From the heart of Jesus

Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name. Matthew 6:9
There is no way of telling what each day will bring and in such troubled times as we are in now with a world pandemic and a record of this year being one unimaginable catastrophe after another our days and lives can change at the blink of an eye.  So how do we pray? I seem to recall this question being asked by the apostles when they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. he then gave them words - he taught them the Lord's prayer, a prayer that meets our daily needs and one that assures us that God is with us. Imagine this: Every time we say the 'Our Father,' God looks at his hands where our names are etched. 'See I have inscribed you on the palm of my hands (Isaiah 49:16). What a beautiful image. What an expression of the love that God has for us all. One of the most encompassing, personal yet universal prayers we can ever have and it was given  to us, word by word from the mouth and heart of  Jesus himself. They are his words, he made them up just for you and for me and for generations past and future. May we never say, 'Lord I don't know how to pray.'
May the  Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

(Israel) All along the wall in every language are the words of the Lord's prayer.

Waters of life

Rivers of living water will flow from his heart John 7:37-39
In the  softness of the dawn, the stillness as the new day starts to arrive, the morning song of the birds who sing to greet this new day - that is my morning prayer. I watch as the birds so enjoy the water in the bird bath, splashing it all over and under their feathers, singing with joy and shaking droplets of water into the air that fall on the garden flowers and I think of the water of life - Christ himself, the fountain of blessings, the living water. Our world is so inflicted with pain of the  suffering of the sick and dying and the fearful yet we can see the faithfulness of God, our God in the daily softness of the coming dawn of each day. May we never lose sight of the morning song of the birds and the faithfulness of God.
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Splashing water all over and under their feathers.

Soaring in the heights

Fear not, for I am with you always. Isaiah 41:10
I recall when I lived in the outback the great strength, power and size of the wedge tail eagles.The sheer magnitude of them.  Their ability to be able to take off graciously and soar in the heights, hovering and gliding, master of all they survey. It was a sight that left me in awe and wonder at our creator but it also brought to mind the image of a God, strong, powerful, gracious, gliding, soaring and hovering over us all. A great and mighty protector. Of whom (or what) shall I fear?
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Surveying everything.

A presence recognised

'.......And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?' Isaiah 53:1
'Sometimes experiencing God is overwhelming.'

Grace and Peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord

The Glory of the Lord

It wont crack or crumble

Show me the faithful love of the Lord. 1 Samuel 20:14
On Christ the solid rock I stand all other soil is sinking sand.(Edward Mote)  I love the power and determination of the words of that hymn:  Somehow, in the situation in our lives today,however that may be for you, there is power, assurance, peace and defiance in those words. That solid rock of Christ will never crack or crumble or fall. Put your footing on it -  Stand tall on it and proclaim God's faithful  love.

Lord, open to us today the sea of your love - the ineffable sea of your love.

May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Sea of Galilee 

gather fuel

Please accept my gifts that I brought you. Genesis 33:11
There are daily things that we gather into our hearts like the sight of a soaring eagle or bird song, or the tiny coloured feather lying on the ground. the smile of a stranger, a glorious sunrise and the sweet perfume that lingers as I plucked a wild violet on my walk   Things like people are never the same. 'Why do you watch a sunset daily?' the young man asked the monk on Patmos and the monk replied. 'I am gathering fuel, I am collecting material so that tonight when I pray I shall discover the presence of God in my own heart.' (anon)
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne,servant of the Lord

a soaring eagle - thank you God

Walking paths

This way, his way, is perfect. Psalm 18:30
Walking paths all hold many mysteries regardless of  where the path is. Perhaps its a bush track filled with the smell of the eucalyptus trees and dry tinder undergrowth with tiny pink orchids peeping out from near a twist of dry bark or a mossy rock. Perhaps its in a pine forest with the deep smell of the sap of pine trees, a carpet of fallen needles and clusters of different shape and sized pine cones eagerly gathering a few for a dried arrangement when I get back home or perhaps its on the edge of a field where the ground is hard and stony yet a tiny blue wildflower is flourishing and the 'shimmer grass' is shaking itself in the gentle breeze. Perhaps its in suburbia on a concrete path with the beauty seen in passing gardens, autumn trees or pink blossoms, and  others travelling the same way. There are many signs from God along lifes path. His word, his church, wonders of nature, godly parents and loved ones, joys and sorrows. Its what we see and observe on the way that enriches and encourages us, that fills us especially when our way, our path is following God.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

treasures on the way.

