I held it in my clasped hand

 They were holding golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the people. Revelations 5:8

I held the flower of the golden yellow rose in my clasped hands and before I lowered my head towards its glorious formation I could smell the deep, rich perfume flowing from it and on its petals were droplets of dew ,  and all I saw and smelt was a prayer. Then, in the peace of my garden, at the sight of such a glorious creation my gaze fell lower down to a cluster of forget-me-nots still flowering and why I don't know, my thoughts went to Ukraine. I think it was the combination of the yellow and blue colours and my thoughts then wondered to the sanctuary at church, where across the front of the Alter we are constantly reminded to pray for Ukraine, by a long strip of intwined yellow and blue cloth and  again my thoughts were as prayers.

I love the thought that we, here in a quiet country, can send our prayers up like incense to God, for those in desperate need and that a humble rose and a tiny forget-me-not have the power to remind me of that.

Peace to those who are far off and peace to those who are near.  Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                        For Ukraine.

What's a prayer?

 Glorious things of thee are spoken. (Taken from psalm 87)

I think when the glorious colours of the autumn leaves take your breath away and you gaze in awe at such beauty, that's a prayer. The variety, the richness, the depth of colour shows God dressed in all his glory. Its God's touch lighting the world with colour and it renews our hearts with life. Its so wonderful when we can see that all of life is full of God be it the beauty of the autumn or in some dark place - God is in it.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                            The Glory of the Lord

Anzac day

 Jesus stood among them and said: Peace be with you.' John 20: 19

I needed to spend some time in my sacred space yesterday after coming home from the Ukraine Orthodox Church in North Canberra. There, in the church grounds, among the dying, fallen leaves of  the autumn trees were a multitude of wooden crosses draped in children's t-shirts splashed with red paint.  It was confronting, it sent images through my mind and a pain deep in my heart that was like a sharp dagger, I was stricken with a deep sadness.  As I reflected on the crucifixion of Christ, his suffering and death and then his rising again I though 'the Ukraine country and its people are  in the midst of their Easter Saturday.'  I wondered would humanity ever see that the way of peace is love. I pray God will change the heart and mind of the Russian leadership and Ukraine will have its day of resurrection.  The Sunday Collect makes this a possibility as we read: Living God, from whom no door is closed, no heart is locked: draw us beyond our doubts, till we see your Christ and touch his wounds where they bleed in others. This we ask through Christ our Saviour.

Peace to them who are far off and peace to those who are near.  Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                Ukraine Orthodox Church North Canberra.

The eye of God

 W love thy house O God, wherein thine honour dwells. The joy of thine abode, all earthly joy excels.(Hymn)

The night sky has  been a place of deeper beauty these last few nights when the moon was full and its light shone so bright through the darkness . As  I looked at the dome of sky above me with bright moon and sparkling, winking stars by the thousands I am in awe of our God.  The silence is profound, almost beautiful, creating a sacred space,  - but the moon, it was holding there above me like an eye looking down on our world.  This light in the darkness reminded me vividly of God's light shining in the darkness and was a clear visual of those words.  As my eyes stayed on the moon I also thought of how God described himself as 'I am'   I am is love, is peace, is serenity, is present and as I turned in for the night I heard the words within me: Sleep in peace - God is awake - he has his eye on you.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.      Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                The eye of God

.

Surprise me God.

For the joy of the Lord is your strength. Neh 8:10

I was caught by surprise by an unexpected visitor walking pigeon toed along the garden fence, a beautiful parrot, red and blue feathers glistening in the morning sun from a quick dip in the bird bath. It was close enough for me to see the perfect round shapes of the water drops on its feathers. I love the unexpected surprises that bring joy and delight especially in the morning when the mind is uncluttered. Its like fuel for the day when we catch a morning joy.  Samuel Longfellow said: Into our lives, in many simple, familiar homely ways God infuses this element of joy from surprises of life, which unexpectantly brighten our days and fill out eyes with light.

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

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                    Joy in the morning

Sky blue with a yellow dot.

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name; you are mine isaiah:43:1-3

I was reflecting  on the freshness of the rain washed morning and over the steam rising from my hot cup of tea in my hand my  eyes rested on a beautiful single flowering for-get-me-not in the garden,  sky blue with a tiny yellow dot on the middle like the sun shining in a blue sky and I recall the story of how God was walking in the garden of Eden and saw a blue flower and asked its name. the flower was a shy flower and whispered he has forgotten my name. God renamed the flower forget-me-not saying he will never forget it. (Christian folk lore)  Its a bit like the story of the sparrows who Jesus said he valued so much, but you even more so, or the fact that he can count the number of hairs on our head and his love is greater than that. His love for us who he has claimed as his, by name is vast, wide, immeasurable and like the tiny for-get-me not in the garden, he will never forget us. 

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord

For-get-me-not

A revolution of joy

Jesus said: Come  to me, all you who are  weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28

What I often say, what is happening to our world, the beautiful world that God created for us to love and enjoy and care for. So much pain and suffering and destruction, so much love and peace destroyed. The human side of me wants to take up arm, arms of climate change protesting, up a massive gum tree with a koala on my back, arms of anti war demonstrations shouting with my loudest voice, and literally arms but you know, in reality I am just one small person in a big picture so I instead try to sprinkle peace and joy around in my patch, where I am, to try and bring a smile to the faces of others such as those from the nursing home with their dementia who pass my place on their walk and admire the flowers in the garden and my  very special one eyed little dog and hand the problems of the world to God in deep prayer from my sacred space.( Now that's a powerful weapon!!) Max Lucado says: If you brighten your corner of the world and I do the same in mine, a quiet revelation of JOY might break out.

Peace to those who are far off and peace to those who are near.  Anne, servant of the Lord.

A garden of delight.

A burning bush experience

 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Phil 1:3

God has done it again!  On Sunday I preached the sermon at church and I unusually felt less confident and anxious about it. I felt things were not right in my preparation and content but it was too late to do anything about that as I stood at the pulpit, except of course, to ask God to bring his peace and I thought of Julian of Norwich …..'All will be well, all manner of things will be well.' And, as Julian would say, 'it was so'' and as I got into my car to come home the bush in front of me was full of blue wrens. Sometimes our human anxiety crowds out God's peace, a thing he constantly reminds me of in the presence of these darling little feathered blessings of God's presence.

Jehovah - shalom.   The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                A blessing.

Handclasps of prayer

 There the Lord bestows his blessings. Psalm 133:3

Once I took my hands of the steaming cup of tea I held them in a handclasp of prayer with God, still warm and comforting, clasped together and reflected a moment on the rose bush with in my sight as if it displayed itself there so it would be seen and it was drinking in the morning dew, damp, moist, refreshing on its leaves, its that refreshment that will sustain it through the day and ah, we know all about such refreshment, that drink of living water that sustains us and once filled with morning blessings God whispers: 'Go to your place, dispatch your abilities and unfurl my goodness.' (Gariepy)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                            Covered in thousands of drops of life giving water

Where I am God is.

 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his promises  and faithful in all he does. Psalm 145:13

So much surrounds me from my garden that are memories. The very large pots of maiden hair ferns that belonged to my great grandfather, a Jew who worshiped faithfully in the synagogue, a Mr Lincoln rose that is in memory of my mother, the Princess Elizabeth rose, beautiful pink buds, in memory of my sister Elizabeth, a glorious rose that's a deep orange, called Desert Dust. reminding me of my years mission nursing in the outback but they are more than just plants of memories, they speak to me of more than that for in each and every person they represent is a deep connection with God for each and everyone played their part in my faith formation. These surround me in my sacred space and bring the sacred presence with them. I pick the roses to put in a vase inside, a bunch of beautiful flowers, given to myself. I wonder do you have a garden of memories that is full of love - God's love?

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                4 generations old.

A spontaneous response.

 O God, you are my God: eagerly will I seek you. Psalm 63:1

As I sat to talk to God I asked him may his thoughts be my thoughts (Isaiah) May he have the desire to sit with me in the sacred space on a  chair that is always empty and ready for him and may he show me the wonders about me and may he fill my day with blessings. His response was almost spontaneous for here they came, a flock of Zebra Finches and Yellow Rump  Finches landing in the cool, clear refreshment of the waters in the bird bath, dancing on spindly, twig like little legs all around the rim of the bird bath and some hanging onto the leaves of the glorious rose bush in its second flush(  Are the roses looking brighter and more beautiful than yesterday?) And I thought how wondaful God is to let us have a taste of heaven on earth, enough to believe in it

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace

Anne, servant of the Lord

Zebra Finches on a twig!

Stay awhile with me.

 Turn your eyes upon Jesus. (Christian song)

I had a passage of scripture running through my mind and it was something like this, 'Where ever you are I am' and I thought of the war in Ukraine, the earthquake in Japan, the unprecedented flooding in our country, the suffering of so many and then I thought of the beautiful time with God captured on my recent silent retreat. O how one has to draw aside and take the grief and pain of the world into undistracted prayer and from my sacred place this morning  I thought of the deep love of God and saw that reflected in the creation and beauty around me. I sat staring at this love, manifested before me in the bright 'ballerina' flowers of the Fuchsia bush and I sat holding onto that love. In all the turmoil of our world, peace only abides in this love. May our prayers from our sacred spaces hold the world in that love. May we continually turn our eyes upon Jesus.

Let the peace of Christ dwell in your heart.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

'Ballerinas'   

A dab of green, a touch of yellow.

 Mary - she sat at the Lord's feet and listened. Luke 10:39

The morning is such a moment of wonder as the dark fades into the morning light and everything begins to take shape more clearly. The silhouette   of the trees begin to take their fuller form as if God has taken out his paints and coloured them in, a dab of green here a touch of yellow there and the big and small of the bird life shake their feathered bodies into  wakening and launch into morning praise. (perhaps we could learn something from them?) I love to hold these images and wonders in my heart as they are so richly untouched by the coming bustle and rush of the new day. From the sacred space come sacred images and thoughts, sustaining food and I realise that God is all about me and in my heart - everywhere- yet in me -  and as I prepare to launch into the day I hear God say - go- go into your day and live as me.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                The morning taking shape.

Cleansing and life giving

If anyone is thirsty let them come to me and drink. John 7:37

The beautiful metallic, clear, single bell like call of the Mountain Lowry greeted me as I sat in reflection, hot cup of tea hugged by my hands and the first rays of the new day warming my skin. Then down he flew  for his morning bath in the bird bath, ahead of the finches, the silver eyes, the sparrows ( I just love them!) and the pigeons all waiting for their morning bath,  It is with sheer joy and happiness that the Mountain Lowry splashes, wets his wings, his face and under his wings totally washed with the pool of cool clear water and am I imagining it or  does he seem more joyful, more 'alive' after his experience with the refreshing  water? My thoughts then went to Jesus words: 'I am the living water.' What a gift, water that cleanses and gives life and what a gift to be reminded of that by the beautiful birds that come to the sacred space to enjoy the life giving water.

                                                        What a beauty!

A rose is just a rose, or is it?

 The great love of God O how lavishly given. (TIS 164) 

I counted at least seven roses from my sacred space, scattered across the garden surrounding me and if I had to choose my favourite I don't think I could though my favourite perfumed rose is not difficult. Its one that changes colour as it matures from amber to apricot blooms  and is called 'Outback Angel' a rose commemorating the work of the Royal Flying Doctor Service which in itself evokes past memories. When I look at it I see something soaked with love, the love of its creator and its perfume sets my heart singing. I heard this beautiful, captivating saying the other day: 'The perfume of a rose is the breath of angels.' Oh yes, indeed this one is the breath of angels!  Do you see a rose, or do you see what a rose is? God our wonderful creator, how much joy and love he has bestowed on us with his creations and isn't it wonderful to be able to pick a rose and pass it on in love. Next time you see a rose pause, and not only admire its beauty but think of the love it was created with and smell the breath of angels.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                    Filled with love.

