This makes me think... about God's voice

I'm the secret Fire in everything, and everything smells like Me.
The living breathe in My sweet perfume,
and they breathe out praise of Me.
They never die
because I am their Life.


I flame out -- intense, godly Life -- over the shining fields of corn.
I glow in the shimmer of fire's embers,
I burn in the sun and the moon and the stars.
The secret Life of Me breathes in the wind
and holds all things together soulfully.


This is God's voice.

--Hildegard of Bingen, Hymn, (1098-1171).

This makes me think... really think about slowing it ALL down... Ahhh, Lent the time to be present...

Time to Be Present


Lord, let me find back
The lost treasure of time:
Time for gentle listening to a friend,
For sharing the play of a child,
For consoling a suffering person,
For thinking without strain,
For labor without pressure.
Time to delight in birds and flowers,
Blooming trees and lustrous green.
Time to enjoy music, friends, and meals,
Time to be silent and alone,
Time to be quietly at home,
Time to be present to Your mystery.
Free me from the tyranny 
Of time urgency.
Let time not possess me
Neither the pressure of daily concerns.
Let me not cram every moment 
With useful or exciting things
To do or say.
Let my life be a gentle preparation
For the pure and precious moments
Of listening to you
So that I may not drown
In the rushing waters
Of practical pursuits.

---Susan Muto & Adrian van Kaam, Practicing the Prayer of Presence, 1993, Resurrection Press.

This makes me think... being thankful all my days...

Thank you, Lord


My Father, you have carried me through
     wanderings
     and loved me through my rebelliousness.


I praise you.


You have given me untold riches:
     friends to love,
     beauty to enjoy,
     quiet spaces.


I praise you for life on this planet,
     for trust between people,
     and the unimaginable gift of the gospel.


Keep me thankful all my days,
that, against all the odds,
I may never lose sight 
of hope and delight.

---Angela Ashwin, A Little Book of Healing Prayers.

Among Women ReadHER 12.17.11 Adventing,Christmas poems and blessings...

Among Women ReadHER

12.17.11

Alphabet for Christmas (a poem)
By Misty Nagel at her blog, Misty's Morning
Love-i-ly!


Celebrating Advent: An Advent Wreath Carnival Link Up
By Sarah Reinhard at Snoring Scholar
Simply sharing the advent wreaths from readers. It's nice to see what other folks do at their family table, or putting their wreaths at other focal points in their homes. Go check out Sarah's most recent visit to Among Women 116 where she shares her Advent book, Welcome Baby Jesus.


Why Religion is Not About Being Good
By Marc Cardaronella at Evangelizing Catechesis
Marc's spot on with this post.... especially in the season of 'bein' naughty or nice'.


Why Are the No Catholic Mom Bloggers in this Top 100 List
By Jennifer Fulwiler at the National Catholic Register
Things to think about in terms of the new evangelization...


A Mom's Holiday Playbook
By Erika Higgins at CatholicMom.com
I missed this article from a few weeks back. This idea may be too late to implement this year, but you might still get started. It's a simple way to "plan" to get through the holidays. I'm sure you could design your productivity apps on a phone to do similar things for you.


A Blessed Christmas!
By +Archbishop Timothy Dolan at his blog at the Archdiocese of New York
This is Bible and Catholic trivia that I've known for years, but I'm pleased that His Excellency pulled it all together in one handy article... making connections like this: "Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Hebrew word for 'house of bread.' Thus, on His birthday, we approach the Eucharist to receive this “bread of life” in Holy Communion." (I love learning stuff like that!)


It's All About the "O"
By Daria Sockey at her blog, Coffee and Canticles (The Divine Office in your Life)
The "O Antiphons" that is! They start today! 

Why Did the Magi Cross...

By Meredith Gould

That Meredith, such a kidder! A giggle.

image credit

Poetry keeps showing up in my mailbox...

sunlight splashes through the fall leaves, 

illuminating them in golden radiance

while dancing with delight. 

each leaf sings a joyful song

 to celebrate the sun.

I just love the idea that each leaf might have its own song... its own melody that springs from its depths. And I just delight in this final aging leaf that has twilight illuminating its veins.

My thanks to Maria Johnson for sending along her poetry. She is one of those insta-poets. She-sees-it-feels-it-writes-it. It is a spontaneous gift she has; I just dig it. 

These are just a few of the autumn leaves I found on my rosary walk this afternoon... the first sunny afternoon after much rain... I know this is why God made New England... to grace us with signs of his beauty and grandeur in his gifts of creation... even in something as ordinary as a little decaying leaf. 

+++

In other news, my mother, who still believes in the value of snail mail, sent me a few clippings that she collected... among them, this poem that follows. I hope you like it. It's a little bit like something you'd read in a greeting card, but I know many people on my prayer list who can relate to this sentiment at the moment.

The Gift of Tears

by David G. Mulvey*

"And you, Creature-in-My-Image,

I shall bless you with the Gift of tears!"

Thus God spoke, and humankind

Has questioned ever since:

"Why, my God, curse us with the pain and

Hurt of crying? It is too hard to bear!"

"Tears when you are hurting help release

The pain, my child;

They wash the selfishness from

Deep within your soul.

Tears make you aware of your

Deepest human emotions - liked and unliked;

They drain your arrogance and total

Self-reliance, and call you close to Me."

"Tears when you are overwhelmed with joy

Accentuate the joy you hold;

They make visible the depth of 

Feelings that you are capable of.

Tears wash others in your joy,

Spilling over within their very souls;

They water and nourish your Trust and 

Faith in Me, the Source-Of-All-Good."

"See, My Child, that tears truly

Are a Gift, both in Sorrow and in Joy!"

And when God spoke, humankind, insight gained,

Questioned less, but not for the last...

"But you, Creature-in-My-Image,

I have blessed with the Gift of Tears!"

*I tried to find some website, book or blog that referenced this writer's work, but to no avail. 

This makes me think...

We can hardly bear to leave that fatherly shoulder to which the son returned in tears.

~~~~~

Take courage, then, presumptuous soul, in the thought that you have to do with a God whose mercy prevents him from seeing clearly. The Bible teems with blind patriarchs, and doubtless it was news of his father's dimmed vision that hastened the return of the prodigal son. For we know too well that when we rush into his arms, his eyes will be good for nothing but weeping... It is not by sight that the Father knows his son, but by touch. "The Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7)." It is of the heart alone that he demands the secret of our love. He inhales us that he might know our scent.


---Paul Claudel, I Believe in God.

This makes me think... "this autumn day...."

God's World

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

(1892-1950)

O world, I cannot hold thee close enough! 

   Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!

Thy mists, that roll and rise!

Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag

And all by cry with color! That gaunt crag

To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!

 

World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!

Long have I known a glory in it all,

   But never knew I this:

   

 Here is such a passion is

As stretcheth me apart, -- Lord, I do fear

Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year;

My soul is all but out of me,-- let fall

No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.

~~~~~~~~~~~

To those of you who listen to the Among Women Podcast, I thought I'd treat you to some of the last autumn images that we have around these parts before all the leaves fall.

The photos above and below were taken by my handy little iPhone camera during one of my many walks down our country lane... over to the horse farms and back.

And yes, I really do live down a country lane in New England.

yes, that's the sky's reflection in a little pond...

Granite stone walls are a fixture everywhere here.

Have a beautiful day, wherever YOU are in God's world!