Breath in the morning

Every day I will bless you and praise your name for ever and ever. Psalm 145:2
How lovely it is to watch the night give way to the morning light - a new day. In the stillness and  quiet I want to open the door and let it fill my home. Slowly across the landscape it is a creeping light that engulfs the remaining shallow dark. The evening star is tucked away, the moon has gone to another place and the sun is about to show its rising glory.  Creations shadows  take form and the birds begin to sing and my heart begins to sing for God has blessed us with a new day - another new day. Every day is a gift regardless of our situation. Embrace it and hold it  for it is life.
Rabindranath Tagore said: Do not say, 'Its is morning' and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a new born child that has no name.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Creations shadows take form

Love embedded in life

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. (New Harvest 173)
The crispness and depth of beauty of the morning frost carpeted the ground in white and hung from the dew drops on the wire fence like tiny crystal balls. There is a stillness. There is quiet and its as if the day has frozen just so I can enjoy it a bit longer and it  'smacked' of those beautiful words from Psalm 46:10 'Be still and know that I am God.'  We are living in a changing,troubled and anxious time where for some, fear is very real but the one thing that never changes is God and his love for us.Steven Foster wrote, The unchanging spirit, that indescribable force of love,  is like a flower rising up from the secrecy of a small seed. One spirit, one heart, but only those who make peace with change will see it.
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Stillness and peace

The light that brings change

A little child shall lead them. Isaiah 11:6
One, two, three red and yellow leaves are all that remain on the trees before  the last of the autumn splendor is gone. What a magnificent display of colour those  trees have given so many, they brought so much joy and delight to their onlookers and given themselves a wealth of food stored in their roots for the new life in  spring. A Sunday school teacher asked her class why the leaves change colour  and a small boy said such a profound thing. He said: 'I guess they are like us, they need light to change them, like Jesus brings his light to us and we are changed.' How special it is when we can take nature and all it has to offer, into the spiritual realm  and see God in it.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

What joy, what delight.

It may not be what it seems.

Open my eyes Lord, that I may behold. Psalm 119:18
Sometimes something can take our attention and hold it in mystery for it means more than it is. I am thinking of the large wooden cross behind the glass sanctuary at church, wet from recent rain but all along its cross beam was a row of rain drops, so visibly, so prominent, so beautifully formed. It seemed to hold a greater meaning than just raindrops on a piece of wood and its like an image I treasure from a fellow deacon that is a play on light in the sanctuary of his church, but is it? its so like the dove of the Holy Spirit.. When you open your eyes what do you see that appears to be just something ordinary but bring God into it and what a God moment, what a blessing.
May the Peace of the Lord himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Just a play on light?

Your name and mine

See, I have engraved you on the palm of my hands. Isaiah 49:16
Fear is something that can come into our lives and steal our joy but in reality with God by our side we have nothing to fear. I recall being out and about in the community when I was given a message to call a person when I had a minute. With nothing to write on I drew my pen from my pocket and wrote the persons name on the palm of my hand. I don't think I will ever forget the feeling I had as I penned the words of the name on my hand. Imagine for a moment God opening his fisted hand and sees your name. Push fear away, God has got us in the palm of his hand.
May the Lord of peace himself  give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Be at peace

Day by day

Show kindness and mercy to one another.  Zechariah 7:9

The beautiful flower was almost begging me to take hold of it and share it with someone, to give someone joy. As it was, I was on my way to visit an elderly lady who has no family and no visitors,  I  did just that. Picking it with God's love in my heart.

I love the prayer by Richard Bishop of Chichester ( 1197-1253)

Day by day,dear Lord, of thee three things I pray; to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly,follow thee more nearly, day by day.

In a troubled world where even our neighbour can be so alone may our light of Christ shine.

Anne, servant of the Lord

A Camellia's love

love changes everything

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: love your neighbour as yourself. Mark 12:30-31
Beauty is to behold and how it shines in nature and creation and how it opens our eyes to see more than what it is. Everything, every creation is made by God in the image of God. We can look at a flower, say a tough stemmed,  rough leaf and candle like flower of a bottle brush and think how beautiful, how 'neat,' how unique a flower is that and walk away or we can look at it and not only see its uniqueness,and its beauty but also its creator. Translate that into all things, including loving your neighbour (regardless of colour or race) and in doing that we all have the ability to love and include as Jesus did and as Jesus asks us to do and one by one we can change peoples lives including our own.
May the Lord of  Peace give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Made by God

All for Jesus

Lay hold of those words that enable us to truly live life. Proverbs 4:4
The small boy who was visiting his grandmother was looking all over her lounge room as if searching for something. His grandmother asked what it was he was looking for and he said. 'I know God lives with you and I am just trying to find him.'  When my grandson was looking for God I took him to the garden and there we found God in the bell shaped flower of the Lilly and the bud and bloom of the roses and the perfume of the violets and the wonderful creation of a praying mantis and I said to him, 'whenever you see all these lovely things you see God,'  and as we went for our walk we were singing 'All things bright and beautiful the Lord God made them all.'  How lovely, how precious,how heart warming is the thought that what we are and what we do before our children and grandchildren will have an impact on our great-grandchildren who we may never know.
Let the light of Christ shine through your life.
Anne, servant of the Lord

What a creator God.

