uniqueness of every bird.
A special friend.
An elderly face.
A needy person.

Ron Lessin said:
Lord keep me full but hungry, Content but needy. Complete but never satisfied.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Behold the beauty of the Lord

in everything there is God

The light of the sun shines down on everything, and everything is filled with the glory of the Lord. Sirach 42:16
I like the word everything, in this passage. Nothing is excluded.
The sulpha crested cockatoos wake from their overnight camp in the eucalyptus trees down by the creek and together in full flight screech their way across the green, long valley towards the mountains  in pursuit of their food for the day. Its a perfect picture as they become part of the breathtaking panoramic view before me, a kaleidoscope of colour backed by the birds chorus and a rising sun.....and everything is filled with the Lord's glory. I was in conversation with an elderly lady  as she told me some of her life's story, a life that is sustained and fed by a God she has loved and depended on, and the look on her face, so full of character, so weathered with age and the experiences of life emanated everything about her   It is a face that tells in every wrinkle and the furrowed brow, experiences of sadness, of joy,of love,of fear,of child, of wife, of mother, of grandmother,of wars,of droughts.  Of life all lived. Its a face that says I have been and I still am, and everything is filled with the glory of the Lord.
Where is God for you today? will he be in the creation? in the sandy beach, the shell you pick up,the mountain, the mist, the flower you stop to smell, the face of a friend, the elderly, the dying?...........can you feel it? Can you see it?
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ,
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Precious water

Come into his presence singing Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord (Scripture in Song)
I woke up to the sound of rain falling on the dry leaves on the garden bed outside my window and my thoughts immediately went to God and how faithful he is. Rain ....life giving water....for us and for the earth and I thought of the life giving streams of water that flow through our lives from the love of Jesus and how we have the  wonderful opportunity, the unique opportunity to flow those streams of life giving water onto others and I found myself humming. 'Come into his presence singing Alleluia, Jesus is Lord. I reflected in my quiet time of the love of Jesus, of his faithfulness and of the people he already knows that we will encounter today and I felt equipped and ready. I also reflected on the saying:Those who sing, pray twice.  Keep singing and we are constantly praying. Keep singing and we are in his presence always. Keep singing!

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

tissue thin spaces.

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and the numberless stars by the breath of his mouth. He gathered waters of the sea as in a water skin. Psalm 33:6-7 (APBA)
What imagery!
I was telling the story of creation using the flannel graph. I laid the blue background for the sky and one by one added the yellow stars. I laid the blue of the sea, adding a wave or two and as I did this I had a real sense of creating. It was one of those 'thin places' experiences. A tissue thin space between earthly and heavenly things, and it was as powerful as when I read the story of creation. My thoughts went to the stars....by the breath of God's mouth....imagine God opening his mouth and a whole stream of stars coming forth and placing themselves in position where they landed.....some clustered like the milky way, some isolated on their own yet ever so bright and I think to myself 'what holds them up there?' My thoughts went to the sea. What contains it? This huge water skin laid down in the base of the ocean before the waters were gathered into it and I imagine the arms of God around a huge mass of water, squeezing it into the water skin, there to be contained.
What a mighty God. No wonder we keep coming back to him for there is nothing that he cant do. There is nothing he cant provide.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Deep peace of the Aaronic blessing

The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24
I see this beautiful passage of scripture come true so many times in a day.
The sulfa crested cockatoos jostling for the food on the bird feeder.The sunrise, the unwrapping of a gift of a new day.A rainbow after rain.A friend willing to listen.
The stranger we encounter.
Blessings....... God's face shining on us.... bringing peace.
Treasure the blessings. They are the face of God.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

rise and shine

O for a heart to praise my God. TIS 568
Some people say 'why do you get up early? Frost on the ground and in the air, a chill that cuts right through you?' and I reply 'well its like this.' The still,  waters on the pond that mirrors every reed and bull rush as if they are growing upside down are just about to be disturbed as the first of the wood ducks emerge from within them. The rising sun clips every blade of frosted grass across the paddock as if I was looking through  a kaleidoscope, lighting them in a million, million clusters of crystal colours, breathtaking! and the drops of dew on the cobwebs that hang from the fence wire show a crafted  brilliance no human  could make and beneath the windowsill of a house I pass the tiny blue wrens are seeking their breakfast from a trapped insect and bolder still is the magpie who sits on the lamppost cherishing the taste of the moth he has acquired for his breakfast and Oh there is so much more to cherish and give thanks for. And I know that if I were to get up a minute later than I do for my morning walk all this would no longer be, it would have passed into activity and business. And you know, there is in each and every thing a prayer, a prayer in the ordinary. And now they come to the tree in front of my window again, the blue wrens, the willy wag tail and the red rump finches. All of this, that is why I get up early.
Mary Oliver writes: Every day I see or I hear something that more or less kills me with delight.....grow wise with such teachings as these, the untrimmable light of the world, the ocean's shine, the prayers that are made out of grass.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

I listen, I see

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. Isaiah 2:3
Several things have caught my eye these past few days.The bright blue of the stately Dutch Iris. The raindrops, clusters of them, on the beautiful Camellia bush, which, by the way is a mass of the most beautifully formed flowers, white, with a blush of pink. The two magpies on the power pole, warbling, singing to each other about the coming day. And the sunset last night that burst, literally burst, from the grey clouds, in a blaze of gold, showering fine dust rays of gold across the mountains, valley and tree tops.
I read this from a poem by Mary Oliver:
It doesn't  have to be the blue iris, it can be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones, just pay attention, then patch a few words together and don't try to make them elaborate, it isn't a contest, but a doorway, into thanks, and a silence in which another doorway may speak.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Field of cobwebbs

voices of hope

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small all things wise and wonderful The Lord God made them all. TIS 135
We only have to go down the channels of time in our minds to fall into step with this lovely old hymn and I don't know about you but I have never doubted God' great love of all he created. As I looked out the window from my office I was filled with wonder and joy at the activity in the  winter naked tree. First a flock of noisy sparrows arrived in a fluster of chatter, then came the red rumped finches full of twittering and business, then arrived the blue wrens,well,  we know about them showing off their colour and upright tails to say nothing of their brood. Then, the beautiful willy-wagtail, alone and doing a solo of his lovely call but the one that really took my breath away was the robin red-breast. Brilliant in colour and just silently sitting on a branch. When they arrive we know that winter is here. We had a lovely prayer in church yesterday which said: God our creator, help us to love all creatures as kin, all animals as partners on earth, all birds as messengers of praise, all tiny beings as expressions of your mysterious design and protect all creatures as voices of hope. (www.seasonsofcreation.com). My tree was certainly filled with messengers of praise and voices of hope  as was my heart.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Put God in all things

Let your loveliness shine on us and bless the work we do. Psalm 90:17
As I enjoyed the encounter with God in my morning walk I was thinking how  people we come in contact with might see the presence of God through us and so see new possibilities in their days. I have a cleaning agency who provides me with a cleaner each week and I was somewhat frustrated that it was a different person each week and I didn't have the chance to get to know one person well but then I thought, perhaps this is a God's 'thing' because I reflect on the different people who have come to my home. They are mostly from  Africa or India and are trying to make a new life with us in our country. Inevitably and in their shyness they start a conversation with me about my home particularly my office and  ask me if I am Christian. 'Indeed I am,' comes my reply and its so lovely to see some of their shyness fade as they recognize a fellow traveler and declare 'so am I'. I may not see them again but we have both reached out and had a God encounter which had changed our day. I thought of the words of Emily Dickinson who sad.' We dwell in possibility.'   Sometimes we need to put God first in all things and as his loveliness shines on us he will bless the work we do.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

New day, new possibilities,.

tincture our lives

Among us and before us Lord you stand. TIS 259
The winter is coming upon us quickly. The temperature has dropped and the morning walks have to step up a notch  and many of our morning greetings are about how cold it is! That's if you live where I live! BUT, Oh the beauty of the Lord. The sun as it rose was a ball of silver.Not red, not 'fiery' but silver, shrouded in fog and I could see the distant horizon through a pocket of fog showing a grey and florescent pink cloud bank of sun touched beauty and I thought on the prayer of the day we heard in worship yesterday and the line that read - 'Tincture our lives with your beauty and fill our potential beauty with your abundant life through Jesus of Nazareth.'  As you go out today see the beauty of the Lord in all things and be O so blessed knowing you are part of that beauty.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

shouts of joy

To behold the beauty of the Lord. Psalm 27:4
Its is so lovely, the autumn and there is a peace about it at times, especially when the fog is in and the air is still. There is a feel about it that's a mystery. A mystery of the beauty of God. The day breaking through the morning mist, naked autumn trees, beautiful in their nakedness, resting and waiting. It takes my breath away in the moment before the 'wow' comes and the 'thank you Lord' arrives.
I like the opening lines of Mary Oliver's poem 'Messenger.' (Paraphrased)
My work is loving the world...... let me keep my mind on what matter......, which is my work and learning to stand still and be astonished. The phoebe, the delphinium, the sheep in the pasture and the pasture. A mouth with which to give shouts of joy, to the moth, the wren, telling them over and over  how it is we live forever.
May there be many 'wow' moments in your days followed by 'thank you Lord'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary beholding your power and glory, because your steadfast love is better than life and  my lips will praise you. Psalm 63:2-3
It is so true that many of the things we see about us actually preach to us. Today the blessings of an early morning fine drizzle of rain cutting through the first rays of sunlight like 'fairy dust,' and holding itself  in tiny rain drops that slide off a leaf and land on the dry earth. The rocky outcrops on the face of the mountains shines like a mirror and the pink and grey galah's sit on a slippery fence post grooming their freshly washed bodies and it seems the earth is crying out in joy and everywhere the glory of the Lord can be seen and I want to race out and tell everyone of the blessings of a faithful God.

Mother Teresa said: (a person) filled with joy preaches without preaching.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Enjoy God always

'.....can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?' John 3:12b
When I glimpsed the autumn tree in passing I found myself going back to look again as something had touched my soul, something put me momentarily on sacred ground. Although a rather insignificant tree the passage of the autumn tones is what touched me. There were green leaves,changing leaves, leaves in full colour and those already seasoned and fallen to the ground. They all spoke to me about life's journey. They spoke to me of the faith journey, of trusting God.They spoke of new life, maturity and dying. They spoke to me of God's glory and they took my breath away and gave me a glimpse of God, a window to God, a flash in a moment in a day that stayed with me as sacred moments do. Enjoy the beauty of the autumn, its so God given.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord