The shape of a leaf.

 Come let us ring out our joy to the Lord; hail the rock of our salvation. Psalm 95:1

The leaves are turning, autumn is here, and there is a different bird song  in the air as the Crow adds his voice to the bird choir and there below my feet in the sacred space  two  tiny ants struggle with a crumb, a feast they have found to take home to their friends, and I shift my feet slightly so as to not disturb their path. Such sightings leave me in awe of an incredible God who creates such small but highly intelligent creatures, and then my eyes are drawn to the lovely pink of the Japanese wind flowers their long, slender stems swaying quietly in the breeze, another gift for today - a memory that goes with me.

I read a lovely quote (anon) which said. 'Enjoy something good and beautiful today, even if its just the shape of a leaf.'

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

                                                                      The shape of a leaf.

                                                

                                               

Its yours!

 The great love of God Oh how lavishly given - the pearl of great price and the treasure of heaven. (TIS 164)

The words of this lovely hymn came to my mind when my eyes were drawn to pearl like drops of precious water hanging on the leaves of a tree in the garden as the rain softly fell in the early morning. Life giving, life sustaining, drops of rain. I love it when my eyes settle on an image about me and there flows a bible verse or words of a song such as this  -  all because I looked at a pearl shaped rain drop on a bush  that reminded me of the great love that God has for us all.  'It is yours it is ours O how lavishly given, the pearl of great price and the treasure of heaven.' 

Show us Lord your love. Open our eyes. Show us your love.             Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                    pearl like drops of water.

Surprise us Lord, surprise us!

May my prayer be like incense before you. Psalm 141:2

Early morning dew was still on the pure white flowers of the gardenia bush, its beautiful rich perfume rising from the pot at my feet and settling into my sacred space. I took a deep breath and inhaled the perfume it was offering and held it in for as long as I could. I wanted to catch it, hold it, and keep it forever.   It was the perfume of God and my prayer of thanks lingered long. Macrina Wiederkehr  would say: ' Surprise us with small joys and pieces of beauty to savor through the day.'  And to God I say: ' let me take it in, let me live with it for the moment, let it become an imprint on my heart and mind and soul. May it fill my day.

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

Be present Lord.

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

The hue of day break in its soft pink and pastel blue light falls softly across the folding dark of night and my sacred space comes into being and I 'feel' that thin space between dark and light, stillness and peaceful quiet where there is only self and God, where you and God are all in all, and my heart stirs   with love for the Lord because I have,  in the moment, recognised who the creator of such beauty and quiet is. I wonder what it is that stirs your heart as you recognise the presence of the Lord in the moment?

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

                                                the colour of day break.

                                            

Touched by the sun.

 My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. (Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910)

From my sacred space I could see the sun falling on a closed flower and as if in slow motion it slowly opened its petal skirts to its fullness. Touched by the sun it flourished and immediately my  prayerful thoughts were: ' Ah, yes, Son of God, light of the world, fall on us so we too can open to our full potential.'

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

                                                Light of the world fall on us.

A morning love song

 Morning has broken, like a new morning. Blackbird has spoken like the first bird. Praise for the singing, praise for the morning. Praise them for springing fresh from the world (Hymn)

A  few words from Macrina Wiederkehr crossed my mind as I woke up today. -'soft light of a new day - light born from earth's turning - a new light streams out of the darkness' and I could not help but think of the faithfulness of God, how day after day, night after night, day rolls into night and night into day. And there, again I hear it, the faithfulness of the birds singing their morning song of love.  I love the way God just brings on a new day with singing and that 'pull' of the spirit within me moves me to the sacred space, to be in his presence, to enjoy this wonderful gift of a new day  and  the silence wrapped in the bird songs.

Lord, you bless us with light at the sun's rising, shine on us now with love.   Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                           And the night turns to day.

Its raining, raining, raining.