Hello little ones.

 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love. Psalm 143:8

I had a real sense that I was living heaven on earth this morning when I was blessed, and blessed and blessed again by the gifts of this new day, gifts of happy, joyful, playful twittering and chatter, little balls of brown and blue feathers on spindly legs, with long upright tails all sounding ever so happy AND, they came into the sacred space. Yes, you know I am talking about the blue wrens and as Macrina Wiederkehr would say, ' heaven and earth became friends and I felt totally claimed by your love.'  At that point into my heart came the words of that lovely hymn: 'Where the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far to small, love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life my all.'  What is it that speaks to you of God's unfailing love and faithfulness? And what might we miss if we don't have a sacred space? 

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ,

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                    Hello you!

Things of beauty

O, taste and see, that the Lord is good......for he tastes like honey on the rock. (Christian Hymn) 

It is so quiet in the sacred space this morning and I looked over to the Grevilia bush and thought how glorious it looked clothed  in its new red covering and pondering the thought that yesterday they were just buds, pearl like strings of tight buds full of potential yet to be revealed and there they are today simply glowing, in their glory, and inviting, inviting to be admired, inviting for the bees to gather the nectar, for the birds to come and taste and see.( and I can see one has already  been as there is a tell tale feather hanging off the flowers, a message left of appreciation maybe?) 

The buzz of the bees was a delightful, happy, contented sound that filled my head with increasing joy and again I reflect on the words of Susan-Joy, 'not only has God given you beautiful colour but also a beautiful voice.' Those blooms were a beauty that has sprung out of naught, new born and that so reminded me of how God sees us, how we can become things of beauty springing out of naught.

Jehovah-shalom. The Lord is peace. 

 Anne, servant of the Lord

A tell tale feather.

Song notes bigger than themselves

 Oh, the love of my lord is the essence of all that I love here on earth. all the beauty I see he has given to me and his giving is gentle and silent. (White)

The little flock of  yellow rump finches were having the time of their life in the birdbath. You could tell by watching them that they were happy and full of joy as they splashed, flittered and sang, their little beaks open wide letting out song notes bigger than themselves. It was such a delight to watch and I thought how content they were in their life, how happy and I like to think, so loved by God their creator. I paused, I breathed lightly, a broad smile crossed my face as I thought of our God who gives us such moments for our enjoyment, why? because he loves us. That deep sense of his love not only makes me feel a 'fire within,'   but drives me to love others. Susan-Joy wrote in her book, Sacred in the Sharing:  God is present, always thinking, I love you, I love you, I love you. Let us love each other from now on and forever.

Let the peace of Christ dwell in your heart.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                 Ah what joy!

Admiring their 'skirts'

 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like this. Matthew 6:28

God does that, he clothes, not just the lilies but  all of his creation with their own unique covering, not one the same. I was looking at a eucalyptus tree today and admiring its 'skirts', a full cover of special clothing to be admired, wrapped around its trunk  and marvelled at its uniqueness  and  I took that image to the sacred space and pondered the great love of God who gives us such a variety in his creation  to enjoy and in reality its only visible to us if we have eyes open to see.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                            'skirts'

All earthly joy excels

 We love thy place O God, wherein thine  honour dwells; the joy of thine abode all earthly joy excels. (hymn by William Bullock 1854)

That's how I think of the sacred space where I go to be, just to be, and open  the door of my heart and mind and love to the waiting God. With my cup of tea in hand I was just sitting quietly thinking just you and me God, just you and me, and then  God gave me a little nudge and said what about the sparrow, what about the butterfly, what about the ladybird and all my messages they hold, to say nothing of all of God's creation about me.(and blow me down yesterday if it wasn't  a very large possum scurrying past)   I wonder do they pray to God also in this special place? I know the birds do for they are the first to call in the new day with song (what a lesson we can learn from them!)  I wonder how you see your sacred space? Is it just you and God or are others sharing it with you as gifts and insights into the wonder of God? 

 I love thy place O God where in thine honour dwells; the joy of thine abode and all earthly joy excels.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                Hello there!