Winter Moon

I love a full, silvery winter moon against an icy-cold, inky-blue, clear sky. Its  radiance sparkling upon freshly falling snow makes me want to stop–urgently–to  “watch the meadow fill” just like my old friend, Robert Frost… and to gaze upon the  moonlight sparkle-play upon the “downy frost.” There is dancing when the nighttime  skylight shines…

Choices

Even the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow can’t buy contentment. It is illusive. Culture is abstract yet often dictates our lives in concrete measures. Choice is concrete yet seems abstract as we begin choosing how to live. The secrets of contentment, which transcend the content of our culture, is rooted in…

Language

Lofty thoughts, which become ideals and hopefully–actions like forgiveness, freedom,  liberty, holiness, purity, redemption, atonement, justice, retribution, love, kindness, patience, or equality begin as seeds planted in the souls of mankind by the Spirit of God hovering upon the treasure of the universe. As we mature to grapple–chew and swallow these, they break through concrete barriers with rapid force and power like…

Shelter

She moves with stealth behind the scenes of autumn, steadily edging toward the razor cold  and lacy veil of ice and crystal. Then quietly she falls, winter’s  glorious mystique reveals in a day. In layers, it descends and deeper it penetrates,  much more than surface. The chill and snow seeps below. But not to spurn. It’s the season of fireside reflections,…

Terror and Beauty

I pause with reverence  on the balcony of my hotel room in the  Holy City. Across  from me stands the  New Gate, and my eyes  follow Jerusalem’s ancient walls as far as I can see.  The golden Dome of the Rock faintly gleams as dawn  peaks its way up and over the horizon  and walls….

Trailing Star Circles

{Star trails are visible due to Earth’s rotation, which causes stars to appear to move across the sky. As Earth spins on its axis, long exposure photographs can capture this motion, showing stars as streaks or arcs in circled image. Wikipedia} Trailing Star Circles Only 4 or 5 times have I felt the earth spin…

Connection

Sheltered between two Rocky Mountain canyon walls, my husband and I ascend the steep hair-pinned road. A deep sense of belonging settles as we view the beauty in silence. We have left the city behind in hopes of the serenity of clear blue mountain lakes, pristine heights and slopes of evergreens and aspen, and most…

Soar

Ponder living  in the world of  a bald eagle, king of the skies,  plummeting  from the mountain  top to the glassy  clear blue lake  and rising again. Oh the invigorating  rush of life, exhilaration, boundless freedom, and ineffable  joy! Have you  been born  without wings? Think again.  Bend life’s harsh limitations into a dream beyond…

Crucible Trophies

To the evenings without heat and mornings without water. To the showers that ended in the middle and scratchy blue crepe that doubled as toilet paper. To the rough and long drives from Myaki to Odessa, and the unreliable but wonderful poconetcom. To the red jeep, with conspicuous Texas license plates, that carried us across…

The Lily

The lesser and greater lights,  and all living things thrive, cradled in your robes.  But not I.  Hidden in the  pierced place  of the  palm of Your hands,  my soul takes rest and my spirit sparks upward into everlasting love. How can I keep saying thank you as  the lily? Her sun-scrubbed face upturned into…