Lest We Forget...

...to count our blessings that is.

This Day, at this point in my journey has been so blessing filled. Small ones perhaps in the greater scheme of things. Yet I must not fail to count out loud or recount the joys that make a common day one of bliss for me.

A soft spring rain to bless the growing garden.

Roses beginning to bloom.

Sweet peas breaking through the ground.

A grand daughter calling with plans for a future visit,

her future baby, the name planned,

and C. S. Lewis.

A grand daughter calling concerning a planned visit,

food,

and quilting.

A beloved niece calling about a radio broadcast,

first loves of daughters,

grand-mother-of-the bride dresses,

and family.

A husband calling ahead regarding dinner timing.

Long ignored chores accomplished happily between these lovely calls.

How's that for a list of the ordinary, with the extraordinary mixed in?

Our God is so amazing with His scattering of little joy dot through our days.

I am bewildered by the abundance of my blessings.

I rejoice.

Feeling Noble, Or is it Smug?

I don't even own a clothes dryer.

Displaying my garments outside along a taught line,

even in winter,

is a cleaning chore that knits me all togeather again,

unlike anything else.

~Mary Jane Butters

Truth to tell, I do own a clothes dryer. Frankly, in the Pacific Northwest, it would be one of the last electricity eater I'd willingly give up.

However. today there is an open, friendly sky. So pretty pastel sheets and pillow cases flutter on the line in the back garden.

It's a happy thing on a Spring day.

And yes, I do feel ever so smug about it.

What is more, those items will smell delicious when back in their accustomed place.

Happy Mother's Day

To all of you, Dear Readers, who are mothers, to those of you who will be, my best wishes to you for a special day of recognition.

Viewing left you will see the reasons why I consider myself the most blessed of women.

Four children with whom to grow up , to delight in and enjoy makes for the very best and happiest of lives.

Four children growing into productive, loving, funny, clever and spiritual centered adults make for a heart-bursting pride, ("pride in the best sense").

And unending gratitude to a most faithful God the giver of only good gifts.

"For what is [my] hope or happiness

or [my] victor's wreath of triumph

when [I] stand in the presence of our Lord Jesus

at His coming?

Are not you?

for you are indeed [my] glory and [my] joy!

Random Phrases, Random Thoughts.

The phrases are from Psalm 35 as found in the Book of Common Prayer.

"and my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;

it shall rejoice in his salvation.

All my bones shall say, Lord

who is like unto thee...?"

It is as though David in this 'song of struggles' cannot be content with just saying the words. His experiences with his God go wide and deep. So must the expression of his heart. The depth of his feelings and his praise seem even to have penetrated his very bones. Even his bones declare the reality and truth of his devotion.

"O deliver my soul from the calamities

which they [mine adversaries] bring on me,

and my darling from the lions."

Just as in truth God collects our tears in His bottle and records our griefs, so our Adversary keeps record of all our sins and wrong doings. These he uses to remind us of our spiritual treason. These he rehearses before the Throne. And in Grace, the One on that Throne reminds him of our status by both promise and right of purchase.

But it is the term "my darling" the is the sweet part of this verse. What an interesting choice of words! My darling is my soul - my one and only, my solitary one. The secret, private inner me that feels desolate, deserted, hopeless. But here is the reminder that regardless of the accusations and roarings of that lion, the enemy of our souls, our 'darling' is also God's dear one and so will find rescue and be safe.

"And as for my tongue,

it shall be talking of thy righteousness,

and of thy praise,

all the day long."

Our life is not to be only a tedium of repetitions, of words. Words are important, but as Augustine reminds us if we sing, we praise. Whatever is done well is praise. When we do not do evil, that too is praise. To do no wrong when transacting business is praise. Now quoting Augustine directly:

"Dost thou till thy field? Then do not [fret], thou has praised God.

In the innocency of thy works prepare thyself to praise God all the day long."

So Dear Reader and fellow pilgrim, let us 'till today's field' in faithfulness and with rejoicing.

"The Gospel of Grab"

Isn't that a great phrase?

