An Off-the-cuff inspiration ~
(don't expect much!)



Sunlight seems so happy
As it touches
With deft fingers
The contented lawns
And placid homes
Of the constant neighborhoods,
Those that seem to just stay
In a permanent fashion.
"They'll outlive us all, like
the cockroaches and twinkies!"



Sunlight seems so happy
With its bounce
Off shiny leaves
Its habit of iridescence
On petals
Its spherical rainbows
So tiny
On blades of drench-y grass



Indomitable in its cheerfulness,
I fall victim to its mood
And need no better reason
Than it.

Light is Heaven's magic~
Let it saturate.

You've gotta read this book







I've been telling simply everyone to read "The Work", by Byron Katie ~ so now, I'm telling you (if I haven't already)!
She gives you 4 simple questions to ask yourself, when you're going through a rough time, or are unhappy or mad or sad or any other negative emotion, about something.



If you want the quick run-through, go to her website and watch her videos~ really, this woman has hit on something very, very good! It's simple, yet it works.

I was talking about it yesterday with a friend who happens to be a psychologist, and he was very interested when I told him the 4 questions, said it was very, very good. He was impressed, and that kind of validated what I'd experienced for myself! This works.

Enjoy the ride
A reminder...



...Enjoy every moment possible~
even traffic jams!

Wordless Wednesday: today
(both blogs)

Insistent moon



I went to visit friends who had lost a mother/grandmother/mother-in-law quite suddenly, and found in their home a soft grace, a peace that was contagious. I felt a sort of smoothed-out joy in their presence, the sense that all was well, in the face of genuine grief. ~ How powerful is grace in washing us down with peace!
This family is a godly, warm family, and I was glad to see they were experiencing some of this prayed-for grace for themselves. I hope with all in me that it continues to stay with them!

Moonlight over Cincy
After my visit, I went up to the nearby Cincinnati Christian University, and took these shots of the moon and skyline and river, the city lights blurring through a steambath of waves coming up from the factories bordering the town's edge nearest me.

I went home, the moon followed~ I ended up sitting on my porch steps, two new pink New Dawn roses budding over my head, the first of the season, merely to absorb the air and the trees and the roses (is there anything more lyrical than roses in moonlight?) and that fascinating moon.

There were sounds around me of the city~ distant motors, the people next door playing retro songs in their back yard 'beer garden' ~ yet, they couldn't stop that moon.

I noticed that nature has its own special way of getting through to us, no matter what tries to wall us off from it.
Which is a very good thing!~

A centered calm



The first time I noticed it was when I was reading about taking a moment to center. I automatically converted that into a thought of centering my attention on God.
~ I stay oriented to God as much as possible because of the "health benefits"~ it makes my life go better.

As soon as I paid attention and centered myself on God, that quiet little moment unwrapped as something new and very special to me~ an orienting to a wisdom that was new to me in its quality, yet recognizable as holy, an aesthetic that was almost palpable, a refined calm that was very soothing to be in.
It felt as if I were in a 'closer' center, one more stable and lower to the earth, or to something unmoving and permanent, with more of that genuine stillness that is so completely scrumptious to me! ~ An essence of God.

Softly-edged swirls
I could picture it as being made of soft, transparent waves all around me, very clear, very soft~ like a river made of liquid, slightly frosted crystal, pliable and giving. But instead of the view through this liquid crystal being blurred up and misty, it was clearer than the view above it!
(Very enjoyable to experience!)

My thoughts became measured, unhurried, full of that guided wisdom that had nothing to do with my own unharnessed mind. ~
But you know how I love to 'borrow wisdom' from God, and receive that kind of high-quality guidance! Who doesn't? It breathes calm solutions to a troubled, rumpled-up mind!

When I unfocused my attention from it, it eased to the background.
But it was there again, when I went back to it~ still waiting for me, still ready with warm support.