Moments of love

For in him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28
Can you see the deep life within life? Sometimes experiencing God is overwhelming. We can look at a cobweb in the wire the fence covered in frost, its beauty, its work of art outstanding or we can look at a mother bird feeding its baby with love and that can take our breath away in wonder  but sometimes we can have a 'God' experience that is overwhelming like when I was whale spotting with my family off the coast of Queensland and the boat was right in the middle of a pod of about 6 wales. It was when one breached right before our eyes at the front of the boat that our wonder turned to words of 'Oh my God, my God, my God' The gift of the whales was too enormous to take in  silently. (Paula D'arcy).  I had been taken in by God's nature and love.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The wonder of God.

Prayers from the garden.

You also join in helping us by your prayers. 2 Corinthians 1:11

The  Fuchsias  in the garden were blowing gently in the breeze as if in a dance. Some are miniature bushes with dainty flowers and some are larger bushes with larger flowers and they are 'dressed' like miniature ballerinas in colourful tutus. But what I find is the flowers always have their heads down as if in an attitude of prayer and they remind me often to pray. Prayer can be under valued but O how prayer changes things. I recall a story of a small boy who was struggling with his homework and began crying loudly. His Father came and asked him to stop crying because that wont help. 'Yes it did,' he said, 'It brought you.'

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

Let us pray.

God's song.

May God's song over your life drown out every lesser voice. (Paraphrased Zephaniah 3:17 a call to rejoice)
 I looked at the thick fog of the dark morning dawn as the mysteries of the day were revealed: bare branches of a fallen tree punched holes in the fog and a magpie, on its lonely branch sang in the coming of the  new day and all else is blotted out. But there, beneath my window, the fog hidden honey eater is among the branches of the flowering Gravilia - I know he is there for the branches are joyfully bouncing up and down as he gathers the nectar. Even in the fog, there is beauty and a sense of the hidden yet to be revealed. Sometimes we can only see partly through its  darkness. It is so important, as I once read, to remember that darkness, in fact, is the beginning of light.
Be watchful and thankful today, Jesus is with you.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Sing through the fog little magpie.

coloured feathers

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us. Selah. Psalm 66:1
I have heard it said that in the dark times will there also be singing? Yes there will be singing, about the dark times and, I say, can you see God's glory shinning in the dark times and I say yes, you can see God's glory shinning in the dark times and it revealed itself just yesterday when I was putting a lovely coloured feather from a Crimson Rosella into one of the journals for a grandchild and I wrote: the colours of this feather are just so beautiful but you need to take it out into the light to see its true colours. God's glory is still revealed in this dark world. it shines through you and me in acts of kindness and care and in the colours of the feather but the true light can only be seen through the light of Christ, that burns within us.

beautiful in the light

surprise me Lord.

You are called to freedom, brothers and sisters.  Galatians 5:13
Regardless of how the world is, regardless of how our lives are and our every day situations, the sun will always rise. Some days it might be dimmed and other days it can be a magnificent - one almighty 'hello' from God expressed in red and orange and blue. Its like God is saying, 'fear not, here I am yet again, right here with you.' How can one not be taken by surprise and drawn into wonder but such a sight, such a message. I read this saying by Frederick Buechner. Lord, catch me off guard today. Surprise me with some moment of beauty or pain so at least for the moment I may be startled into seeing that you are here in all your splendour, always and everywhere, barely hidden,beneath, beyond, within this life I breathe.
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Polish your light

What God said to Moses he said to you. 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Exodus 33:14
When I have walked early in the pre dawn light  I always loved to look across the fields to the mountains still shrouded in night and here and there dotted  in the valleys and nooks  were lights. Lights from peoples homes, bright, shinning, evident in the dark and I would go on my way humming the song from Sunday School deeply embedded in my spirit - 'This little light of mine, I'm going to make it shine, make it shine, make it shine - in this world of darkness so we must shine, you in your small corner and I in mine.'  Somehow that song has raised its head a lot lately  and it comes with a challenge, the challenge of working out a shining light in this worlds darkness. So many people  sit in pockets of darkness, not pockets of light.  Now more than ever is the time to polish the light, get it shining, get it visible and get it known. Mother Teresa said: We are not just in this world to exist. We are not just passing through. Each of us was given the ability to do something wonderful.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Shine a light in the darkness

.

