WORDLESS WEDNESDAY 10.12.14

Sharing some Christmas Spirit this ~ Wordless Wednesday ~





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WEEKEND REFLECTION: WINDSOR CASTLE DOUBLE TAKE 23.5.14

Windsor England

Double reflection in this Double Decker's windscreen.
Windsor street reflection in the main window.
Windsor Castle reflected in the upper deck windscreen.
* Appreciation to James for inspiring and hosting !
My contribution to this WEEKEND's REFLECTIONS ~
[find it on FB HERE ]
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Weekend Reflections rules are simple:
1) Post a photograph taken by you that contains a visual refection.
2) Add your name, country and link to LinkyTools
3) Be sure that your link goes directly to your Weekend Reflections post.
4) Link Weekend Reflections to your post so others will know
where to connect if they want to join
5) Comment on other Weekend Reflections participant’s blogs.
Feel free to be creative.
Remember this meme is for any type of reflection photograph. Water,glass,metal,eyes,etc, Reflections can be found almost anywhere.

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This meme runs Friday 11 am EST through 11:59pm Sunday.  
Feel free to link your post anytime within that time frame. 

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Join the fun!




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SPRING: HOPE's DIVINE POSSIBILITY 23.4.14

In the Hebrew scriptures the promise of God's abundance is often conceived of
as blossoming in the desert.
In that harsh landscape, a flower bursting forth from the dry land is a symbol of
divine generosity, fruitfulness, and hope.   * #Hope is a stance of radical openness to the God of newness and #possibility. {tweetable}
* When we #hope, we acknowledge that God has an imagination far more expansive than we do. {tweetable}
* The fertility of spring speaks of an abundantly creative God who is at the source of the potent life force beating at the heart of the world. Created in God's image, we are called to participate in this generous creativity ourselves. Our own blossoming leads us to share our gifts in service to others. * Take time this week to meditate with gratitude on a flower, appreciating all of its qualities of beauty, how it simply is what it was created to be. Allow yourself to fill with joyful gratitude for the gifts of the earth. Open yourself to experience the fullness of this flower and all of the ways God delights in the beauty of blossoms.

Then shift your focus from the flower to yourself. Take this sense of wonder and awe at the beauty of the flower and imagine how God gazes with delight on the beauty of who you are.
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What aspects of your being can you imagine God relishing? What are the longings inside of you God is asking you to embrace?[Tweet]

Rest in this awareness of the joy and delight of God in your own beautiful blossoming for several minutes. Notice what new longings it stirs in you.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.~Marcel Proust [Tweet]

Perhaps you'd like to share your exploration and discoveries.
Please accept this as your personal Invitation to Poetry and/or Photography .

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With April comes a new Invitation for Contemplation. In the northern hemisphere, spring is slowly arriving with birdsong and blooming. Wherever we live on this beautiful planet, we can tend to the flowering that happens within after a season of fallowness. The outer seasons become a mirror for our inner experience.
The text with which we are praying this month is from the Hebrew wisdom book the
Song of Songs, which the ancient rabbis called "the holy of holies."
"Arise and bloom" is our theme,
tending to the ways our hearts and souls are breaking forth into blossom
after a season of fallowness and stillness.

I invite you to set aside some time this week to pray with the text below.  See these Lectio Divina guidelines.

Lean into silence, pray the text, listen to what shimmers, allow the images and memories to unfold, tend to the invitation, and then sit in stillness.

For see, the winter is past,

the rains are over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth,

the time of pruning the vines has come,

and the song of the dove is heard in our land.

The fig tree puts forth its figs,

and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.

Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,

and come!   —Song of Songs 2:11-13

After you have prayed with the text (and feel free to pray with it more than once – 

St. Ignatius wrote about the deep value of repetition in prayer, especially when something feels particularly rich) spend some time journaling what insights arise for you.

