The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are 
many dark places.
But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands,
love is now  mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps,
the greater"--JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers

photo taken in Feeding Hills, MA

Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.

--George Whitefield

Where Many Paths and Errands Meet...

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone, 
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."
--"JRR Tolkien--The Fellowship of the Ring"

Never Laugh at Live Dragons.....

"Never laugh at live dragons"--Bilbo Baggins, "The Hobbit" 

photo taken at Bishop's Castle, Rye, Colorado

The Light at the End of the Alley

"The light at the end of the alley, the sunset at the end of the mountain day,
silently speaking of things way beyond themselves, things we can't quite 
reach, but can sense within,  things of which we catch but a fleeting glimpse. 
The road ahead is filled with that which will cause wonder and cause 
us to wonder.  But tonight, here it is right before me. 

--photo taken in Colorado Springs, CO

The Stability of Trees....Learning to Live in the Place You are Planted!

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do. I feel as if this tree knows everything I ever think of when I sit here. When I come back to it, I never have to remind it of anything; I begin just where I left off.”  --Willa Cather --"O Pioneers"

O world as God as made it! All is beauty!

O world as God has made it! All is beauty! --Robert Browning

--photo taken in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Friends, Dwell in the Living Spirit

"Friends, Dwell in the Living Spirit, and quench not the motion of it in yourselves, nor the movings of it in others; though many have run out and gone beyond their measures, yet many more have quenched the measure of the Spirit of God; and have become dead and dull  and have questioned through a false fear; so there has been hurt both ways. Therefore, be obedient to the power of the Lord  and His Spirit; war with the Philistine that would stop up your well and your springs." --George Fox, Quaker, 1683

photo taken of morning mist on Lake Quantabacook, Searsmont, ME

Spring Brings With It Hope

Spring brings with it hope, 

an opening of the heart to kinder Rays, 

and thus uncurl and unfold in beauteous ways,

our souls to warm and greener days of May....

photo taken in Ambleside, UK

The Serene Beauty of a Holy Life

Next to the might of God, the serene beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence for good. ~ Evangelist D. L. Moody (1837-1899) 

photo of pelican in Sebastian, Florida

Trees and Snow, Wind and Cold, Cry Out Their Praises to God

A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship.  But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease.  Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves --John Muir

pine trees after a snow storm, Easthampton, MA

                            Depart from the highway, and transplant thyself in some enclosed ground,

   for it is hard for a tree that stands by the wayside to keep its fruit until it be ripe. ---John Chrysostom

It's a nice time of year to retreat and allow the Lord to fill us back up....far

from the 'madding crowd...

lovely snow falling from pines....Easthampton, MA 

Moments of Opportunity!

the sunset tonight was incredible, there and then swiftly gone....

"I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, a tiny sliver of one hour. I dripped it carelessly, Ah! I didn't know, I held opportunity."
--Hazel Lee

"Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."
Galatians 6:10

The Soul of God Shouting for Joy!

"Where others see but the dawn coming over the hill...I see the soul of God shouting for joy."

~~William Blake

photo taken at Sacred Heart Church, Feeding Hills, MA

The Indwelling Truth in Presence & Power --George MacDonald

Our Lord had no design of constructing a system of truth in intellectual forms. The truth of the moment in its relation to him, The Truth, was what he spoke. He spoke out of a region of realities which he knew could only be suggested—not represented—in the forms of intellect and speech. With vivid flashes of life and truth his words invade our darkness, rousing us with sharp stings of light to will our awaking, to arise from the dead and cry for the light which he can give, not in the lightning of words only, but in indwelling presence and power.

How, then, must the truth fare with those who, having neither glow nor insight, will build intellectual systems upon the words of our Lord, or of his disciples? ....

 To men who are not simple, simple words are the most inexplicable of riddles.

[George MacDonald, unwritten sermons I: "I shall not be forgiven", p 24 of this link]


photo taken in West Suffield, CT.
 