Its there but you cant see it.

I will never leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5
In the darkness its always hard to find something unless you know exactly where it is. You can't see it yet you know its there. It's like the sands in the deep ocean floor that you know are there but you can't see them. The stars in the day sky. - they are still there but you cant see them. The sun behind the dark storm clouds - it's there, but you can't see it. The baby bird in its egg shell - its there but you can't see it. In the flower in the bulb -its there but you can't see it either. So to with God. It doesn't matter how hidden we might feel he is, he is still there. In dark days, in storms, in troubled times or when we close our eyes to sleep  he is still there with us and all we need to know is we only have to reach out our hand and he will hold it.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The flower in the bulb

Oh, tell me about it.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.  Mat 6:19
The seed pods of last years flowers, held over in a paper bag are brown and shriveling and I thought to myself if I don't plant those seeds they will die. They will never grow, they will never blossom, its time to get them out and scatter them. Now there's a parable in daily life. Its like all the treasure of faith that we hold in ourselves. Keep it within and it will die. Scatter it about, share it and it will grow and blossom. Its like the beautiful cup and saucer in the china cabinet that was given to me when I was 10 as a thank you for helping with Sunday School Classes. There it has sat all those years, never taken out, never used, never shared. Indeed treasured but only in my heart and next time I have a visitor I will get it out, and it  can use  and a conversation will start something like: What a nice cup and saucer,  where did that come from?' Oh,' I would say,' that came from a gift from the church.' Oh, tell me about it.' and before long you are on a conversation journey about faith.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Don't keep treasures only in your heart.

Keep our spirit fresh

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. (New Harvest 173)
A field of grass with its seed laden tops can move me as deeply as a vibrant coloured  rainbow arcing the sky or a tiny delicate orchid sheltering near a rock to say nothing of looking into the eyes of a beloved pet or catching the flight of a massive eagle soaring gracefully in the sky.They are all things that bring on a pause and momentarily take your breath away yet leave you with something, a something that is thoughtful,lingering, a 'deeper real,' and its warm and fuzzy and I call that a blessings and its a blessing that lingers. That I say, can only be of God and may he keep our spirit fresh and focused.

They bring on a pause

Gems of our faith

The King of love my shepherd is. (TIS 145)
More and more we look to a source of comfort and grounding in troubled times and the words of this beautiful hymn have been a great source of comfort. So much of the words of the Christian life journey hold  comfort and deep peace, gems of our faith, the very words that keep us walking side by side with Jesus through the ups and downs of life. They are words with a warmth and give us a  sense of being cared for,  held, brought back, saved,loved, hugged. Picture this thought; you can't see Jesus but he is right now beside you, gentle yet strong,his staff and rod in his hand.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Words of the Christian  journey

Spirit of the living God.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. Matt 5:8
We really know so little about God and all his creation but I do know that his Spirit moves through it all, not just us. Experiences in life bring the 'thin space' between God and us and creation into a oneness and creation connects with us in a deep, spiritual way if we are looking to see. On the Victorian Police Face Book Page is a story by a lady who had to drive down the highway past the site of that dreadful accident where four police officers lost their lives. She was anxious and nervous and as she came to the place of where the accident had been four beautiful large white butterflies flew gracefully in front of her windows shield as if in slow motion and after a few moments they flew off.   Was it something special? Was it something to do with God?  Oh yes! Indeed it is because the Blue Wren tells me so.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

The Lord God made them(us) all.

Be thou my vision.

But their eyes were kept from recognising him. Luke 24:16
Walking is always something I have loved doing when ever possible Early morning walks or early evening all bring revelation, recognition, awareness and pleasure  and yesterday while out I paused under an oak tree to look at the fungi growing in the grass. At first glance I thought mushrooms then a closer look revealed they were toadstools. These are 'fake' mushrooms, I thought, and some people don't recognise that which can often lead to death. For many around Jerusalem the rumor of the resurrection of Jesus must have seemed like 'fake' news. Its a scam some would say, should we believe it or not, but the true believers, though stunned and shocked came to see the reality as flashbacks from their journey with Jesus and his parting words suddenly started to make sense.
 Jesus resurrection is no 'fake' news, its no scam. Fake news and scams  rip us off, there is no good ending in them. Reality, the reality of the resurrection of Jesus the Christ is real news, good news and its what will bring us home.

