Beauty in Simple Things (2)

One day recently I noticed that the adding machine tape had flowed over, rather gracefully I thought, onto the floor. So I stopped and took a few pictures. Here is one of the photographs, modified with several filters.

Beautiful? That may be stretching it a bit. But who knows? Perhaps one day you may stop to gaze at an ordinary sight, and find it is really a burning bush.

Laudate Dominum

Cybernun has a new video: a rendition of the sublime Laudate Dominum, from Mozart's Vesperae solennes de confessore. The Latin lyrics are Psalm 117.

That All May Be One

War, violence, injustice, racism, sexism, unloving divisions among the human family -- all of these deny the truth of our oneness in God.

Beauty in Simple Things

These are photos of pipes, taken in the Cenacle Retreat House in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York. The house was built in 1926 and will soon make way to a smaller, greener, more efficient building. Although there are obvious beauties in the old building (the stained glass windows, the dark wood doors and moldings, for example), beauty may also be found where we least expect it—wherever we walk during this day, if we have eyes to see.

Granted, the loveliness of exposed pipes is open to discussion, but I suspect you will agree with me, if not that these are beautiful, at least that they are interesting.

Predator Kitty

Cat Peering

This spring, when the baby squirrels lived in holes in our patio wall (see "Test Everything"), a neighborhood cat had high hopes of catching one. But all he can get in the hole is his nose.

Cat Settling in for the Long Watch

Knowing he can't get at the baby squirrels while they are in the nest, he settles down to wait, on the very slim chance that they will come out while he is there.

Cat Seeing Me Watching Him

Be sure to click on the photo to see the size of his eyes. Is this a guilty look? Or is he accusing me of interfering?

I don't know whether you will find anything inspirational in these pictures, except perhaps the enjoyment of God's creatures — but that is probably inspiration enough.

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

(Psalm 104:24)

Wherever I Go, You Are There

Cybernun has a new video:

Test Everything

Baby Squirrel Nibbling Spanish Moss

Baby Squirrel Nibbling Nail

Like human children, the baby squirrels outside my bedroom window seem to put everything in their mouths. A passage from 1 Thessalonians comes to mind:

...test everything;
hold fast to what is good;
abstain from every form of evil. (5:20-21)

I notice that Paul does not say "taste everything," however, which could be more than slightly risky.

Holy Ground

"Angel" Glimpsed Praying in Woods

(Click image to view full-sized.)

Take off your shoes from your feet,

for the place on which you are standing

is holy ground.

(Exodus 3:5)

Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God:

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries.

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I See His Blood

Driftwood Cross
(Click on image to view full-sized.)

I see his blood upon the rose
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.

I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but his voice—and carven by his power
Rocks are his written words.

All pathways by his feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.

- Joseph Mary Plunkett

Reflection

Street Reflection
(Click on image to view full-sized.)

If you look carefully, you'll notice that some of the vegetation visible in the window is actually inside the empty house, having found an opening and flourished there -- and indicating the tenacity of life.

Now we see only reflections in a mirror,
mere riddles,
but then we shall be seeing face to face.
Now I can know only imperfectly;
but then I shall know just as fully
as I am myself known.

(I Corinthians 13:12, New Jerusalem Bible)

God Is Love

Heart Clouds
(Click on image to view full-sized.)

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. (1 John 4:16b)

If you would like to send this picture as an e-card, visit Vocation Quest Cards.

Shine in Our Darkness

Light Breaking on Pensacola Bay
(Click on image to view full-sized.)

O God, when all seems to be darkness in me,
may your Light break through,
for you are always here, loving me.

"If I say, "Let only darkness cover me,
and the light about me be night,"
even the darkness is not dark to you,
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you."
Psalm 139:11-12

God Among Us

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made
through him,
and without him was not anything made
that was made.
In him was life,
and the life was the light of all people...
The Word became flesh
and dwelt among us,
full of grace and truth.
We have beheld his glory,
glory as of the only Son
from the Father.
(John 1:1-4;14)

In Radiant Beauty

Basket and Christmas Balls
(Click photo to view full-sized.)