Walking Slowly with The Three Mile an Hour God

I came across this lovely reflection....I dont know anything about the author, but he sure hit the truth!  originally published by Lawrence Denef

The Three Mile an Hour God

by

Lawrence Denef  (referring to Kosuke Kayama's famous term).
 

"A while ago I was in Tokyo for a Lutheran World Federation conference on "Mission in the City." The crowds in the streets, at the airports, on the subways, were like those in Ottawa on the first of July. One was literally shoved into and out of buses and buildings. Often we were able to see only the blur of persons in motions; we saw no faces.

 

In his opening remarks, the keynote speaker at the conference, a Japanese theologian, asked us to reflect on the speed at which we are living.

"The context in which most persons live is fast-moving urban life, with its noise, its hustle and bustle, its dominant impersonal relationships," he noted.

"People no longer see one another with faces, but as numbers and replaceable units in productive processes and systems."

After a pause, he contrasted our speed with God's pace. "Our God," he said, "is a three-mile-an-hour God."

 

That is the speed at which humans walk. That is the speed at which Jesus wended his way through Galilee -- touching the ill, chatting with widows, pausing in marketplaces to observe children at play, plucking grain in the fields on a sabbath day.

 

"The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath," he said. "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it," he said. "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up and take your mat and walk'?" he said.

We were created in the image of a three-mile-an-hour God, and we have been called to be partners in ministry with a three-mile-an-hour God.

 

There will be no growth among us unless we stop running: no increase in understanding, no growth in faith, no sight for the blind, no help for the poor, no compassion for the outcast (and, for that matter, no increase in the numbers of the faithful) -- unless we stop running.

This world on the run needs people who are moving slowly enough to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice; people who are moving slowly enough to notice smiles of joy and tears of sorrow; People who are moving slowly enough to reach out to those in pain, to comfort those in suffering, to offer hope to those in despair.

An amazing observation! May we slow down and walk along with Jesus!

P.S. oddly I found out that Kosuke Kayama, passed away in a hospital very near to where I live. Since he was from Japan and I live in New England, I find that amazing! 

    

photo taken in Catskill, New York

Letting God Rescue Us : A Lakeside Fish Tale

Recently, I was at the lakeside home of a friend. With the really, really hot and oppressive temperatures we have had here in New England, it was
nice to sit by the lake and just relax, until, well.  What you need to know is
that I have spent a good deal of my adult life doing dog rescue, and had even  
met this particular friend through our many years of saving dogs from unnecessarily premature deaths. I have tried to put the "rescue" part in a much smaller part of my life but somehow it keeps popping up. So now it is  fish rescue.

The tale unfolds thus: 

There is a tiny stream that feeds into the lake on my friend's property. It gradually slopes down from the road into the lake, with little pockets that
fill up with water when it rains or water drains into it. Well, OK, so another
friend and I were relaxing nicely until she saw that some little fish had
been caught in the stream pockets that were rapidly drying up and extremely hot. So on went the rescue hats!  We spent quite awhile trying to rescue the little ones from impending death. The "quite awhile" part came because the small fish were either unaware of their certain doom or were aware of it but still content to stay where they were and hope for the best.

They would do their utmost to hide from us, and with trying to find them, a lot
of silt muddied the water, making it worse for all of us.  We could see the
dead bodies of two fish whose little pondette had already dried up. Too late! 
And we knew time was of the essence for the others.  One by one we captured them and put them in the lake, running quickly lest they jump out of the net
to another kind of demise. They fought us all the way, flipping and jumping
out of the little mesh screen we used to try and scoop them up with. But then, 
as they were put in the large lake, after a few minutes of adjustment and 
gill-full of fresh oxygen, they darted merrily into the depths. 

I started to think about this and suddenly knew God was trying to show me
something.  These little fish had set off in a spirit of adventure and ended
up getting trapped in a stifling pool that was drying up. Yet, they fought
those who would try to help them out and hid from them.  Slowly, they would suffocate if they did not get out.  They were determined but we were also determined because we knew what they did not know.  

