WATER COLORS

Spending time with Him, all of her senses are heightened

more alive

vivid

crystallized

Even the wind chimes outside her window seem to 

tinkle and ring in perfect pitch

each sound bringing a different hue to mind...

deep rose

shades of peach

creamy ivory

sky blue

rich purples

The tones of color wash over her like 

drops of water...

refreshing

cleansing

renewing and restoring 

sparking something in her memory of

  exquisite beauty

tranquility

wholeness

Her spirit climbs higher and higher

  flying upward toward the

source

summit

of all loveliness...



at last 

to rest on...

the origin

the peak

the beginning and the end 

of everlasting perfection 

His Face

(CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW)

A THOUSAND YEARS PIANO/CELLO GUYS

THE GREATEST GIFT

Some by choice...

   others not.....

but all ready and willing...

                                                        

They leave their lives

comfort

home

risking it all

returning forever altered

never the same

bearing the scars

in mind

and in body

sacrificing 

by giving the ultimate gift

to lay down a life for a friend

thank you Dad and all who have served

*"Greater love has no one than this:

that one lay down his life for a friend"

                                  (click on the link below)
             HE AIN'T HEAVY HE'S MY BROTHER HOLLIES
                                                       



*John 15:13

TURF WARS

Enemy occupied territory--that is what this world is

....it is civil war, a rebellion and we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

He listens as the door slams--hard.  

It was another bitter argument and his sixteen year old daughter is once again leaving...

into the 

darkness

unknown

battlefield

With the constant conflict, tears, angry words, lies--she has become a different person--distant--someone he doesn't know anymore  

He is slowly losing her

He sits at the window and watches her open the car door and enter into the shadows--the shroud of blackness seems to pull her inside.

His mind goes back to when she was a child...

happy

carefree

full of hope

but now her eyes are

dim

unfocused

hazy 

out of reach

day by day he can feel her being torn away from

life 

clarity

promise

slowly she is drifting into nothingness

He is in a battle for her life as each moment, the enemy edges closer and closer,  gaining in strength as she becomes more weakened and vulnerable.

But he will never give up

He readies his own powerful weapons...

 prayer

unflinching faith

steadfastness

conviction

calling forth forces of light that can shatter the darkness with a mere glance

                                               *                                             

He opens his Book and settles in for the night

alert

watchful

armed 

undaunted

ready for combat

The battle of good and evil is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage

Mere Christianity  C.S. Lewis, 1952

For C and all parents in the battle

*photo courtesy of shutterstock

RIBBONS IN THE SKY

They are everywhere she looks

the ribbons

in the sky

a trace

a reminder

a painting

of how much we are loved

(CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW)

believe me it's beautiful!!

RIBBON IN THE SKY STEVIE WONDER

AND SHE PLAYS ON....

She still plays for him, almost every night...he tells me.

After supper, around dusk, the dishes washed and put away, he sits in his easy chair and waits....

She heads over to the organ just like she has done every evening for the past 60 years, flips up the levers, softly embraces the keys, and beautiful music fills the air.


They met on a blind date-- his buddy set them up.  She was the kid sister, but right from the start, he knew she was the one.

I see a picture of them on the antique desk--shoulder length wavy reddish hair, clear eyes, peach colored cheeks...she is absolutely beautiful.  And there he is right beside her--soft curly blond hair, so handsome in his sailor's uniform...even then a twinkle in his eye.

He shows me the organ--cathedral style, the best you can find, he says. Surprised her with it one Christmas eve early on in their marriage.  The keys are yellowed and dusty, but yet there is something about it...like it still brings a presence of something grand into the room.

"She plays our favorite song and sometimes we even sing along."  His eyes seem far away and he smiles at something only he can see.

*

His son will be here soon, coming from out of town--to pack up some of her old things, sort through, help him move on.




My task completed, I gather up my gear and say goodbye...

Maybe next time...

Not today...

Not now...

Maybe tomorrow... 

I will remind him again that she has been gone for almost a year

For now let him remember

hold on to her

hear her music

and so

 she plays on....