"The Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty."
(from the Liturgy of the Hours)

House of Many Colors

(Click on photo to view full-sized.)

I haven't been back to this house to see if the owners have chosen to go with a single color. I rather hope not. I am reminded of Joseph, beloved of his father.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. (Genesis 37:3 KJV)

The Rock That Is Higher than I

Heart and Rock
(Click photo to view full size.)

Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
From the end of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is faint.

Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I;
for you are my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.

Let me abide in your tent for ever,
find refuge under the shelter of your wings.

Psalm 61:1-4

A Vision of Goodness

More Urban Mandalas

"Sanitary Storm Sewer"
(Click on image to view full sized.)

"Warning: Do Not Fill"




Courtyard Rosette in Snow

There is beauty all around us, even in the most utilitarian of objects. For more urban mandalas, see Hubcap Mandalas.

Baby Wrens

Baby Wrens in Flowerpot
(Click on photo to view full size.)

The mama wren, rather unwisely it seemed to me, made her nest in a flowerpot on the patio. It was wonderful, though, to see the lovely babies. It was also wonderful to watch her approach the pot stealthily, thinking we couldn't see her. Finally, early one morning, a cat found the nest. One baby was killed, but somehow the mother managed to lead the second one to safety.

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. (Luke 12:6)

House of God, Gate of Heaven

God is present, no matter where we are, no matter what is happening. We may cry out with Jacob, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

Peahen on Branch

(Click to view full-sized photo.)

The peacock was an early Christian symbol of the Resurrection.

Although the peahen is not as showy as her male counterpoint, she has a dignified beauty of her own. (The tuft of stray feathers that seems to be sticking out of her left side actually belongs to her chick, hidden behind her. )

Iced Drink on a Hot Day

Iced Drink on a Hot Day
(Click image to view full size.)

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.

Psalm 36:7-9

Boundless Mercy Video

This is a video reflection on a poem by Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022).

Hubcap Mandalas

How delighted I was to discover a community garden in Gainesville, with vegetables, flowers, and art. Here are some photos of painted hubcaps, found objects which have become in this setting a contemporary form of mandala.

For a reflection on mandalas and more photos, visit Caught Up in God: Urban Mandalas.

Boundless Heart

This is a photograph of Galaxy Cluster 1E 0657-556, used courtesy of NASA. I have shaped it to remind me of the immensity of God's heart, large enough to embrace all of us, no matter who we are or what we have done. I share the photo with you on this Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

According to Raïssa Maritain, “…we have, under the action of grace and through the travail of the soul, to leave our bounded heart for the boundless heart of God. This is truly dying to ourselves” (Raïssa’s Journal).

The Blessing of Rain

Rainy Day from Window
(Click to view photo full size.)

We are giving thanks to God for the desperately needed rain brought by Tropical Storm Barry to our drought-plagued region.

Below is a picture from one of the fiercer storms of 2004.

Rain Against Window

Hyacinths

Hyacinths
(Click on photo to view full-sized.)

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And of thy store two loaves are left,
Sell one, and with the dole,
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.

- Saadi (medieval Persian poet)
You will find many versions and translations of this poem. This is the version I remember by heart.

Into Light

Out of darkness
Into light






Glimpse of porch and Alabama River

(Click on image to view full-sized.)

Comfort of the Resurrection

Dandelion against Blue Sky
(Click photo to view full-sized.)

That Nature Is a Heraclitean Fire

and of the

Comfort of the Resurrection

CLOUD-PUFFBALL, torn tufts, tossed pillows ' flaunt forth, then chevy on an air-

built thoroughfare: heaven-roysterers, in gay-gangs ' they throng; they glitter in marches.