How much is this like our life with God? We often set out in search of 
new ground, not knowing its dangers. We end up, off track, trapped in a small pool that will slowly suffocate us. God comes to rescue us, putting His Hands underneath us and scooping us out of the situation back into the expansive and wonderful depths of the Big Lake, and yet we try to evade Him and flip out of His Hands. Our little world has become stifling but there we sit in it, our original sense of adventure drying up with every passing minute because we are getting less and less oxygen to think and act clearly!  Our sense of self-preservation can sometimes work completely against us.

In our lives with God, there is time we must be willing to get out of our stifling, rotting ponds--waters that we may have gotten into because of our own silliness or even our good intentions, but from which God must rescue us or we will die. Let us trust His hands in the changes He brings us to. They are surely meant for our good--to bring life to us.  And let us, too, be aware of the little ones around us who are inches away from death, those who, also, need God's rescue, 'til we all swim happily in that Big Ocean of God in the sky. :)

          
 

Wearing Out the Saints of the Most High

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Daniel 7:25


The prophet Daniel writes these words as he sees future events unfolding to him in  a vision scarier
than a horror movie. He is greatly agitated because this is not a movie, but a warning and a preview
of what will happen in the latter days. Daniel sees the Antichrist rising, and he sees these two things:
that the Antichrist will "speak great words against the Most High" and "shall wear out the saints of the most  High."  These words are written for our benefit and we need to take heed to what it is they
are warning us about.

The enemy of our souls has many techniques that he uses against the saints of God.  In this verse
it says that he shall "wear out" the saints of the most High.  Life can be a long journey. We start
out well, but the question is, will we finish well? It is question we all must prepare to answer with a
resounding "yes!"   It is the strategy of the devil, even now, to wear us out, bit by bit, without our
noticing how drained we have gotten. And from the looks of it, he is winning a lot of ground. Jesus tells us, in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25), that five were very foolish and did not labor to prepare for the long period of darkness that came while they were waiting for the bridegroom. The darkness was longer than they expected and took more preparation then they realized

In this parable Jesus places both the responsibility of preparation and the blame of  not preparing, on the virgins themselves. So in this it is important to see that while the devil is our enemy, we are the ones who decide what will happen to us.

The Antichrist (and the apostle John has told us that many antichrists are already in the world at work) will wear out or wear down the saints.  Have you ever been so tired that you could make no
effort? Have you ever been so discouraged that you could not get up? God gives to His servants
all that they need to accomplish His will. But that impartation can be whittled away. How does this happen? In several ways! In the first part of verse 25 it says that the Antichrist will speak "great words against the most High."

Even now many words are spoken against the most high and we feel the affects of them.  People live in godless ways and speak of godless things. In Ezekiel 13, God speaks against false prophets who speak in such a way that the righteous are made sad and discouraged:  "Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life " (Ezekiel 13:7) . Here it is not even the heathen that are speaking with  ungodliness but false prophets who say they are from God! Let the reader ponder this!

To hear things that grieve the heart of God, and to see things that grieve the heart of God wears
upon the souls of the godly.  This exposure to evil is not going away and is promised to increase as we near the day of the Lord's victorious return,  so we must learn to guard our hearts with the truth that God will soon blow away the wicked and His kingdom of goodness will be an everlasting one. The problem and effects of evil will be with us until the Lord's coming but we must see past the temporal and encourage our hearts in the eternal.

A second way that we are worn down is to spend our time and resources on that which does not
satisfy.   God asks, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live (Isaiah 55: 2 &3). 

God admonishes us to incline our ears to listen to Him and to delight ourselves in rich food!
I am sure that He does not mean cheesecake! We must feed upon the rich food of the Word,
upon meat and not milk. Milk is not meant to sustain an adult whether spiritually or naturally.
If we are only nibbling at empty tidbits and the words of men, rather than learning to eat for 
ourselves from the grand buffet of God's meaty word, than we will soon be weak and thus, will
 be worn out. Satan seeks to rob us by putting spiritual junk food in front of us. Thinking we are full we soon fall flat because we have no nutrients. 