*Mrs. Meigs at the Organ, William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)

A MOTHER'S WISH

At last, she holds him in her arms and gazes down at his amazing perfection
     this precious one whom she has waited to meet for months and months.

*

His tiny hands are clenched in little fists. Their soft, light pink nails remind her of translucent shells she saw one time that had washed up to shore from deep inside the ocean--delicate, intricate masterpieces of nature.



As she regards him, she dreams of the future... 

     and makes a wish....

     for...

     those hands....that they may

always lift up another in need

give without expecting in return

become strong and firm from an honest day's work

     his mouth...that it may

 speak the truth with kind words

proudly state his beliefs despite opposition

be the voice for those who have no voice

     his heart...that it may

 never lose the gift of compassion

freely give love and receive love in return

recognize that anger is often a disguise for fear

     his legs...that they may

fearlessly walk the road less traveled

steady him in times of trouble

always bring him safely home

all these things she ponders in her heart

She wraps him in a cozy, soft blanket

 snug but not too tight

holds him close to her heart

and together...

 they begin a life

**My child, if your heart be wise, 

my own heart also will rejoice;

And my inmost being will exult

when your lips speak what is right

for all that mother
or those who act as mothers 
physically or in spirit

*Maternal Admiration , William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905)

**Proverbs 23:15-16

SIMPLE PLEASURES

Ahhhh,

exhale.....

my favorite tree

a place for feathered guests

dreams of careless summer days

walking with Ruby 

tonight outside my back window

"Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;

Home-keeping hearts are happiest."

                           Henry W. Longfellow

MUNDANE WARFARE

"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the (help) of those years  wherein we are set, uprooting evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till"

                                                                                      J.R.R. TOLKIEN, The Return of the King

Driving into the parking lot, he catches my eye right away---young, probably mid twenties, face mostly covered with a black hoodie, furiously puffing on a cigarette, eyes nervously darting here and there---a blackish grey color surrounds him.

As I open my car door

I can sense it immediately,  coming from his direction

fear

despair

decay

chaos

emanating from him--

it is all over him.

Afterwards, coming out of the building, having finished my business,     he is still there-- the same hopeless look on his face--

lost hollow eyes, skin pasty- scarred -ravaged..... it is devouring him physically and spiritually.

I purposely try to make eye contact--acknowledge him as a human being...

"Hello"

"Hello," he says and startles at being noticed.  He hurriedly slinks into the back seat of the car, sitting in the dark shadows, a place he seems to find more comfortable than the brilliant sunshine of the day.

As I drive away, I think about him...what was he like before the bondage of addiction??

someone's

 son

brother

child

now just a 

ghost

lost soul

shell of a life

I can't do it

I can't just ignore it when I know what will help

I turn my car around and pull up next to his.  There he is...still hiding in the darkness.

As I approach his car, his small puppy sitting on the seat beside him seems to also sense something is wrong and rushes over to greet me.

Will he think I'm crazy??

a fanatic??

a weirdo??

But it doesn't matter.  I know what I have to do

"Here, this is for you"

I hand him one of my favorite prayer cards--the one I use in times of serious trouble

He doesn't seem surprised at all

Almost like he was waiting for something like this to happen

He looks at the card, studies it, turning it over and over then says quietly

"Thanks"

"Promise me you will use it.  It will change things for you"

"Ok"

Maybe he will

Maybe he threw it out of the window the minute I left

But hopefully he realizes that someone does care enough to notice

And that there are people that are willing to help...

pull him back out of the depths

lift him up

push back

go to Battle for him

"We are not placed when and where we are by accident anymore than Bilbo or Frodo.  We are given experiences, molded in a particular way, and set along specific roads, so that we may be in the right place at the right time.....

We must find the courage to leave our comfortable and secure hobbit holes for an exhilarating and terrifying adventure that will bring us alive....." 

on Spiritual Warfare in everyday life

from Moments of Grace and Spiritual Warfare in the Lord of the Rings, Ann Marie Gazzolo