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
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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

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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)

Pray for peace

As violence and war spread in our troubled world, let us both pray for peace and work toward peace.

You might want to join in what has been called the "Universal Prayer for Peace."

Icon photograph copyright © Failey

 

Surprising Beauty

Bark on Sand
(Click on photo to view full sized.)

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

Gerard Manley Hopkins, "Pied Beauty"

Praising God All the Day

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From the rising of the sun to its setting,
The name of the Lord is to be praised!
(Psalm 113:3)

For suggestions on keeping a prayerful spirit throughout the day, see "Contemplative Practices."

Save the Internet!

The Time of Singing Has Come

Magnolia Blossom Opening
(Click to view full size photo.)

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 turtle-dove
is heard in our land.

(Song of Songs 2:10-12)