Looking Out or Looking In?

                    
                                         The more I turn outward to others, the
                                         stronger I become within.

To Much Time on My Hands

      

      Weather has been cold, snowy, windy, and icy. That is enough to stay inside and enjoy the warmth of home and hearth. Often times the camera can find nooks and crannies that other wise would not be a usual place to point a camera. Although today, I've had fun with the aspects of camera technique, lighting, and subjects of interest. The above image is certainly and example of time and unusual subject matter; the inside of a Pringle can. Who would of ever thought such a beautiful image could be found in a can?
   On a more reminenct note, this image totally reminded me of my high school days and the reading of Dante's Inferno. I have since then revisited this classic and have a deeper appreciation for Alighieri's Divine Comedy.  This pictures places me in Canto V in which Dante describes Circle Two. He says, "The pit of Hell tapers like a funnel. The circles of ledges accordingly grow smaller as they descend. He continues, "So we went down to the second ledge alone; a smaller circle of so much greater pain the voice of the damned rose in a bestial moan." He describes Circle Two as a place where torrential rains fall ceaselessly, and gales of wind tear though the air. The souls of the damned in this circle swirl about in the wind, swept helplessly through the stormy air.
   The Inferno is as relevant  today as it was eight-hundred years ago, as it sees most universal
 values; good and evil, man's responsibility, free will. Yet it is intensely personal and political, for it was written out of the anguish of a man who saw his life blighted by the injustice and corruption of his time. And today humankind can still fill Dante's Inferno almost a thousand years later! Thanks Dante Alighieri for your genius that  has not lessened in it its appeal, or been obscured by its fame.

Places That Wait

This place:
this place
where you are
right now --
God circled on a map for you.

Wherever,
dear one,
you can move
against this earth and sky,
the Beloved has bowed there,
knowing,
knowing you,
knowing you were coming.

-- Hafiz

Noel

The Beauty of Green and Red

 

 

Blessings for a wonder-filled

holiday season

Winter

"I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

'We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,'
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December."-  
Oliver Herford, I Heard a Bird Sing

Snowscapes

 

 

 

For The Children 12/14/2012

  

The Gift

Somewhere we know that

without silence

words lose their meaning,

that

without listening

speaking no longer heals,

that

without distance

closeness cannot cure.

Henri Nouwen

Whimsical Fun

   

Just 

a little whimsy 

 

   

 

as 

I go about

the day 

 

 

fantasy is

a necessary ingredient

in living 

 

to

find that

 essence

in all

that we seek

 

is a life

filled with

imagination and

possibilities.

 

Fourth Week of Advent

Duality of Mind

"Faith is the bird that

feels the light

when the dawn is still dark."

Rabindranath Tagor

 

I often look at the sparrow as one that is of the most common of birds. Maybe it is that so many inhabit my trees and bushes. Today I have a different appreciation for these little creatures. It to has many beautiful qualities, if I just take time to look and appreciate. Maybe little sparrow is not brilliantly colored, or splendidly fashioned with exquisite markings, but this little bird brings pleasure and delight as I watch her at the feeder, and near her nesting spots taking care of her young. This sparrow to has a spot in the creation of our being, and recognizing that this place is one of contentment,  pleasure, joy, and appreication for all of God's blessings is a blessing in itself. No matter how small, or trivial one may think something is, there is always the interconnectedness that belongs to all things that live on this planet. It is only in our minds that something, someone, or some situation is labeled and looked at from our own lenses that we see things as they are not. So as I look at this beautiful sparrow, I truly have come to have a different feeling and perspective on how the lenses I look through can bring a change in thought and understanding of what each and everything gives to life if I am open to seeing.

