St. Basil the Great’s Monastery Church, carved into soft, volcanic, Cappadocian rock. Goreme, Turkey – 2004
Love of God is not something that can be taught. We did not learn from someone else how to rejoice in light or want to live, or to love our parents or guardians. It is the same – perhaps even more so – with our love for God: it does not come by another’s teaching. ~ St. Basil the Great
Preserve gratitude like a precious deposit within your soul, and from it you will receive a double portion of delight. Remember the apostolic word, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” ~ St. Basil the Great
The radiance of divine beauty is altogether beyond the power of words to describe. ~ St. Basil the Great
Candlelight Streams onto Flowers by the Most Holy Theotokos Icon
We have so many things to be thankful for! Our daily bread, health, family, friends, prayers and kindness from others, and all the so-called ordinary things mistakenly taken for granted – that aren’t ordinary at all.
Children seem more observant of blessings. A mother just shared something precious. Their family baked a Saint Basil’s Day Cakefor the Feast yesterday, and her youngest received the special $2 coin hidden in the cake. The thoughtful child insisted the mother take the coin and find a way to give it to the homeless. The child said, “I have everyfing, and some don’t have nuffin’!”
Everything is God’s and we are His guests… although sometimes we feel that everything belongs to us. We become used to His many blessings and blindly expect that all good things are a given.
Nothing stays the same. Everything changes… Except God.
Let’s make efforts to be considerate houseguests appreciating our Divine Host’s Bountiful Blessings.
For, when we’re out in nature, or in church, or going about our daily lives, we are in His Garden, surrounded by the Beauteous Art of Creation.
With opened eyes, we glimpse it… everywhere.
For as long as you are on earth, consider yourself a guest in the Household of Christ. If you are at the table, it is He who treats you. If you breathe air, it is His air you breathe. If you bathe, it is in His water you are bathing. If you are traveling, it is over His land that you are traveling. If you are amassing goods, it is His goods you are amassing. If you are squandering, it is His goods that you are squandering. If you are powerful, it is by His permission that you are strong. If you are in the company of men, you and the others are His guests. If you are out in nature, you are in His garden. If you are alone, He is present. If you set out or turn anywhere, He sees you. If you do anything, He remembers. He is the most considerate Householder by Whom you were ever hosted. Be careful then toward Him. In a good household, the guest is required to behave. These are all simple words but they convey to you a great truth. All the saints knew this truth and they governed their lives by it. That is why the Eternal Householder rewarded them with eternal life in heaven and glory on earth. ~St. Nikolai Velimirovich
From the creation, learn to admire the Lord! Indeed the magnitude and beauty of creation display a God who is artificer of the universe. He has made the mode of creation to be our best teacher. ~ St. John Chrysostom
If we lose our sense of wonder before the beauty of nature… this suggests that we have at the same time lost our sense of God’s grace. ~ Metropolitan Kallistos Ware
That green leaf on the tree which you needlessly plucked – it was not wrong, only rather a pity for the little leaf. The heart that has learned to love feels sorry for every created thing. ~ St. Silouan
“Happy New You” is what my grandchild used to chirp joyfully to others on New Year’s Day!
Children have such a way with words!
Standing on the threshold of another New Year, I’d like to share these precious pictures from my friend Irena – regarding a school’s “Random Prayers Bulletin Board”.
Thank you dear children who wrote those beautiful, wise words that tug the heartstrings!
May God indeed help us “be more jentle towards others” and to become New You’s – by sharing His Truth and Beauty.
Let us be as little children thanking our Heavenly Father – for all our blessings! For everything He has ever given us… and to say plainly, and simply to Him, “I love you so much. Amen.”
Beauty calls to each of us, and sometimes we find truth and beauty where and when we least expect it.
May you have a most blessed, beautiful, and fruitful New Year!
If we could hear stars sing their crystalline cantatas of praise to the Creator, our hearts would be so effused with such Divine sweetness and yearning; it would be unbearably impossible to not join in chorus of jubilation with them.
What sort of praise can I give Thee? I have never heard the song of the Cherubim, a joy reserved for the spirits above. But I know the praises that nature sings to Thee. In winter, I have beheld how silently in the moonlight the whole earth offers Thee prayer, clad in its white mantle of snow, sparkling like diamonds. I have seen how the rising sun rejoices in Thee, how the song of the birds is a chorus of praise to Thee. I have heard the mysterious mutterings of the forests about Thee, and the winds singing Thy praise as they stir the waters. I have understood how the choirs of stars proclaim Thy glory as they move forever in the depths of infinite space. What is my poor worship! All nature obeys Thee, I do not. Yet while I live, I see Thy love, I long to thank Thee, and call upon Thy name. ~ Ikos 12, (The Akathist Hymn: Glory to God for All Things)
The firmament has the stars for its beauty, and dispassion has the virtues for its adornments. ~ St. John of the Ladder
The feature photo is a detail of one of our Church’s outdoor mosaic pathways. Its many individual shapes, and patterns point and intersect in different directions… yet as a whole, it forms a unique and beautiful design.
Such a heavenly morning! There was golden peach of a sunrise to the east, infusing all with a Gladsome light. To the west, a robin egg blue sky was backdrop to a full and splendid rainbow… God’s Beautiful Promise in the sky. Even the gentle raindrops seemed joyful!
Today is a reflection on childhood paths and dreams.
The first Sunday School Scripture I learned as a child was, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. ~ Psalm 119:105
Accompanying this verse was a delightful felt-board illustration, with a glowing Lantern illuminating a winding path with golden Light. My younger self imagined the many future adventures along life’s byways, while keeping close within the Lantern’s safe circumference.
It was around this same age (of 8), I decided that when I was all grown up, one of my paths would be to lead a scientific expedition to rediscover the location of the Garden of Eden.
Having studied Eden’s bearings in the book of Genesis, and after researching the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in my World Atlas… I was pretty pumped at the possibility of meeting the Cherubim Sentries, who wielded a flaming sword, and guarded the Tree of Life.
Preparing for all contingencies, and in a youthful, journalistic haze, I remember drafting vague questions one might ask of Cherubim. However, Backup Plan “B” was also set, as theymight just kinda stand there sternly, and silently, doing angel-stuff. It was possible they might even not want to talk to me at all! In that case, the quest would be deemed solely a photoshoot… equipped with my beloved new Polaroid Instant Camera (pictures ready in 60 seconds) for officialdocumentation, and asproof, to some of my friends who didn’t believe in angels.
Logic set my sights on funding needed for Eden, and my paltry allowance of 5 cents per week was futile. It had taken 5 whole months to save up for a 99 cent Troll Doll with fuzzy pink hair, and another whole 5 minutes for it to be stolen during school recess.But…. maybe I could flip our family’s backyard garage into an eatery, and call it the Spaghetti and Garlic Bread OnlyRestaurant?
Although its only existing entrance was a small crawl space, the redeeming structural solution of course, would be distracting decor. Pretty red and white checkered tablecloths were to be draped over splintered, wooden crate tables, to which the patrons could drag themselves. It was a no brainer, as they would be sitting on the floor anyway at their reserved crates. I made a mental note it might be good to pay attention to the dirt, broken glass, and rusty nails littering the floors.
At the venerable age of 9, I abruptly abandoned becoming a restauranteur, and strategized instead on becoming a secret agent.
It was absolutely crucial to acquire an ivory trench coat, and my enabling mother somehow found a child-sized one at the local Kmart – but not of the coveted colour. I stoically wore the khaki, while my best friend (the analyst) wore a bright kerchief (tied tightly at the nape of her neck) like some Hollywood diva. We spoke in clipped gibberish code to each other. Together, we practiced how to walk surreptitiously – as spies do – when accompanied with the blaring strains of the Pink Panther Theme. Annoyingly, the old record skipped sometimes, which compromised any graceful serpentining around front room furniture. A clandestine drop off (of a copper penny) transpired, and our brilliant asset successfully weighed down the stylus’ needle enough to arrest further hiccups.
Although I never led that wild child’s expedition to re-discover Eden’s geographical location, the interior of our church dome doescontain the Tigris, Euphrates, Pison, and Gihon Rivers… depicted as water mosaics! They’re conveniently located above the mosaic lettering from Isaiah 25:9 (in English, ancient Greek, and Slavonic) Behold our God in Whom we hope and rejoice in our Salvation. That He may grant rest to this House.
We make our path by travelling it, and in hindsight, the paths worth travelling are bathed in the golden glow of the Great Artificer’s Light.
All treks and correctional detours have led me right here. Right now. Right where I should be.
Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. ~Psalm 25:4
The soul that loves God has its rest in God and in God alone. In all the paths that men walk in in the world, they do not attain peace until they draw nigh to hope in God. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian (Homily 56, 89)
Rosebuds contain mysterious layers of hidden beauty. Immature buds have no perfume until they mature and bloom. Upon fruition, they radiate a myriad of fragrances which correspond to their various transformations. All buds promise the possibility of flowers, and fill us with joy, hope, and reflections of Sonshine.
For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; ~ 2 Corinthians 2:15
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. ~Ephesians 5:1-2
Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend. ~ Proverbs 27:9
Your mind is the garden, your thoughts are the seeds, the harvest can either be flowers or weeds. ~ William Wordsworth
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ~ Genesis 2:15
There’s an inherent yearning deep within, to return toThe Garden where God originally placed us.
Blossoming backyard gardens and bursting balcony flower boxes have become our private little gazebos for God. Surrounded by nature’s wondrous beauty, we can’t help but worship and extol Creation’s Planter!
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ~ Genesis 2:7-8
Preparing wild violet seeds to sprout in time for spring, I plunge bare fingers into rich, loamy soil. Earthy, delightful fragrances exude forth, and I’m reminded, For dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return… whither all we mortals are going... Alleluia!
Pondering these fleeting thoughts, I thirstily drink in the gardens’ sights, sounds, and myriad of scents. Even in autumn, it’s a living thing, both below and above the soil… organically connected through the roots and tendrils of past, present, and future.
What satisfaction there is living within the gentle furrow of the moment, garnering the herbs, vegetables, fruits and flowers that blossom forth!
What joy there is in giving oneself to the garden… To hear its secrets, to harvest its gift of contentment… To reap its sheaves of peace; and to glean and store its spiritual grains of abundance, within the silos of our hearts!
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. ~ St. John 8:12
The Cause of all things, through the beauty, goodness and profusion of His intense love for everything, goes out of Himself in His providential care for the whole of creation… He relinquishes His utter transcendence in order to dwell in all things while yet remaining within Himself… ~St. Maximos the Confessor (The Philokalia)
Jesus Christ, in His infinite love has become what we are, in order that He may make us entirely what He is. ~ St. Irenaeus of Lyons
One and the same grace is from the Father in the Son, as the light of the sun and of the radiance is one, and as the sun’s illumination is effected through the radiance… ~ St. Athanasius (The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers)
…Light of Light, True God of True God, Begotten not made. Of one Essence of the Father by Whom all things were made… