Calling, calling to sit and be.

(Psalm 26:8).O lord, I love the house where you dwell, the place where your glory dwells. ......where the morning mist hovers, almost kissing the earth and the sacred space was calling, calling to sit, to be, to take in some moments with you the creator of it all as the new day was coming to light, waking, singing, full of the bird chorus and waving daffodils.  For the gift of this new day Lord, we give you thanks.

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

                                                       Where the morning mist hovers.
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 The Lord said: 'Come away by yourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.'  Mark 6 :31

The song of the morning rose in joy from within the golden wattle trees as the honey eaters and thornbills shared the feast of golden balls together and its in these treasured moments I feel I am one with creation and I reflect on how 'there is no time like spring, where life's  alive in everything.' as the poet Christina Rossetti would say. As I reflect on the rising of spring from a very cold winter, I feel blessed, blessed by a God who gave us the four seasons to enjoy and to see his handy work in them all: the beauty, the shapes and the  colour and sounds. What a wonderful creator God, what imagination far beyond our thoughts that season after season after season God gives us such joy and blessings. To get the true blessings we need to look and see about us, pause awhile, and be present to what God has created for us. 

May the God of life bless you and keep you today and always.   Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                The beauty of the wattle.

Fluttering and dancing

My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7

  Out in the garden and behold I see a patch of golden daffodils that take my breath away and the words of William Wordsworth came into my mind: ' And then my heart with pleasure fills and dances with the daffodils.'  I look at their long yellow trumpets and skirts of perfect yellow petals and the happy little buds that are yet to turn into flowers and O how they bless me!  And I think about the day ahead and it doesn't matter whether a day is good or bad, what matters is what we do with it, so today Lord, make us grateful for every minute of the day and open our inner eyes to see your love in the beauty around us and especially in the yellow daffodils 'fluttering and dancing in the breeze' 

May the God of life bless you and keep you today and always.       Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                        Golden, yellow daffodils.

Eyes to the right. Eyes to the left.

 O Lord, you light my fire, your face is all I seek and when your eyes are on this child your grace abounds in me. (Christian Song)

On the Camelia bush is  the most beautiful, the most glorious, the most perfectly formed flower of the deepest, deepest red and I sensed God's presence in every petal of its creation and as I turn my face to see its glory there is the most wonderful blessing. As Annie Rennie would say.' It lets the sparks of heaven into our hearts.' 

Look, don't just pass by the beauty about us, and see the face of God, his creation, his beauty - its a true refreshment that lifts our hearts in a troubled world.

May the love of God be always with us.       Anne, servant of the Lord

                                              Glorious things of you are spoken

A taste of heaven.

 Great are the works of the Lord to be pondered by all who delight in them. Psalm 111

I just have to say it again. The perfume filling the air from the flowers in the garden is just heavenly and I can feel the love and presence of their creator all around. I stepped out into the moonlit night before settling down for the evening and the perfume from the flowers was 'a taste of heaven.' Rich, deep perfume rising from the daphne and the violets and I wished I could put that smell onto paper so we can all enjoy God's love this way. O, the night air - its just bursting with fragrance. I read these words from Willkie Au. 'We experience a taste of heaven in moments of profound love, beauty, joy and peace in God's presence - swept away into another world.' and that's how it feels in the garden, 'swept away into another world, a world of love, beauty, joy and peace in God's presence.

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

                                                            'Little violets'

Is it spring?

 There are moments when we glimpse something of the glory of God (Chris Monaghan) 

Is it spring? No, not yet, despite the fact that as I rounded the corner on the garden path there were flowering daffodils - bright, happy yellow, with long trumpets almost heralding in a spring and I can't walk past them without  smiling. I pause and admire. As I approach the front gate  the air is filled with the perfume of spring flowers - God's fragrance, and I know the presence of God is there in the violets, the daphne and the jonquils, and it all smacks of the glory of God. Life is full of rush, of having to 'be' somewhere, of no time to stop, no time to pause.  We all know the lovely 'stilling words' of psalm 46:10. Be still and know that I am God. Without quiet we do not know God. Without stillness we don't have time for God. Without the pauses we don't see the glory of God.

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

                                    

                                            Jonquils in the garden

Their throats full of song.

 Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise God all creatures here below, praise God above , you heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  (Doxology. TIS 768)

What a special blessing it is to feel the oneness of creation, of all that is about you, and see it in the light of God's love.    I thought these thoughts as I watched from my sacred space  a line of  black ants seemingly on a mission, as they crossed back and forth on the garden path and that beautiful first bloom of the daphne bush bursting with perfume, the perfume of God, and the tiny little birds, throats full of song, taking a bath in the bird bath, splashing around, playing, with such delight. To think that we are all a part of the thoughts and creativity of a loving God  who made the ants, the flowers, the birds and yes, you and me, puts me in silent prayer of awe and gratitude and there I stay in the sacred space, still, quiet, feeling the oneness of it all.

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

                                                     Daphne - The perfume of God.

It passed my ear like a soft whisper.

 Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise. (A portion of St Patrick's prayer)

My sacred space had shifted to beautiful Galong Monastery for a few days retreat but was by no means absent of the beauty and creative activity of God that is seen from the sacred space at home, in fact in the quiet and silence of the country side God was ever so present even in the tiniest of the wildflowers in the grass.

Of a morning I ventured outside where the darkness of dawn was ablaze with the glorious fire of a red sunrise and God's  presence was every where across the countryside, and as a  gentle breeze passed my ear it was like a soft whisper saying, ' bless you today as you savour these simple, generous blessings.'

It doesn't matter where we are God is there also because 'to God belongs the east and west and wherever you turn, there is the face of God.' ( The Qur'an Surah2 quote)

As you bless us with light at the suns rising, shine on us now with love.  Anne, servant of the Lord. 

                                                Dawn ablaze with a glorious sunrise.

God has been here.

 All creation come praise the name of the lord. praise his name alone. the glory of god is greater than heaven and earth. psalm 148:13

I was watching from my sacred space, a  spiderweb, hanging on the wire of the fence and shining like a thousand diamonds as the sun just fell on the frost that was embracing it. I thought, what a great God we have who creates so many things of beauty for us to enjoy, even a delicate frosty cobweb! And the  grass was white, O, so white, with thick frost and the air was fresh and clear and I could imagine God, with his paint palate just delighting in giving us that beautiful, cloud free blue sky on this winters morning. Everywhere I look are the fingerprints of God. I read this quote by Rabindranath Tagore: ' Do not say it is morning and dismiss it  with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a newborn child that has no name.' 

May the God of all creation bless you and keep you today and always.   Anne, servant of the Lord.

Frost covered web like a million diamonds.

Turn your sight to the rising sun

 For God alone my soul waits in silence. Psalm 62:1

The quiet and the stillness of the early morning where not a sound is heard and the light of day is just on the horizon, I wait, I wait in the sacred space and its here as day breaks that I see things  emerge in their  shape and colour and get that sense of being one with the creating day. I am always filled with peace and abundant blessings at God's invitation to be a part of this curtain raising on a new day and as I turn my sight to the rising sun so to I turn my sight to God and his blessing on my day ahead. 

 Where have you turned you sight to see God in the morning light?

I see things emerge  in their  shape and colour.