Down roughcast, down dazzling whitewash, ' wherever an elm arches,

Shivelights and shadowtackle in long ' lashes lace, lance, and pair.

Delightfully the bright wind boisterous ' ropes, wrestles, beats earth bare

Of yestertempest’s creases; in pool and rut peel parches

Squandering ooze to squeezed ' dough, crust, dust; stanches, starches

Squadroned masks and manmarks ' treadmire toil there

Footfretted in it. Million-fuelèd, ' nature’s bonfire burns on.

But quench her bonniest, dearest ' to her, her clearest-selvèd spark

Man, how fast his firedint, ' his mark on mind, is gone!

Both are in an unfathomable, all is in an enormous dark

Drowned. O pity and indig ' nation! Manshape, that shone

Sheer off, disseveral, a star, ' death blots black out; nor mark

Is any of him at all so stark

But vastness blurs and time ' beats level. Enough! the Resurrection,

A heart’s-clarion! Away grief’s gasping, ' joyless days, dejection.

Across my foundering deck shone

A beacon, an eternal beam. ' Flesh fade, and mortal trash

Fall to the residuary worm; ' world’s wildfire, leave but ash:

In a flash, at a trumpet crash,

I am all at once what Christ is, ' since he was what I am, and

This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, ' patch, matchwood, immortal diamond,

Is immortal diamond.

- Gerard Manley Hopkins

Foolishness of the Cross

(Click on photo to view full size
and to more easily read the text.)

For God’s foolishness

is wiser than human wisdom,

and God’s weakness

is stronger than human strength.

(1 Corinthians 1:25)

Food for the Journey

Bread and Grapes
(To view full-sized, click on photo.)

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

(1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NRSV)

Welcoming Spring

March Flowers at the Thomas Center
(Click photo to view full size.)

My beloved speaks and says to me:
"Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away;
for lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."

Song of Solomon 2:10-13

Alabama Ruin

...but the word
of our God
will stand
for ever.

(Isaiah 40:8)

Spirit of the Cenacle Video

By Way of the Wilderness

Alabama Clay Road
(To view full size, click on photo.)

God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness...
The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day,
to lead them along the way,
and in a pillar of fire by night,
to give them light,
so that they might travel by day and by night.

(Exodus 13:18,21 NRSV)

Pelican Flying Low

Pelican Flying Low

(Click on photo to view full size.)

And God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.’

So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and very winged bird of every kind.

And God saw that it was good.

God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’

(Genesis 1:20-22)

Trust as the Year Begins

Sunset and Dead Trees

(Click on photo to view full size.)

It is not because of the winter season that the tall trees in the photograph are bare. No, they are dead, still standing in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan in 2004, a testimony to the fragility and the uncertainly of life on our planet. As the new year opens we find our security, not in governments, wealth, health, or even the solidity of the ground beneath us — but only in our God, who holds us and sustains us, who brings life out of death and good out evil.

The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. (Deuteronomy 33:27 RSV)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree - moving camera
(Click on photo to view full size.)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)

Happy Thanksgiving!

The earth has yielded its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.
(Psalm 67:6)

May we not forget or neglect those who benefit little from the bounty of the earth.
May we make wise decisions regarding the stewardship of God's earth, so that the earth may continue to yield its harvest.

Here is a Thanksgiving video using fractal images, visit Thankful.

You Are Light

Spectrum on Bathroom Wall (enhanced)
(Click on photo to view full-sized.)

For once you were darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light.

(Ephesians 5:8)

In Memoriam

In memory of all the innocent people
killed in the genocide in Darfur

Please visit at least one of these sites:
Faithful America
Searching for Jacob
National Association of Evangelicals
Sojourners

... and don't forget to contact our President and your representatives in Congress.

Light Within

Click on photograph to view full sized

From Thomas R. Kelly, "The Light Within," A Testament of Devotion:

Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within, is the beginning of true life.

Anniversary of Katrina

In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
(Psalm 57:1)