Nature

Merciful proof….

Photo from google

“It is only the infinite mercy and love of God that has prevented us from tearing ourselves to pieces and destroying His entire creation long ago. People seem to think that it is in some way a proof that no merciful God exists, if we have so many wars. On the contrary, consider how in spite of centuries of sin and greed and lust and cruelty and hatred and avarice and oppression and injustice, spawned and bred by the free wills of men, the human race can still recover, each time, and can still produce man and women who overcome evil with good, hatred with love, greed with charity, lust and cruelty with sanctity. How could all this be possible without the merciful love of God, pouring out His grace upon us? Can there be any doubt where wars come from and where peace comes from, when the children of this world, excluding God from their peace conferences, only manage to bring about greater and greater wars the more they talk about peace?”
— Thomas Merton (The Seven Storey Mountain)

There is so much that is good in the world, each day we wake to the possibility of witnessing a miracle, if we could only see it as such. What is it about a spectacular sunrise that gives us hope, makes us believe that it is very worth getting up and doing it all again?

There is a Spirit that lives and breathes, that once moved across the waters of the unformed earth, whose breath continues to fill everything in the universe, who moves in us today.

He is behind it all….behind each new blossom, every drop of rain that falls to the ground. He is behind the wild exultant joy we feel sometimes that makes us want to shout out in praise because He started it all.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements–surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” –Job 38

He is behind those quiet moments when we feel we are part of a much bigger whole, bit players in a magnificent stage that is living breathing thriving and pulsating with lifethat struggles to survive even when it seems there is a slim chance for it.

Once, in the quiet hush of a crisp October twilight I walked alone in the woods. It was the time of evening when day and night meet and greet, and nature draws itself in close. I had a holy visitor, nary a trace of sound he made as he trotted, this lone coyote, then sprang lightly over a log, blowing puffs in the air. I felt like a guest there in his perfect world, inside his poem.

God and I saw it together……and it was good.

My walk in the woods


July in the desert and everyone is dreaming of the cool breezes that left in early May….heat is everywhere and there is no escaping it. I go out to pray and my mind tells me 6:00 should be bearable, but its not.

My mind wanders, I pace inside like a caged animal.
I go to the secret place where He resides, My own Living water that springs eternal.

Lord, I ache for green, and air that carries the scent of pine, and the spray of surf pounding on the shore. Be my walk in the woods, the little stream that I long to sit by and write, my thoughts and the ones you give me….

Be that porch that I dream of, the one with three steps up…..surrounded by hydrangeas of violet and blue, and the wind chimes gently revealing Your wind, Your voice.

I am in another garden today, the one that resides in the Spring of His Word. I am there watching green leaves toss against a canopy of blue from a hammock that swings in the playful air.

My heart is greatly refreshed.

A bird calls and another answers across the yard and I am filled with the peace that passes understanding.
Help me remember God, that You are always more than enough. Help me to remember, like Paul to be grateful for chains, and help me to remember also that my small chains of inconvenience are nothing compared to the chains that bind others.

None of them are any match for Your strength!

Thank You for being more than I can ever ask or think.

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12,13

Bird funerals

Photo from Wikipedia

I found a dead baby bird as I left work last night. I hate finding those. I always want to blame the careless mother. But that’s not quite fair, after all maybe she had nothing to do with it. It was lying in the middle of the sidewalk, right on the path. I didn’t want anyone to step on it so I took a napkin out of my purse and layed it under a tree nearby out of sight. I did it because all life is sacred, even a little baby bird.

My Grandmother once gave my parakeet Peppy a funeral. We left it in her care when we went on vacation and it died. She was very upset, so upset that she saved it for me! She lovingly rolled it up in a papertowel and laid it in a green plastic strawberry basket. Maybe I get my bird obsession from her.

But God cares about them too, after all…..”Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.” Luke 12:6

All of life is sacred. I was thinking about this on the way to work this morning. Why is it that so many professionals recommend counseling before marriage (a very good idea) but not require it before bringing another eternal soul into this world?

Just wondering.

Open to wonder….


“We get so preoccupied with ourselves, the words we speak, the plans and projects we conceive that we become immune to the glory of creation. We barely notice the cloud passing over the moon or the dewdrops clinging to the rose leaves. The ice on the pond comes and goes. the wild blackberries ripen and wither. The blackbird nests outside our bedroom window. We don’t see her. We avoid the cold and the heat. We refrigerate ourselves in the summer and entomb ourselves in plastic in winter. We rake up ever leaf as fast as it falls. We are so accustomed to buying prepackaged meats and fish that we never think and blink about the bounty of God’s creation. We grow complacent and lead practical lives. We miss the experience of awe, reverence, and wonder.” Brennan Manning, Ragamuffin Gospel

Lord, may I never lose my sense of wonder in the midst of this fast-paced world of endless information, knowledge gathering, and few real answers. All the answers mean nothing unless they point the way to You. The answer to the question is always, You.

“….always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:7

Elohim our creator

More highlights of the last two weeks….
Yosemite Falls, 2,425 feet 5th tallest in the world. I hiked this when I was younger. Most memorable moment of hike was when the hat that I had just bought blew off and my heroic Dad was about to reach under the guard-rail and get it, when God stepped in and blew it down the falls!
Psalm 24:1‑2
The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
Half Dome, my old friend. Hiked to the top when I was 14, 16 miles round trip, with an elevation gain/loss of 5,131 feet, elevation at the top is over 8,000 feet. The last part is reached only by steel cables….believe me, you need both hands!
Psalm 104: 24,30
How many are your works, O Lord, In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures…. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.
Houses bordering Yosemite meadow. Many years we have walked by these little houses facing the most beautiful view in the world and thought, who could be blessed enough to live here? This year we were treated to this particular flowering tree we have not yet been able to identify…..
Psalm 96: 12
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.
The mighty Merced River, view from our balcony at Yosemite View Lodge. My folks and my brother generously treated us all to the 2 bedroom suite, what a wonderful gift! The first night, I thought the furnace was running so I got up to check, but it was the noise of the river, even with windows closed you could hear it!
Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities‑his eternal power and divine nature‑have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Yosemite is one of those places that is grafted into my soul, having spent so much time there growing up. I encourage you to go if you haven’t been….it is one of those places that you really must see for yourself. To hear the Stellar’s jay call, the sigh of the pines, their tops bending to the wind, the echo of tent pegs being pounded in as camp is set up, all against the backdrop of those wondrous vertical granite cliffs rising straight up off the valley floor….An experience like no other. Thank you for coming along on my journey!

Small Miracles


Thank you, Lord for small miracles. Help me never to take them for granted. Let me not lose the sense of wonder in every day things like watching a sunset or birds singing for no reason, or the calm and stillness of the end of the day; a full moon. Today out in the parking lot at work I heard the call of geese. When I hear that I always stop and look up to see the perfect “V” formation in the sky. In this case there were only two geese calling to each other, but as I watched them fly, each in perfect symmetry, talking their private language, I let them carry me away. Sometimes even far from nature, in our manufactured world of noise, dirt, and buildings, nature breaks in and finds us; seeks to remind us who we are and where we came from. At times like that, I try to pay attention.

Help find little moments to pause in wonder at all you have created……

“He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke. By his power he churned up the sea…. By his breath the skies become fair…. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! How then can we understand the thunder of his power?” Job 26:7-9, 11-14

Food for the soul


When we can’t take a few steps away from the back door and sit amongst the trees and hear their whisperings, feel the yield of soft ground underfoot, take some deep healing breaths, we are robbed of something necessary to the very health and sanity of our soul. We must leave this clattering, modern world behind us for at least a few moments a day, though an hour is better. It’s no wonder those of us who dwell in cities are stressed. We can get alone, we can pray, but God knows that sometimes nature is a healer like no other.

We need it to remember who we are, regain our place in the world, the universe. Something in us needs to look up and see mountains towering to the heavens, hear the groan of giant boughs sighing their prayers to God, our own voice joining to it. We need to hear it carried along to the four winds along with our worries. We need to hear the cleansing wash of the ocean’s roar through our soul and feel it rush over our bare feet. We need to learn to fly a kite again.

We need to remember our smallness in this universe and God’s all encompassing greatness, and in the remembering to feel the height, the depth, the love He has for everything in His creation. “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:6
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.
John Muir