So much heaven
I've been settling into that mindset whenever I think of it, drawn more and more to it as I learn the delicious value of being able to find meaningful words, well-chosen. By this time, I'd like to stay here all the time!
I can lean on this aspect of God's guidance, depend on it to make life something better and deeper than it would be, with just me at the helm.

There is exquisite refinement here, and a profound tranquility, a calm that affords me the opportunity to say the right thing; and wouldn't life be so much easier if I could always do that?

Wordless Wednesday: Aster's Antics
(both blogs)

My Saturday in pictures
(both blogs)

Scattering Stars



“We come spinning out of nothingness,
scattering stars like dust”.
~ Jalal ad-Din Rumi

A beautiful mind begets a beautiful world
(both blogs)



I've been working on incorporating new habits into my thinking these days, things that are given to help me get more beauty and a full amount of real living out of my life! I'll share these "new essentials" here ~

Time with God is still key, for me, I realize that more all the time. I have to have enough solitude and orientation on God to fill me up fully, inside!
Silence is God's first language, and it's also the heart's language. My heart has to have that time.

I'm keeping an open heart to the romantic and extraordinary that God is trying to show me, each day. Daily life can be full of wonderful things, if we only look for them!

I'm building the habit of mentally sending Divine Love out ahead of me and allowing all the good things to come back to me through It.
I bless everyone and everything with all good things!

I celebrate the baby steps! Those are the nondescript beginnings that can reach far greater heights than we imagine.

Fall down, get back up, forgive yourself.

I want to surround myself with beautiful things! Not just beautiful, also meaningful to me.~

Life is an adventure~ the spiritual path to God is the Greatest adventure!



I don't forget what Jesus has done for me~ where could I find a better, more patient, more giving Friend? We built up a relationship together that is priceless to me.

Joyful living!
I want to be easy-going and unclinched in the face of all my responsibilities. I want to live my life with passion and enthusiasm! I want to have bullet-proof faith, strong as a diamond, to face my days with laughter and a hope with real substance behind it!

A beautiful mind begets a beautiful life. ~ I want to be better in all those basic, decent ways of love. Kindness, peace, grace, maturity, forgiveness, unselfishness. All those things that can make life pastoral.

Creative energy, always! It's an integral part of my life, it will continue to be important. A perfect weekend always has a spark of this shining through like a comet!



Always, the courage to dream and ask God for more good stuff!

Reiki II
(both blogs)
The class was going to last two days, so the dear nuns put us in guest rooms...



From this window, I could see the treetops of the Sisters Hill Preserve I love so much, the river, the forest that contains the cemetery grounds, and the vast sky.



(Sorry about the pattern on the photo, I took them through a screen window)

I watched the sky and river change to seashell shades of ethereal white, grey, rose, like satin, as the sun set. (sorry, no photos~ I was too caught up in it to think of getting my camera out!)

I took photos and a video of their beautiful chapel...



If you click on it, you can see more photos and the video on my flickr pages. On the video, I actually had the audio on~ so you can hear how quiet it was in there!
Through much of this, I was the only one in there, and the silence was majestic.

While I was in there, a diminuative, elderly nun came in, and came towards me.
As she approached, I thought wildly, "Oh, no!, what if picture-taking isn't allowed?"
What if Protestants aren't allowed to?
The No-Protestant Zone.
(Ok, think fast, Christine ~ try to look Catholic! Look Catholic, look catho~ oof, here she is!)

She said, "If you come back at 3, the lights will be on and you'll be able to see it all better!"

How kind! ~

There are beautiful works of art throughout the Motherhouse~ you should see it. I really should take more photos of them!

In the early morning, I was (surprisingly) up, and got to watch the fog roll up from the river, landing in the nearby cemetery before making its way to Heaven. :)



During another class break (by the way, I passed the course, and am now totally a Reiki practitioner! Woohoo!), the Sister who is our Yoda told us that there is a prayer labyrinth up near the cemetary sacred grounds that we could visit, if we liked.



So, only a week after first seeing one (Olivia Newton-John's, in the "Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" dvd), I was walking one!
So cool~

The world is a beautiful place.