Fake or real?

simple yet profound

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder. (TIS 155)
Sometimes something simple yet profound will remain with us always.I found a note scribbled on a piece of paper in a second hand book I picked up in a book shop and it simply said:'God is everywhere and he is with you now.' On another occasion I found a note on my desk in the chapel of the nursing home where I was chaplain and it came from a lady whose husband was dying, it said: 'Rev'd Anne, can you smell God? I came in here today and the chapel was filled with a wonderful perfume yet there were no flowers.' And every time I open my prayer book I see a picture scribbled on a small piece of green paper and the words Michelle aged 7. This was passed to me during a church service  by a very shy child sitting in front of me and it felt like I had been given a treasure, so special that 26 years later it still holds a place in my prayer book. Mary Oliver wrote: Every day I'm still looking for God and I'm still finding him everywhere - in the dust, in the flower beds - and I want to add in the unexpected note in a tattered second hand book, and in the chapel and a child's picture.
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times, in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

simple yet profound

Dance, dance wherever you may be.

For in him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28
Something, anything in life that comes out of the ordinary can throw us off course. What was, is no longer. What  can be or will be  now holds a question mark. But, today, now, this new day is life, this  is how it is, however it is shaped. Stillness and quiet say to us: Look and see. Touch and feel. Bend and smell.   Awareness and appreciation come in stillness and quiet and suddenly we start to see things we have just walked by before. Yesterday I didn't just notice that the autumn leaves were on the  ground but I stood still, under the tree and watched them fall, floating gently, quietly, softly, dancing in the breeze all over and all around me and I suddenly had an impulse to giggle because I thought I heard that coming in the joy of the ride of the leaves from the tree to the ground. Lost in the moment we shared the joy together. Would I have noticed or enjoyed that a few months ago when life was busy and at a hair raising pace? Maybe, maybe not.
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Don't blink and you actually 'see' the leaf!

What do you bring home?

How lonely  sits the city that once was full of people. Lamentations 1:1
For this season in time we are experiencing empty and lonely cities, towns, villages and homes but how are we coping with that? Daily life is very different but so many doors can open  for us. Doors of peace and stillness as we slow down from a 'running pace of life' to reflection and awareness. At the close of my day I like to go for a  long walk and find something to bring home. It may be a tiny colourful bird feather that I will place in a grandchild's journal and share with him or her its incredible creation and creator and yesterday I had so much joy from a beautiful coloured flower growing like a bramble beneath a very old eucalyptus tree.As I approached it I could see its petal skirts were red, white and  yellow on stems of bright red with deep green leaves and its perfume filled my space like incense. I picked some of it, all the while telling God how much joy it had brought into my day and taking it home put it in a vase as a bright symbol of a memory filed with perfume in this troubled world.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

So much joy

Easter Day

The Lord is risen indeed. Luke 24:34
A simply lovely Easter gift arrived at my door for Easter Sunday from my family. It gave me great joy and was an expression of what Easter is about for everyone. Made of butter biscuits was the symbol of the cross with the words iced onto it 'He is Risen.', a colourful iced flower and a yellow iced chicken. There was so much joy and celebration in the gift of a families love that I left it untouched on the table before I cold bring myself to demolish it all with a cup of tea and then it was gone!  The gift that Christ gave to us through his death  is not just the gift of his life and death on the cross but all that gift offers us of love, of devotion,of strength, of courage, of perseverance and of eternal life.
The greatest. The most wonderful. The most enduring. The most lasting gift of love is found in the gift of Jesus.
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Its not the gift but whats in it

Holy Week

Beauty from brokenness, hope for despair. Lord in the suffering this is our prayer.  (TIS 690)
I held the rough, dirty, round bulb  in my hand before I sank it into the garden and I marveled at its potential. Who would think that in that mass there would be something special, something of delight and beauty yet if you were to slice it open it would reveal nothing but  a cluster of fiber. Marveling at it in my hand I spoke to it asking: 'How is it that something so rough and plain can turn into something so beautiful and perfumed, a glorious flower. How does that happen?' Then I realised my questioning is not to the bulb but to God. In our rapidly changing world in this time we can look and question many things, for example how can the blackened charred and burnt trees ever hold their beauty again yet there are so many signs of new growth with the eucalyptus leaves showing their beauty in the red and green new fresh tips merging up the trunks. Life  comes from death. Resurrections occur and beauty rises.
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord

A mystery with an Easter insight.

Do not forget who you are.

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. Isaiah 43:1
All across the world anxiety and fear has come into peoples lives. It has crushed the every day life, and  'normal' and peace hang like a thin thread for millions, its fragile and often out of reach. I read a lovely story recently it said this about a tradition among the Native American Communities: The infant is named at birth in traditional community and is passed around 200 arms, one to another, with each person whispering the child's name so that he or she will not forget who they are. Regardless of the dangers that life presents to us, one thing we must always hold onto is the Love of God for us. He wants us to remember we are his, he has called us by name.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Peace, God's peace

And God turns up!