~ from  Christine Valters Paintner -
  Abbey of the Arts *

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- HollyGerth -
- Thought Provoking Thursday -
- Essential Fridays -
- Make a Difference Mondays - - Woman to Woman -
- Hope in Every Season -
- Faith Filled Friday -
- Sunday Community -
- Weekend Brew -

- Natasha in Oz Say G'day -

DOWNTOWN WINTER'S DAWN: WORDLESS WEDNESDAY PHOTO PLAY 26.2.14

waking to a -33C dawn on a wintry downtown morning . . .
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"He spreads snow like a white fleece,
    he scatters frost like ashes,
He broadcasts hail like birdseed—
    who can survive his winter?
Then he gives the command and it all melts;
    he breathes on winter—suddenly it’s spring!"
  * Psalm 147.15-18 The Message


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*STILL SATURDAY*   *CREATE WITH JOY* 

*SATURDAY SNAPSHOT* 

                                                     *PINK SATURDAY at BEV's* 

*THE SUNDAY COMMUNITY*    *SUNLIT SUNDAY*  *SCRIPTUREANDASNAPSHOT*

Review: Grace's Pictures: An Ellis Island Novel -by Cindy Thomson

Grace's Pictures
an Ellis Island Novel by Cindy Thomson

* Grace's Pictures Book 1 of Cindy Thomson's Ellis Island Series
Published June 2013
Tyndale House Publishers
 * Author Cindy Thomson's intriguing thoughts that initiated the novel:   The legacies of those who came before us has always enthralled me.  I am interested in history and how the events impacted us.  In Grace's Pictures the introduction of the Brownie Camera changed photography forever.  Now everyone had access and could snap pictures at will. What if that got someone in trouble?

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Grace McCaffery hopes the bustling streets of New York hold all the promise the lush hills of Ireland did not. As her efforts to earn enough money to bring her mother to America fail, she wonders if her new Brownie camera could be the answer. But a casual stroll through a beautiful New York City park turns into a hostile run-in with local gangsters, who are convinced her camera holds the first and only photos of their elusive leader.

A policeman with a personal commitment to help those less fortunate finds Grace attractive and longs to help her, but Grace believes such men cannot be trusted. Spread thin between her quest to rescue her mother, do well in a new nanny job, and avoid the gang intent on intimidating her, Grace must put her faith in unlikely sources to learn the true meaning of courage and forgiveness. - Tyndale House Publishers backcover

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Fascinating look into the life of Grace, a newly arrived Irish immigrant to America, at the turn of the century in 1900-1901. The effects of her father's emotional and psychological abuse have long lasting and far reaching effects. At nineteen she is still dealing with the emotional scars and valiantly battling the lies that rise to confront her every step into her future in this new land.

I longed for Grace to make the right choices. To stand up strong. To learn to trust. To believe God's truth about her, so well put in her mother's mantra, "I am smart. I am important. I am able." that sustains her, until the final revelation in her ma's song over her as a child. From Be Thou My Vision, " Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one".  The final recognition that her earthly father's constant criticism didn't determine her worth. Her heavenly Father's perspective is what mattered.

Leaving behind a life spent in the workhouse, longing for safety in her new country, Grace finds a haven at her home provided by the Benevolents.  But not outside that home. Greed of landlords taking advantage of immigrants' housing needs, corruption amongst the police force, predators on naive and needy newcomers. Grace's own belittling experiences during hiring and poor treatment by employers whilst working as a maid; finding her way in every new area of life - massive adjustments, relational misunderstandings, confrontations, and losses, yet Grace perseveres. 

And we're treated to the inside story of her courageous journey.

Her fascination with being photographed upon entry at Ellis Island leads to personal growth and joy once she pursues the hobby. A mailorder magazine ad offering the Kodak Brownie camera for $1 definitely brings it within her reach.  With the instruction book included along with 2 rolls of film, Grace is set. Yet this too proves unsafe when she photographs the wrong members of NY society. Stalked, pursued and harassed Grace faces dangerous consequences. 

No, definitely not the safe country she hoped for and believed she'd found.

One insightful moment in the book  grabbed me personally.  

Irish policeman, Owen's, revelation on 'waiting'.

Whilst taking comfort in Psalm 106, Owen read of the Hebrew ancestors who wouldn't wait for Adonai's counsel, coming into trouble as a result .  This settled his own responses to confusing life choices . 

It impacted me likewise in the reading.

A full story of Grace's experiences, suspense, and subplots.  

All bring the story to the loveliest romantically subtle closing. 