 But since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory. Luke  9:28

Its raining, raining, raining and the crickets are singing and from thick dark clouds above  the  lightening flashes and the thunder rolls until it reaches its peak and then crack, it reveals itself above my head . Heavy rain falls  from the gutter edge onto the thirsty garden and the birds are silent, tucked up tight in the trees - heads hidden in feathers.  I love a wet day. I love a thunderstorm as it awakens me to God's glory in such a different way and I wonder, what are the things that awaken you to God's glory?

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

                                                The lightening flashes.

To our full potential

 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing. Revelations 5:11

I read these lines: At the end of my life I hope I have used up every single bit of the talents God gave me.  Now that would be a life well lived! I was reflecting on this as I was looking at the fuchsia bush flowering in all its glory in parts and declining in other parts, and the dead flowers and I thought wow, you, having been  created by God, have used all your talents bringing glory and joy from your first bud to your last declining bloom, growing to your full potential and flourishing. 

The prayers fell from my lips into the sacred space. 'Dear Lord, may we flourish and bloom as your creations. Give us our full potential to bring joy and your glory to others.'

Jehovah-shalom. The Lord is peace.  Anne. Servant of the Lord

                                                    Full potential.

And look, just look over there.

 May you be blessed by the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Ps115:15

Oh how lovely it is to look about and see the presence of God. The trees with their large branches that he made for the birds to come and dwell in. The shapes, and the colours of all that is growing around about us and at my feet in the sacred space are pots of bright red Petunias, pink and purple Fuchsias and mixed colours of Impatiens and I ponder how can it be said there is no God?   And look, just look over there, sitting on the tip of a leaf  is a raindrop just hanging there after the early morning rain shower. What we see about us brings great joy and blessings but the true blessing is recognising the maker.

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

                                                Trees for the birds to rest in.

The echoes are calling.

 O God, you are my God; at dawn I seek you; for you my soul is thirsty - I have come before you in the sanctuary to behold your strength and glory. Psalm 63:2-3

One of my favourite poets is Henry Kendal and his beautiful poem. ' Bellbirds.'  ' By channels of coolness the echoes are calling, and down the dim gorges I hear the creek falling..........and softer than slumber and sweeter than singing, the notes of the bellbirds are running and ringing.' O the words of this poem have me sitting in the bush, just near a creek  and hearing the Bellbirds, such peace. To me I see Henry Kendal writing this poem from his sacred space and there the blessings of this poem flowed. And I reflect on  what happens when we spend time in our sacred space. Do words and sights of blessings flow? Is what you see and hear gifts from God? Do you glance or really see the beauty about you as God's glory? Did you hear the first call of the birds this morning and sense a blessing? Did you have a sense of peace and come away feeling ready to embrace the day?  Sacred space. Sacred moments. Sacred presence.

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

                                            By channels of coolness.

Watch and Listen.

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

The words of C. Johnston say: ' Sitting in the morning sun I watch and listen, not just with my eyes and ears but also with my heart and soul as windows into the sacred presence.'  And I can see that sacred presence all around me in the beautiful creation of the birds and garden flowers, the glorious hydrangeas, the fuchsias, the roses and the bright red grevillea bush loaded with bees and a wattle bird so noisy as it protects and feeds from  its nectar  crop, and I think how God has sown such beauty for us to enjoy. Not to rush past but to sit and watch and listen and my  thoughts say, 'as God sowed such beauty may we also sow beauty.'

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

                                                        The delight of the wattle bird.

A 2025 Mantra

 Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Philippians 4:4-7

It is so special to have a sacred space, a place to meet with God one on one. At the moment the sacred space is surrounded with the beauty of a colourful garden, a delight to look at and be in. 'Rejoice and again I say rejoice'. Rejoice at the beauty of your surroundings, rejoice at God's creation - I mean, can you keep the smile off your face when the kookaburra laughs or more so when its baby tries to laugh as well! Or the  wonder of seeing a glorious flower growing and forming from the dirt of the earth? Above all rejoice at the birth of Jesus, at his goodness in all we have which is so much more than many and rejoice at his graciousness to us at welcoming us as children of God.

A mantra for this New Year. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.'

Blessings.   Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                         Rejoice at such beauty.

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.

https://comewalkwithme-reflections.blogspot.com

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