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
I hear so many  of the older people saying that in the isolation and quiet their 'awareness' is  becoming so acute. There are birds in the garden, tiny birds, that they don't recall hearing  sing in such beautiful harmony and unison with one another as they are now. There is a beautiful rose bush outside their window that only weeks ago was stripped in the destructive hail storms now blooming with mass and colour that they don't recall having seen so beautiful before. And I wonder in this time of quiet and stillness in and around our homes, how God's Glory is impacting on you? Can you see it? Can you feel it? and what is God saying to you?
  I read this quote from  Clement of Alexandria  (c150-c215)Wonder at  things that are before thee, making this the first step to further knowledge.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Beauty from brokeness

There's a bear in there

Comfort, O comfort my people,says your God. Isaiah 40:1
There  is a quote I like from Mother Teresa which says 'we can do no great things only small things with great love.'  What an opportunity lies before us in how we can not only do things with love but in doing, bring God's comfort to others and all from our homes. its a great opportunity for God to open our eyes so we can see the ways we can be more useful. Even in isolation I go out once a day  for a lovely walk in fresh air and sunshine. As I was walking yesterday I saw someone had put a teddy bear in their front window and I later discovered that others were doing this also and it is there for the children so when they go for a walk they can go on a bear hunt and see how many bears they can find in peoples windows.I also heard of a person who had put a hand written note in every letterbox in her street which said. 'I am here, I am well and I am able to shop for you, run errands etc  here is my name and  phone number.. Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. I like this Celtic Prayer: As the rain hides the stars,as the autumn mist hides the hills, as the clouds veil the blue of the sky, so the dark happenings of my lot hide the shining of your face on me yet if I hold your hand in the darkness it is enough since I know that though I may stumble in my going you do not fall.
May the Lord himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne Servant of the Lord.

We can do no great things only small things with great love.

Changing life

Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Psalm 22:11
Difficulty and hardship is among us. We have been shut of from our worship places and gatherings. Life is different but we are not shut of from God. There is no need to shout at him across the spaces between you and the church. He is not locked inside the church buildings but is nearer than you think and he knows your thoughts. May our isolated homes become our house of prayer and may we unite  in timely prayers, separated yet  as one.
And don't forget or overlook the little bird sounds coming from the hedge for God  will be found in all places and in all ways.
May the Lord himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

There is a darkness hanging over our world.

Peace under my feet.

God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Romans 5:5
We are in anxious times and our world is shifting and changing and we don't know how long this will be for.  Anxiety and panic has raised its head in community  yet I can sit outside on this glorious sunny day without a cloud in the sky and its calm and its peaceful and its still.I see the rose bushes recently stripped bare by a viscous destructive hail storm now with full growth and beautiful roses. I see in our burnt out forests new growth springing out of hundreds of  chard  tree trunks from the recent catastrophic fires and the green farm lands rising from a parched drought stricken earth.I see God is  with us. Recovering and restoring brokenness. Recently reread and sitting in my mind are the words (adapted) from the prayer of St Patrick. Peace before me. Peace behind me. Peace under my feet. Peace above me. Peace within me. Let all around me be peace.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Peace like  a river.

Peace in heavenly music.

My security is in his promise to be near me always and in the knowledge that he will never let me go. Portion of Ps 23 from Psalms Now. (Leslie F Brandt)
The beautiful song of the magpie filled the otherwise silent morning  with its glorious singing. Just one, just solo, right outside my window as if singing just for me. Sometimes it can be hard to find God's joy in a year that has gone so terribly wrong for us with a long drought, catastrophic  bush fires,unprecedented damaging  hail storm  and now our whole world as we know it is changing due to the corona virus. Perhaps isolation may come for many of us and I would see  a down time as special times with God. To be still, to be quiet and to listen to the bird songs. Heavenly music carries with it a reassuring peace and presence. I love this little prayer(anon) If you have heard the sound of birdsong in the morning air then you will know that heaven's music is everywhere.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Dressed in his black and white tuxedo.

Sir, give me this water.

The woman said to him. " Sir, the well is deep and you do not have a bucket. Where do you get that living water." John 4:11
As a child I recall going with my parents to visit a lady who lived alone in her home on the top of a hill. When she first went there as a young woman she had all she needed except access to water in the creek below her home. The hill was too steep to go down and carry back a bucket of water let alone do that several times in a day. To pipe it to the house was not manageable yet she knew she could not live without water. She asked for help, for someone to show her how she could access this water so vital to life. A small group of men from church, strangers to her, organised a system of poles,wires and pullies that ran from her home to the creek with a bucket attached and she could operate the pullies to pull the bucket of fresh,water back to her home. All her life, until she passed away at 86 she was able to access the water. We all need water to live  but how much more we need the 'living water' that Jesus offers us. It is accessible, it is life giving, it is free, it is forever. All we need do is ask Jesus to show us how to access the living water.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Show me the living water.

