To See Heaven in a Wildflower

Dune Flower

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

William Blake, "Auguries of Innocence"

Sunlight on Dried Flowers in Pencil Holder

Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow Me

The Orton effect gives a sense of depth and richness to a still photograph. This video was created using the Orton effect on stills, and enhanced with animation. Be sure to watch it full-screen and in high definition if your connection allows.

Mega Moon Rising

Mega Moon March 19
(Click on image to view full size.)

Because of our dense tree cover, we drove out to Paynes Prairie to view the super moon rise, which was indeed spectacular. (And yes, this was the actual color.) As it turned out, many others had the same idea, and the highway was lined with cars.

Full Moon at Perigee

The colors are changing and the shape appears less flattened as the moon rises and the sky darkens.

Dreaming of the World

Atelier Ten Tails Dreaming
(Click image to view full size.)

An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world.

(George Santayana)

Digitally edited photo of the gable of Atelier Ten Tails in Cedar Key, Florida.

Chicago Sunset

Chicago Looking Northwest from Cenacle

Sunset looking north from the roof of the Cenacle Retreat House in Chicago -- looking away from the skyline. I have always wondered if the intense colors of the Chicago sunsets are due to pollution in the air. In any case, they are splendid and worth the chill of the rooftop.

Who Are You, O Mystery of Mysteries?

"We are within the mystery past all grasp, which God is..." (Karl Rahner)

(View Cybernun's latest video, which combines poetry, animation, photography, and video clips.)

Full Moon Through Trees

Full Moon Through Trees and Spanish Moss
(Click on photo to view full size, which shows more detail and with more clarity.)

This is a composite photo made with a little help from NASA and Photoshop. It captures, however, the eerie quality in our yard when the full moon shines through the heavy tree-cover.

Oil Spill

Pensacola Beach Before Gulf Oil Spill
Pensacola Beach with its sugar-white sand and turquoise water

The following is a brief letter I sent to the President of the United States:

Dear Mr. President:

Human life – indeed all life on earth – is dependent on the health of our oceans. While it is true that the best and latest technology can reduce the dangers involved in off-shore drilling, it is also true that no technology is fail-safe. Besides that, we can never eliminate the risk of human error, human greed, or simple human sinfulness in any venture, especially one in which huge amounts of money are at stake.

Please… no more off-shore drilling for oil. The risks to all of us are just too great.

Yours truly...

In Memory

During Memorial Day weekend, small tombstone-shaped markers line 8th Avenue in Gainesville, Florida, in remembrance of our soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Each year there are more, until this year they not only stretch for more than a mile, but are now on both sides of the street.

May they rest in peace, and may God have mercy on us all.

God Loves Everyone

This photo was taken at a rally held in response to local demonstrations by members of an out-of-town church who seem to believe that God hates nearly everyone except themselves. This "Christian" church even tries to explain away John 3:16:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."

Participants in the rally proclaimed the truth of God's love for the whole world.

In Your Easter Bonnet

African Crowned Crane at Silver Springs
(Click on image to view full-sized.)

Human finery has nothing to compare with the variety and flamboyance of nature.

Clothed with Light

This new video from Cybernun uses fractal imagery, video clips, and animated effects to illustrate the Russian Hymn, "God, You Are Clothed with Light."

Watch in full screen mode if your computer and internet connection allow.

Christmas Blessings!

All Beautiful the March of Days

Florida Fall Leaves

Leaves are beginning to turn here in North Florida. They will not reach their peak until sometime in December — but note that by "peak" I'm not talking about New England color. The change of seasons is much more subtle here, and if we are not paying attention, the reds of fall can be overpowered by the green that is always with us.

Nevertheless, the leaves remind me of the hymn by Frances W. Wile that begins,

All beautiful the march of days, as seasons come and go;
The Hand that shaped the rose hath wrought the crystal of the snow...

Although it is highly unlikely that we will see "the crystal of the snow," our understated autumn still speaks of the loveliness of God, "from Whose unfathomed law the year in beauty flows."

Gift from a Dragonfly

Dragonfly on Lantana
(Click on photo to view full size.)

I saw this dragonfly land on a Lantana bush in the back yard and rushed inside for my camera, hoping he (or she?) would stay around. He let me take five pictures before flying off. I felt as if I had been given a precious gift.

Note that we are viewing the flower (the pink floret) through his diaphanous wing.

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
(Psalm 104:24)

Urban Art

Yellow Garden Shed

See also "Hubcap Mandalas" and "More Urban Mandalas."

The Only Path to Happiness

According to Saint Therese Couderc, the only way to be happy is to hand oneself over totally to God.

Oh! If people could just understand ahead of time the sweetness and peace that are savored when nothing is held back from the good God! How he communicates himself to the one who seeks him sincerely and has known how to surrender herself. Let them experience it and they will see that here is found the true happiness they are vainly seeking elsewhere.

Watch the video, "To Surrender Oneself," on YouTube, and notice the images of docility to the Spirit of God.

Summer Sky

Summer Evening Sky
(Click to view full-sized.)

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples,
and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

(Psalm 108:3-4)

Bouquet of Fabric Remnants

A Bouquet of Fabric Remnants
(Click photo to view full-sized)

Fill your world with bouquets! Look for the beauty around you and inside you. If you don't have hyacinths or roses, use what life provides.

Lavish in Detail

Yellow-crowned Night Heron by Intracoastal Waterway

If you click on the photo to view it full sized, you will see the intricacies of the heron's feathers. Then gaze on the edge and the patterns in the huge sycamore leaf which dwarfs the bicycle seat on which it is resting.

Dry Sycamore Leaf on Bicycle

Whether in a bird's feathers or a leaf or the double helix of DNA, nature is not parsimonious where detail is concerned.

Lord, how thy wonders are displayed,
where'er I turn my eye,
if I survey the ground I tread,
or gaze upon the sky!

Isaac Watts, "I Sing the Mighty Power of God"