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…

Elk Crossing the Lake

Sunrise broke a couple of large marble pots leaning against the walls of heaven and sky. Did you know that the colors of dawn and dusk are stored in these magnificent stone jars? They stand waiting in the wings of aurora and twilight, ready to be broken open and slathered across the horizon.  Freshly released,…

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…

August’s End

Bathed in sunlight  and surrounded  with a thickly  woven emerald  carpet and a singing chorus of flowers in rioting colors, summer’s glorious days draw down  to a few.  It’s beauty  though forever remains  ephemeral and  perpetual  at once.  Here I find  strength  in the hope  of You, Creator. Father. Friend. Confidant. Savior. Here I am …

Words and the Sea

The sea is awake and the sand asleep. Waves wash over the uncombed glittering grains with generosity. Over and over they move in tandem, in rhythm—the washing in and out of great salty waters. My heart stings as the saline potion washes clean the wounds of yesterday. Collapsed and cradled in the arms of the…