I re-read it several times just to repeat the enjoyment!

Great summer reading addition for those who like their historical stories with realistic details, authentic characters, and a side of romance... 

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*Thank you to Tyndale House Publishers for providing an ebook copy to read and review without obligation.

*Reviewed for the TYndale Summer Reading Program  and  * Tyndale Rewards Program of Free books and audiobooks.  Receive your 1st 25 Rewards points FREE by joining HERE *

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Eyes of the Heart: Discovering God Through a Camera Lens

"...to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."
-Georgia O'Keefe
I loved this quote and its impact regarding the material of Eyes of the Heart. 

It's a book of process. Process takes time...

The first 2 chapters introduce the reader to the idea and practice of 

receiving images from the world around us, 

as gifts to us for inner exploration. 

Next chapter introduced shadow and light as spiritual dimensions 

we can view through the lens as well as our personal interior. 

By chapter 4 we were exploring framing and reframing 

ourselves and our self-stories 

just as we frame and reframe our photo subjects. 

Colour, our inspiration for chapter 5.
Creative sources of reflections of the holy in our world for chapter 6. 

Self-portraits, our chapter 7 topic. 

Chapter 8 ties it all together; God is in our seeing. 

Open the eyes of our heart to see the Divine Presence everywhere. 

To live in awe and wonder.

Supporting quotes open each chapter, 

in depth instructional material plus each chapter provides multiple activities 

for interaction to deepen the learning opportunities; 

to enrich the inner growth available through intentional practice. 

eg. Go walking. 

What images evoke/reflect your deepest dreams/longings/wishes/hopes...? 

or scripture passages to contemplate, journal and apply.

“..every photo we make is in some way a self-portrait,
b/c it reveals something about how we see the world.”
What are our photos saying about us?
“In a sense your photographs are your autobiography.” –Dorothea Lange.
Everyday objects can symbolically represent the self.
For me, the teacup icons I use are a self portrait.
Stacks of books another.  In fact,
more representational of me than a single dimension photo visage.

Here is a book intent on breaking down the perpetuation of our false self that wants
“to create only images beautiful in the eyes of others
or ‘marketable’ rather than truthful.”
We must discover our true self –
 ‘who I am beneath the accolades and achievements’.
What desires has God planted in my heart?
The exercises included are designed for just such discoveries.

Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice 

is a personable guide to a life of awareness lived centered in calm and stillness 

rather than knocked off course by reactive emotions. 

I highly recommend it for those who desire to live at a deeper than surface level. 

For those who pray, "Lord, open the eyes of my heart"...




*My appreciation to Ave Maria Press for providing an ebook copy for review without obligation. 

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Friday 5: Creative Play Time!

May Play !

Rev Gal Pat Raube has set our play for this Friday Five as follows: 

It's May! And it smells so good outside.
I can close my eyes and remember the golden hours after dinner
as the days grew later and later, and we got to play outside until called home.
It makes me want to go outside right now and play!

Of course, not all of us are in the northern hemisphere...
plenty of RevGals and Pals are experiencing a season that is turning cold and blustery.

So to all of you, wherever you may be,
how will you (or would you like to) play this month?

1. Tell about your favourite outdoor play

Playing outdoors for me it's either bbq with family
or with a great book on a balmy sun-filled beach

Books + Beauty!

2. Tell about your favourite indoor play
Ahhh - creating and books it is!

Latest creations looking like these and in colours of your choice

[contact me if interested]
and for book play?
Ignore the housework; get lost playing in another time and place.

If friends are available, then it's out to find some new nook

for a wee 'spot o' tae'...

3. Tell about a game you (or your friends) created

Finding a 'new to us' cozy corner for our next lunch out

is all that's coming to mind

[probably being up before I'm really up!]

4. Tell about a game that is new to you

Intentionally viewing my landscape for its spiritual import.

Then photographing to record what I've received.

Practicing a way of seeing with the eyes of my heart...

5. Tell how you would like to incorporate play into your workday

I would like to begin combining 

beautiful backgrounds with scripture for using online.

Which could be printed as well, I'm sure.

Thanks for the Friday FuN , Rev Pat!

That's it! Tell us if you've played this game in the comments. 

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