Deep in our heart.

For as the scriptures said: Out of the believers heart shall flow rivers of living water John 7:38
Imagine a heart so filled with God's love that it flows out rivers. Not streams, not puddles not a stagnant body of water sitting in the heart, but water that flows from the heart like a river, watering and drenching all that flows from it, all coming from a heart full of the knowledge and love of God.
Deep in our heart sits the most precious thing, a space  filled with out deep and sacred love of God. Its like God lives there.
I was reading a parable from the Upanishads which says: In the body there is a small shrine. In that shrine there is a lotus. In that lotus there is a little space. What is it that lives in that little space? The whole universe is in that little space because the creator, the source of it all is in the heart of each one of us.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord

not a lotus but a beautiful tulip opening out like an opening heart.

Sing, sing,sing!

O come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. Psalm 95:1
Today is a day to sing to the Lord. The sky's are grey, not red and black and they are weeping volumes of wet soaking rain. The air is clear and crisp, not smoke filled and blowing a strange wind.. The dry parched and  burnt land is turning green and the farmers dams are full and creeks are flowing. You can almost hear the dehydrated trees clapping their hands for joy and the little birds are singing a new song from their tiny beaks. There are sounds not heard for so long like the kookaburra laughing and  the chorus of crickets singing in the evening. Praise God and let us make  a joyful noise unto the Lord.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne,servant of the Lord

And the darling blackbirds are taking a bath.

God's creatures - God's creation

Since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely and let us run  with perseverance,the race that is set before us looking to Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:1
Life is a pilgrimage as we look here and look there for God.  One pilgrim called Sister Giovanna (1660 Feast day 1 March) said,  'By being a pilgrim my heart learns to hear the cries of the  refugees,the poor, the impoverished, those arriving and those departing.' I reflected on my life, my calling and how I went to Jerusalem  with all the baggage, the pain and suffering of loss in the bush fire crisis and specifically to lay down the lives of ONE BILLION of our wildlife destroyed in the fires. This weighed heavily on my heart.  I stood at the Western Wall of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall, the most Sacred and Holy place for Jews and placed my prayer note in a crack in the wall to be later burnt by Rabbi's in prayer offerings to God. I lit a candle for them all  in the Church of The Holy Sepulcher, the most Sacred and Holy place for Christians and I offered intercessions daily in the Eucharist in St Georges Cathedral. I came home feeling the weight of it all lifted and with a God inspired blessing to do a memorial service for them all of prayers and candle lighting.
I wonder have you gone away, at times to seek God,  heavily burdened and have come back with a blessing?
May the Lord himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

And I lit a candle in the most Sacred and Holy place for Christians

A miracle?

The  Eastern Wall steps to the old city of Jerusalem

Then Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem, and he entered the temple. Mark 11:15
A section of the wall of the old city of Jerusalem has a wide expanse of steps leading up to a massive gate that is  permanently closed. This gate is said by Jews and Muslims to open at the second coming of Jesus. This area of the city wall is called the Archaeological Park and the steps are the very steps Jesus walked to enter the city. On a section of the wall at the top of the steps there are ancient inscriptions in Hebrew, names and  words of  thanks for a healing. I suspect we would call this graffiti but no, the names are real and there is a sign on the stone wall which says, 'If you have received a miracle, write your name here.'   I suspect we have all seen or had a miracle in our lives but there are many skeptics. For some time now at the Covenant Care Day Hospice, in our prayer service a couple have been asking for prayers for their grandson who is blind, he is 14. This particular day they revealed with great humility that the doctors carried out a procedure of inserting a tiny stick like implant into one of his eyes. He now sees colour, movement and shapes and the vision is said to improve with time. A modern day miracle? Yes, no doubt about it. The prayers of us all have been heard. Do we write this young lads name on a wall as having received a miracle? ? No, we write it in our prayers and we hold it in our heart forever.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

And the bells rang and rang

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was  Joseph, of the house of David. Luke 1:26
The Church of the Visitation in Nazareth is said to be the site where the Angel Gabriel came to Mary with a call from God to be the mother of Jesus. As I stood in this very large, but beautiful church I reflected on 'our call' by God to follow him. A call to become one of his disciples in this time and in this place he has set us in.  As I was reflecting there was a Eucharist happening in  the area of the high altar and as the liturgy came to the point of consecration the Sanctus bells rang and kept ringing. The priests voice kept strong and fluent, then the church bells began to ring, one by one rising in volume and number until they filled the church with music, yet the priests voice could be still heard, calling people into the sacred moment and I was filled with such a knowing of Christ's love and his call on my life. If I could have, I would have laid prostrate on the floor. How do you recall God's call on your life to follow him. Was it dramatic and perhaps overwhelming like Mary's call or was it the still small voice of God.Ponder on these things and be filled anew with  his love.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Church of the Visitation Nazareth.

