JOY

These things I have spoken to you so that your joy may be full John 15:1

God is present. God is here. God is with us. God is closer than you think. Where you are there is God also.

All lovely statements of the fact that where ever we are God is! These thoughts passed through my mind from the sacred space and they gave me a great sense of presence and joy, yes joy. A joy that runs deep within and I ask myself just how near is God? As close as the 'voice' of the bird songs; in the rhythm of the great chorus of the cicadas in full voice on hot days leading up to Christmas; in the perfume of the jasmine on the fence and in the colours of the pansies clustered  along the garden edges. There, there is the answer as to how close God is and my heart is full of joy. ' Joy,' says Wayne Brighton, 'merges from the presence of God.'

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

                                                                 A joy and a delight.

Ah, its all like heaven on earth.

How many are your works O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Psalm 104.

 I was gathering my thoughts as I sat in my sacred space, some not ready to harvest yet and others bursting in want of life and in the stillness, in the quiet, the echo of the Storm Bird was the song of the morning.

 How blessed are we I thought, to be able to sit in quiet and stillness in a garden full of God's creation, a space where he has painted a garden of all colours, shapes and sizes and the joy this gives not only to me and passers by but to the bees, the ladybirds, the beetles, the caterpillars, the butterflies and the birds and somehow my presence in that space makes me one with it all. Ah, its all like heaven on earth and I wished I could stay put there forever. I wonder where is your heaven on earth and where is your sacred space for occasional idle time in prayerful thought? Where do you pause with God from the business of life? 

Lord, let your face shine upon us.       Anne, servant of the Lord.

The flowers and the bees.

God's treasures.

 The heavens declare the glory of God: the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

It is so powerful and humbling to be aware of God's presence in our everyday life and catch a glimpse of his work. On one particular occasion I recall being in a rural setting where kangaroos and birds of many varieties were in abundance. As I sat on a granite outcrop at dawn, half way up a hill, I surveyed the panorama of deep blue rugged  Mountains - distant ones snow capped. There were rabbits, almost at my feet and kookaburras laughing ever so loud in the trees above me and God graced me with a briar bush full of blue wrens. I wrote in my note book: Today I have been blessed at the start of the day with a chorus of kookaburras and I have been amongst God's treasures. For me he opened the lid of his treasure chest and let a few come out and I thanked him yet again. Suddenly, in a breath taking response, he gave me a few more - a beautiful blue orchid  among the granite and brier. I thought of our powerful, mighty God who created rugged mountains yet can also create a delicate wild orchid. Little do we realise, sometimes, that the glory and power of he who made the universe lies hidden in a tiny flower.

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

                                                Made by God.

A nest of twigs

 God be in my eyes and in my looking. Sarum Prime 1527.

There is a holiness and a sacredness in those moments when the fading night and rising dawn meet. Its a 'thin ' space and the quietness of those moments are the quietest of all quiet. Sacred, holy, and from my sacred space I listen to the quietness and I just want to be there, in the moment, not seeking to be elsewhere or urged to hurry along and had I not heeded that urge I would have missed the tangle of sticks  in the fork of a branch  of the gumtree, so high up, a hidden nest where a miracle had occurred, where baby birds were born, and their tiny heads were peering over the rim of the nest, mouths open wide in expectation of breakfast.  

May we never miss the ordinary things of life from dawn breaking into day and nests of twigs with baby birds looking expectantly for breakfast.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.  Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                        A nest of twigs.

so glorious, so beautiful, so lovely.

' Singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.' It is to him and about him that we sing. Ephesians 5:19

Is there nothing so glorious, so beautiful, so lovely as the sound and sight  of the magpies warbling in beautiful harmony together breaking the silence of the new day. What a blessing to behold. What joy that puts a smile on my face before I even reach the sacred space to take in the numerous blessings around me. I pause, I listen and I thank God for all his wonderful creation but especially the melodious sound of the magpies warbling at the break of day. J.E.Tada says: 'That joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit.  Be my help, my  strength and my song today.'

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

                                                Sing to the Lord

Transported to heaven.

 My ears have heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Job 42:5

Well I can say that my eyes have seen you, as from my sacred space I see the glory - the absolute glory of the Lord in a green rose bush so covered with roses that its dazzling!  They have  positioned themselves in such a way on the bush that its like a cascade of colour and styles. Some are just buds, others more open and yet others fading from a full flush. It makes me want to sing that lovely hymn, 'Glorious things of thee are spoken.' I venture forward. I touch a rose. I smell a rose, and thank God for the joy and delight it brings me, this glory of his creation. So today, stop and smell the roses and you will be transported into heaven.

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

                                                        Cascading down the bush.

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Oh how good.

All creation praises God. Psalm 148.

From my sacred space in the warming sun of the early morning I notice the glorious roses have arrived to join in the spring parade. They are dressed in skirts of peach, deep yellow. velvety red and soft pink and are full of pockets of perfume. Oh, how good are the delights of spring - Oh, how good is the feel of the suns warmth, the sound of the singing birds, the quiet and the peace.

Ann Renni would say: 'Have you made a list of the things you love? Consider the small wonders and ordinary joys of your life, the holy in the humdrum, God in all things, the blessings of simply being alive each day in a world that offers so much.'

Mane Nobiscum Domine - Remain with us Lord.   Anne, servant of the Lord.

Beautiful skirts.

It doesn't have to be a blue iris.

 O Master let me walk with thee. (TIS 601)

God created, formed and coloured for us to enjoy, not to rush by without even an awareness. To slow down the pace and enjoy more of the moments of creation around us is a true blessing. To walk a garden  path and see the glory it holds on its boarders of flowers, not just to notice them but to see the uniqueness of their creation or walk a bush track dotted with wild flowers and native grasses. To tune ones ears to the call of the birds. The moment is where you capture the beauty, where you have that sense of being blessed, when your heart stirs within you.  The moment is when you see what could have been missed and the moment is when you thank God for what he has revealed. Mary Oliver would say: 'It doesn't have to be a blue iris, it could be a weed on a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch a few words together into thanks.'

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

                                        Blue Iris

The splendour, the magic.

 A Thousand Hallelujahs we magnify your name. You alone deserve the glory, the honour and the praise. (Hymn by Brooke Ligertwood.)

The splendour, the magic, the theatre of spring; exploding buds, glorious colour, and busy bees, a wonder from my sacred space. It's all happening under the umbrella of 'creator God,' a window into his sacred presence.  I read a quote which said 'beauty in creation is harnessed to the heart.' and it is, so much so that it inspires me into prayer and I say, 'Bless us as we respond to your prophetic maxim:' There where you are you will find God.' (A.Remie)

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

                                                    The splendour of spring.

Spring glory

Join with all nature in unspoken witness to your great faithfulness, mercy and love. TIS 154

What is the glory attached to Spring? Need we ask. Just take a look about you. There is the soft fading mist of a warming mornings, tiny pearls of dew drops on the greening grass and new surprises every morning are the blooms in the garden and the blossom decorated trees some holding a carpet of petals all about them and the sky is  vast and blue. This is the glory of spring in the gift of a new day. Blessed are we to have the quiet of a sacred space to just sit, and be, and be loved by God in all that is about us as the morning soft mist rises over his creation.  Let our praise to God be forever and may peace fall like rain on our troubled world.

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

                                                A carpet of blooms