Look out and about

 For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies, Christ, our God, to you we raise this our sacrifice of praise.  (Hymn TIS 137)

It was a pink and orange  and purple dawn that offered the promise of this new day. A new morning, a sacred time, when all things are made new and, as Annie Rennie would say, 'the world around us is full of small wonders.'  How true is that when I look at the garden that adorns my sacred space that is dressed in magnificent roses of many colours, spotted and stripped petunias, colourful geraniums, cheeky johnny jump-ups peeping their heads through every available garden space and  the beautiful colourful sweet peas are throwing their sweet perfume over it all. The place is filled with the presence of God. Joyce Rupp said:' Even though I know only a tiny portion of who you are God; I love what I do understand and experience of you in my life.'

Look out and about - lift up your hearts - for God is here in this place.  Anne, servant of the Lord. 

                                                                 Sweet Pea.

Pack peaches or grow an orchard.

Psalm16: You will show me the path of life, the fullness of  your presence.

Sometimes the people I walk among in daily life have no hope. They see no purpose in their lives and struggle to exist. I love this thought by John Gardner: When people are serving, life is no longer meaningless. We can see more in our lives than what it seems. It's like this: some people spend their days sorting peaches or cutting out pockets to sew onto pants and they do this all their lives and never feel the exhilarating sense of creativity that comes from within such as growing an orchard or  designing a suit for the pockets. The meaning and the blessings that accompany our life come not from achievement but for what we do for others out of how we live. Gardener goes on to say, if  we are lovers of beauty , then beauty will fill all our days and if we are committed to justice, then justice will drive us ever beyond fatigue. My prayer is that we all see more in our lives than what it seems to be.

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

                                              A bird dose not just build a nest but makes a home.

And he showed his face.

 Come my heart says, seek his face. Your face, Lord, do I seek. Psalm 27:8

Many a time I would take to the walking track, not just to go for a walk but to seek the Lord and it is there surrounded with creation,  that I would ask God to show me his face. On one such walk I laid my request before him and then, right across my path came this most magnificent echidna, shy and nervous, hesitant but trusting as he walked across the path before me. Then, within meters of me, was a mother wallaby grazing, and from her pouch the tiniest face of her joey looked at me with great interest through long dangling legs. God continued to show me his face as he pulled down the shutters on the day over the  stone faced, magnificent mountains before me, lit in awe inspiring colours of the sun set.

I asked the Lord to show me his face and he did.

                                 As you go into this day, ask the Lord of no more, than to show you his face.

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

                                                                   Mother and joey.