Third Week of Advent

    The following image was taken about a year ago, and it has been sitting in the archived pictures hoping I would find and appropriate time to use it. That time has come the third week of Advent!  The above oil painting is a family heirloom from the Krettek family, and is a recreation of a section of one of Raphael's masterpieces. The painting is Madonna and Child, which hangs in a lovely church in a small town here in Iowa. What a beautiful reminder of what advent is about, and the waiting and anticipation of our beloved Savior.
     Lately, I've been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Love Letters From Cell 92, written during his imprisonment by the Nazi regime. In his letters,  I find  many reasons why Advent is that special time of the year, for me, that has been unspoiled by the commercialism of Christmas.  His quote below sums up the true meaning of this season. I hope you agree.

     “Dear Maria—I think that we’re going to have an exceptionally good Christmas. . . I used to be very fond of thinking up and giving presents, but now that we have nothing to give, the gift God gave us in the birth of Christ will seem all the more glorious: the emptier our hands, the better we understand. . . The poorer our quarters, the more clearly we perceive that our hearts should be Christ’s home on earth.”  Letters from Cell 92.

Words

 

     

 

    

 

   From the very beginning when the first words were uttered, the ability to communicate has played an important role in our world. Whether within our own thoughts, spoken or written, words have the power to transform the world we live in. Love, laughter, heroism, friendship, and virtually every emotion we feel as human beings can be inspired by words. Unfortunately, fear, anger, and hatred, can also be invoked by words. Language is at its best when used to inspire others to find the best in themselves.
  I once read that a word is like a living organism, capable of growing, changing, spreading, and influencing the world in many ways, directly and indirectly through others. I never thought about a word being 'alive' but then I thought of words spoken 3,000 years ago, written down and passed through many generations, and they seem quite alive when read or spoken today, having lived 3,000 years. As I ponder the power of the word to incite and divide, to calm and connect, or to create and effect change, it is always good to remember words can make all the difference.

Gratitude for Life

 

 

“In ordinary life

we hardly realize that

we receive a great deal more than we give,

and that it is only with gratitude

that life becomes rich.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

1906-1945
Letters from Prison

Challenge

What Fills Your Christmas Stocking?

                                          "When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?"
                                                                  GK Chesterton


  Lately I've been reading from GK Chesterton's works. The Everlasting Man, and Saint Thomas Aguinas and Saint Frances of Assisi. Chesterton was an enormous man with an enormous mind.
If you have not read any of his works, or pondered any of his quotes and paradoxes, I hope you will become a fan of his works as I have become. A brilliant writer and spiritual thinker which brings me to the above quote. My first impression was. "Well, that is silly!" But the more I pondered the less silly it became, and the more serious approach I took to the meaning. How often do I take for granted my life, my health, and general well being. I thought a minute and reflected on those that have lost limbs, do to injury, disease, or other maladys. Then I realized how grateful and thankful that God has" filled my stockings with legs." Legs that can walk, run, help others, feel tired, fell inspired, or just feel at rest. There are many things that I take for granted daily, and I need to stop and remember for the grace of God therefore I go.

Frugality

                 Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying.The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things.

    
         We must rapidly begin to shift from a "thing oriented" society to a "person oriented" society. When machines and computers profit motives and property rights are considered more impotant than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
                                                          ~Martin Luther King ~

      I find these images intriguing because at sometime someone treasured there existence, now discarded to stand the time of rust and neglect. I look at this heap of someone's discarded treasures and think for a couple of years there was satisfaction. Then something else came along to grab their "wants", and later on the same want finds a new "thing" and soon people are trapped, and the things they used to own now own them. This eventually brings unhappiness as things are only a momentary fix. Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see a bird that had the blues? One reason birds and horses are not unhappy is they are not trying to impress other birds and horses. Our culture today, at least in the Western traditions, places much emphasis on impressing. Seeking perfection which  cannot be had, and looking for it where they will never find it. Economy, and a simple life are the sure masters of need, and will often accomplish that which their opposites, with a fortune at hand, will fail to do.

Second Week of Advent

                                            

          Yes is the Answer

 

                 Zechariah laughed before stuttering yes nine months later.

                 Elizabeth's baby boy kicked yes against her surprise.