It was coined by David Brown, Canon of Durham Cathedral. It appears in regard of course, to the personal self-indulgent lust for things, toys as well as status.


In the on going struggle to "simplify, simplify" it gives a graphic and powerful title to the cycle of madness in which we allow ourselves to be caught.

Canon Brown is speaking of the writings of the apostle Paul. Notwithstanding the 'reformation message' of the justification by faith alone, the heart of Paul's message, he writes, is that the root of all sin is self-centeredness. "Pride is the worst fault as it cuts us off from a sense of dependency on others, and thus essentially upon God."

Pride. Self-centeredness. The cult of Me. Things. Here is our problem, the problem, my problem. Ouch!

Certainly no new thoughts here. Just for today a refreshed awareness and reminder to choose the right gospel by which to rule our lives.

Spiritual Spring and Gertrude

A Spring garden is a wonder of spiritual teaching and thought. Spring, I think, is the best of times. Plants that have hunkered down dully with the cold of winter begin to awaken, to stretch out with fresh growth. They flourish forth taking their place becoming a proper garden. This growth can almost be felt in the air, it for certain brings a fresh fragrance to it.

So with us. There are seasons of the soul. There are the dark wintry times when the soul is shapeless, lifeless, dull. Then something and Someone awaken us once again. Soft rains fall. The sun shines. Growth begins again.

Gertrude of Helfia, 1256-1302, was a German Benedictine mystic. Not a 'saint' in the canonized way of things, yet a woman of spirit, of influence and deep devotion. She loved lists. These she made for herself in order to keep the steps of her pilgrimage properly directed.

She begins one such list, a prayer really, with "Dear Jesus, make me perfect in fearing you. Make me pleasing to you in humility of spirit...in purity of my heart, in the guarding of my senses, in the holiness of life...." She continues with a specific request for every aspect of her life that her life may be just that, a pleasing life of holiness.

It is in her closing thoughts that all these become Spring echos "...in the blessed consummation of your cherishing-love":

"so that the thorn bush of my heart may be converted

into a paradise of all virtues

and a red berry bush of total perfection,

as if it were a field blessed by the Lord,

full of all peace, holiness and devotion."

This Spring, it is my desire to remember Gertrude as I watch the fruit ripen, the color change on my garden's currant bush remembering the goal to be 'a red berry bush...blessed by my Lord, full of all peace, holiness and devotion.'

Courage, Pilgrim

Some of us are by nature, not so much shy as fearful (that would be me!) So when the teacher challenged us on Sunday with defining 'witness' and 'testimony' the feeling came over me that 'we're in for it now'.

We were reminded of what we know, that in the Greek a 'witness' comes from the same root word as 'martyr'. Witness is risk

In the English dictionary along with the obvious meanings of giving witness to a fact or truth, it emphasises that this profession is to be done openly. Hebrew adds "to say again and again". Once is not enough, it seems. It is continuous action.

Peter and John stood accused by the Sandhedrin. They were told to "speak no more in That Name". Their answer given sums it all up neatly: "we are unable not to speak of the things which we have seen and heard". (Acts. 4) And this after they had received not just the warning and threats but also contempt.

It was said of John Knox "He feared God so much that he never feared the face of any man."

Martin Luther concluding his defence before the Church hierarchy stated "Here I stand. I can do no other." Another time when the papal envoy threatened Martin that in the end he would be deserted by all his supporters. "Where will you be then?" the envoy asked. "Then as now," Luther answered, "in the hands of God."

When Peter and John were once again among with their band of brothers, prayer was offered. In that we have our simple guidelines. They set before themselves the remembrance of their Lord and His triumph. They prayed for courage knowing full well their continued witness could mean martyrdom. And the result was the promise and comfort of the Spirit Himself.

H. G. Wells said: "The trouble with so many people is that the voice of their neighbours sounds louder in their ears than the voice of God."

Fear or courage? That would be the bottom line.

Once again fellow pilgrims, we have our challenge for This Day so head up, shoulders back....