Another way that we get worn out is to do more than God has asked us to. Jesus said,   
 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. (John 5:19).
So often we think that "more" is more valuable spiritually. So often we do not ask God if He
wants us to do something, we just do it thinking it is a good idea. So often we buy into the world's idea of what a full life is: to be busy is to be someone important and to be living life with gusto.
This will soon wear us down to a thread. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing and 
showing Him to do.  And so often we are lured into busyness by the will of others and made to
feel bad if we do not pipe to their musical cacophony.  So let us be careful.

There, also, are seasons in life when things swing out of control and we are thrown into situations that will wear us down and there is nothing we can do about it--but that should not be ALL  of our life.  God allows certain of these ordained seasons to see if we will draw on His strength. During these times we draw upon the wells of  deep water in our spirits -- hours and days of time we have spent with God in quiet and confidence during quieter days and from the Holy Spirit who ministers grace in due season.  It is that stockpile that carries us through.

These seasons are times of testing and times when we learn more fully to not trust in our own strength but in the merciful strength that God has planted within us for such a season.  Later, when the trial is over, there is time when God gives us a chance to rest and we must take it and see its value as equally important to our busiest God-ordained movement. Our strength needs constant replenishing. If we let our strength run dry we will be like the foolish virgins whose lamp goes out just when it is most needed. This is  the plan of the enemy and  a most important consideration for all of us in these days.

Make Me Thy Fuel, O Flame of God!

 

 

“From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher
 

From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.
From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified)
... From all that dims Thy Calvary

O Lamb of God, deliver me.
Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire;
Let me not sink to be a clod;
 

Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.”

 

-Amy Carmichael

 

Travel Light

I have a beautiful Border Collie that has come to stay with me, most likely permanently.
Her name is Precious, and so she is! Gentle, sweet, loving and intense as Border
Collie's can be. She came to me with literally nothing--no possessions.  As always, I am
learning a lot from her.  Border Collies like to herd, as I am finding out. As she has
begun to amass possessions with the proclivity of a raven--a stuffed toy, various bones,
 a ball, a hard piece of bread, her dog bowl, she herds them all into her bed. Then she lays
 down on them so she can make sure they are "safe."   Sometimes when I call her and
she won't come its because she is "on guard duty" on her bed.  She counts all the items,
I think, because I have taken things from her bed when she is not looking and then I
soon find the item back in her bed.

All of this reminds me very much of how we, as humans, can relate to our possessions.
We start out with our birthday suit and pretty soon we can't get out of our bed, even
when the Master calls, because we are "watching our stuff."

Sometimes I put food in the bowl in her bed. and then I go back and gently pretend that
I am going to take it back. She is very good--she would not growl at  me or refuse me the
right to take it back, but she does a good job at herding me off in another direction--
the old "hey, look over there" trick. She does let me take the food back, but
it creates anxiety in her. Hmm...now do you or I get like that when God touches our stuff?

We know all our things belongs to Him, we know we are His, and all that we have
came to us from Him. We came with nothing, but now we get nervous if He starts to
"touch" our "stuff." Perhaps we had less when we had no worldy possessions, but then
we get them and anxiety about taking care of them fills our minds. And this does not just
apply to physical items but to the very essence of our lives--we guard our lives, and the more
vigilant a personality we are, the more we guard it.    Border Collies are not slackers,
they are type A personalitie--they are on the job 24/7.  But that trait can work against
them when they are put in charge of minding things--because they don't know when
to stop and call it a day. They don't know when to go home and  go to bed because
even in their bed they have to guard! Yikes!

All I can tell you is that there is a big lesson in all this: If you are the Lord's Border Collie,
give all your items back to Him. Travel light, my friend.