                 Trembling Mary opened her life to yes.

                 Embarrassed, Joseph embaraced yes.

                 The wise men mapped yes by traveling far.

                 The shepherds nodded yes as they followed the star.

                 The angel chours sang in unison yes.

                 John the Baptist almost missed saying yes.

                 The disciples lost everything by saying yes.

                 Judas kissed yes as a trick.

                 The thief died sighing yes.

                 Mary Magdalene's perfume spilled yes across history.

                 The Samaritan women nodded yes to living water.

                  Paul's yes restored his vision.

                 The bleeding woman secretly touched yes.

                 Yes to mud and spit cured the blind man's eyes.

                  Lazarus wept yes as he untangled death.

                 The children smiled and nuzzled yes on his lap.

                 He breathed yes when he left home to show us love.

                 While preparing and waiting this second week of Advent

                  I say YES. 

                 

         

Yes, Virginia

Beyond Form

 

The shape of night,
the shape of day,
the shape of color,
the shape of us.
What holds all this?
Who made this miraculous mold
and then too, cast everything.
Imagine the form
that poured all forms,
and then try to conceive the Being
that whittled out the Holy Spirit
from a single thought
that took over the Inconceivable.
What can entwine all this in its arms?
What a container that must be!

-- Hafiz

The Stairway To?

  As I was looking through my archived images, this photo I found has appeal in the beauty of its abstraction.  It is the mix of patterns, colors,  balance, perspective, and the reflective surfaces -- everything about it. Maybe it is the expression of beauty that is the manifestation of the creative energy that flows through all things.. Everything in our world has different aspects of being. In photography, the photographer is always looking for light, shadows, angles, unusual subject matter, and the heart felt appeal to the subject. What I like most about the abstractness of this image, is that there is not one conclusion,  not one right answer, it is left up to the individual to interpret and feel what is speaking to them. I liken this to our Lord, God that also has parts of this image entwined in the essence of this concept. It is the beauty of form that lifts our eyes beyond the commonplace. In Joan Chittisler book The Illuminated Life she says, " We must remove the clutter from our lives, surround ourselves with beauty, and consciously, relentlessly, persistently, give it away until the tiny world from which we ourselves are responsible begins to reflect the raw beauty that God is."

 

So I find these images here, like the works of art in museums whose subjects feed my eyes and soul.




















 

To Stop and Appreciate

 

 

 

 

 

 

I watched her for quite a while -- she was actually enjoying  splashing about and grooming herself, and was quite entertaining; a real bright spot in the day. Which leads me to this quote from John Kehoe's book, The Practice of Happiness:

"We need to remind ourselves that many pleasurable moments exist each day in our life. Understanding this, we make a decision to start noticing them. We take a few seconds here, a moment there, to stop and appreciate the small joys and beauty in our lives. And far from it being a chore, we find ourselves refreshed by this simple practice."

So,  when you look around what small joys are helping to refresh you today?

First Week of Advent

    Advent is here again, which for myself is the call to once again attempt to wrap my head around the mystery of the Incarnation. It seems that every year, that is the increasing focus of my spiritual energies during this season, to press deeper into the heart of the Magnum Mysterium. I can say my progress is ongoing, but allure of the journey is always and ever there. Advent is a time of waiting, just as the Father waited for his son to return home after a life of wild living.

  In my latest readings I've been intrigued with Simone Weil's writings from her notebook The Specter of Self Perpetuating  Force. In it she writes this about Advent." Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life. Without patience our expectations degenerates into wishful thinking.
 Patience ... the Latin root patior which means to suffer... is what seems a hindrance becomes a way...what seems an obstacle becomes a door...what seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone. I see a parallel between the thirty-three years our Lord  walked this earth, to our own daily lives. We also have hindrances that have become a "way", an obstacle that has become a "door", and the "cornerstone" for which Advent is all about,  we are still patiently awaiting. Have a blessed Advent season.