Religious Observance

"Religious observances—I've often thought that's a wonderful word, observance. What's religious about it is that you're observant, you're keeping your ears, eyes and heart open for the presence of God." --Frederick Buechner The quote is from a 2002 article I read very recently in which the late Frederick Buechner was interviewed by Richard A. Kauffman...

Bright As A Button

What a great name! These two pics were taken at Queens Park in Invercargill in the modern rose garden and my title for this post is the real name of the rose. Southland, New Zealand; 25 February. ~The New Zealand Rose Society has a page about it at their website: December - Bright as a...

Our Lady of Kyiv

For my blog today --Sunday now in NZ-- I'm sharing a tweet from Rev. Frank Ritchie (New Zealand). I found these words and photo to be a comfort: "A Byzantine icon. The original was painted in 1132 I believe. I purchased this many years ago. It is Our Lady of Kyiv. My two main prayer...

Beyond Comprehension

The following words touched me deeply, written yesterday morning by Wendy who lives in the rural North Island, New Zealand and shared via her blog last night. I invite you to read and reflect. The photo was taken yesterday when Nigel and I spent time together on a road verge, taking photos on his cellphone....

Overcome Evil with Good

My heart is heavy because of the tragic killings and carnage at the mosques in Christchurch yesterday. Shock, disbelief, horror were my initial reactions. Then acceptance of the truth of the reports followed by frequent checking of updates. It seems the death toll will be around 49 lives lost, as well as many injured. In...

A Different View

THE BREAKING OF THE BLUE. Poem by Damien B. Donnelly. Last week I invited Damien to write a poem using Nigel's photo of the St Clair's Piles as inspiration. I knew Damien was flying out from Paris the next day on a much anticipated holiday and that he just might "write in-flight". He very kindly...

Melting Moments

I really like this poem by Damien B. Donnelly about seasons, change and time. I've affectionately dubbed it the Melting Moments poem... what I'm referring to are the melt-in-your-mouth buttery, soft biscuits sandwiched together with buttercream filling. Same or similar are Yo-yo's or Kisses. You take a bite and in a moment it's dissolved; a...

Sky Blue

According to Wikipedia, "Sky blue is the name of a colour that resembles the colour of the sky at noon". Don't we all enjoy looking up into a beautiful blue sky? I couldn't help thinking of a verse from an old song that goes "Blue skies, smiling at me; Nothing but blue skies, do I...

Life Lessons

This colourful photo caught my eye recently and I thought how beautiful the buds and flowers are. The photo was taken by Natalie Scarberry (Texas, USA) and the plant is in her own garden. Natalie let me know a few hours ago that this is a Red Yucca.

What Do You Fill Your Mind With?

On July 23 I introduced you to Natalie Scarberry and her beautiful and colourful (colorful in US) blog  Sacred Touches. She shared with me that some of you have since followed her and that she's received some very nice comments about her and her blog. It gave me a lot of joy to hear that...

Grace Mends Fragile Things

Before I started the Where and What is Beauty? series I ran the idea past Bishop Jake. I've been keen for Jake to contribute all along; he's been really busy and suggested a post for reblogging. I've been holding off until I felt the time was right and now's the time because Mending Fragile Things...

More Than Meets The Eye

Appearances can be deceiving. Don't judge a book by its cover. These sayings remind us that we all too readily jump to conclusions about people based on what we see on the surface. I'd add that even what people tell you about themselves isn't necessarily very helpful, especially if you don't know them well. Until...