And I laid their names on the altar

'......As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man  to carry the cross  with Jesus.' Matthew 27: v32
As I walked down the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem I passed a large number of pilgrims with hand held crosses making their way through the Stations of the Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Some were singing and many were crying, obviously moved by the experience and as I came to the small side chapel marked as the place where Simon offered to help Jesus carry his cross, I stepped inside a moment while the pilgrims passed and reflected.. 'Who in our lives do we help to carry their cross? Who do we walk alongside helping to carry their load, their burdens and to my mind came many who I walk alongside in life and many who walk with me and I laid  their names on the altar of the Chapel of Simon of Cyrene.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Via Dolorosa - The way of the cross

The war psalm

Be still and know that I am God. Ps 46:10.
There is a stillness and a calm about the morning and the only sound is the silence. Lately this type of day has not been seen much. The catastrophic fires, the mega hailstorm, the wind that blows erratically with a pace about it we don't  often see and in itself creating massive dust storms. Sometimes we feel quite helpless as all of this rages around us but we remember in our helplessness that God is the helper.  Listen to God - he may use anything to break through - not an earthquake, but a still small voice.

The Lord your God is with you.

The sun will shine again

'.....we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us.' Hebrews 6:28
There is hope in the blade of green grass growing on the verge.
There is hope for the burnt trees. They will sprout again.
There is hope for the dry burnt earth as gentle rain falls on its bed of white ash.
There is hope for the farmer that his dams are filling with fresh beautiful water..
There is hope for those who have lost all. The sun will shine again.
There is hope in the more calm of the day where the sky is blue not red and black
There is hope for the remaining wild life being found, fed and nursed.
There is hope. There is hope. There is always hope.
May we never lose hope.
May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

one green growth pushing through with hope

He has given us a new birth into a living hope. 1 Peter 1:3
There among the debris of bone  dry grass all but given way to bare soil, lay a collective of fallen branches from a tinder dry tree and  leaves that  have fallen prematurely. It was here I came upon a tiny flower its leaves and blooms trying to defy its surrounding circumstances and it was smiling with colours of pale blue and green upright stems. It was just tiny but its presence packed an enormous  punch in an environment that had all but given up surviving in the dry parched land. Its presence lifted my spirit and I called the flower  hope as I lifted my eyes from the gift to the giver.
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord

Open our eyes that we may see

And love came down

Sir, we wish to see Jesus. John 12:21
Its pitch black in the middle of the day and the sun at sunset is blood red. Smoke consumes our daily living and where is God I hear some say. We have just celebrated Christmas and  what is Christmas? Its love that came down to dwell among us in a world full of crisis. Its Jesus love which will never fail us and I can hear him say 'I will never leave you, I will never forsake you, come what may.' and amidst all the chaos and drama there are many tails rising of countless blessings and unexpected miracle and a multitude of neighborly love to strangers and friends and  animals. That is Jesus walking beside us asking no more of us than to love our neighbor.. Nelson Rockerfeller said:Never forget that the most powerful thing on earth is love.'
May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

There are a multitude of Christmases in love

Bells and bush fires

'To you, O Lord I cry. For the fires have devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have burned all the trees and fields. Even the wild animals cry to you because the watercourses are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. Joel 1:19-20
Bells have been a part of human life for many years. I recall some years ago the arrival of the bells to complete the set at St Saviours Cathedral in Goulburn, our Mother Church. They had been brought to Goulburn on the back of a semi trailer to be installed in the bell tower. They were all named after the ships of the First Fleet and now summons people to worship and on occasions of celebration and on times of  drawing a community together.  I can think of bells as church bells,dinner bells,school bells, fire bells, all used to gather people. In these terrible times when our country is on fire and lives, property, fauna and wildlife are perishing in unprecedented fire storms and mega fires,we lost the  church of St Saviour's  at Quaama near Cobargo. It had stood there for over 100 years a place of gathering, but the one thing that was left standing was the bell on its bell tower. I see this as a real symbol of hope. It will ring again in the future to gather people of that community  when the crisis is past,to grieve all the losses and to bring comfort and hope. How special is that. The one thing that gathers God's people has survived to gather yet again.
Let there be hope - let there be love.
Anne, servant of the Lords.

The bell --Retreat center Mittagong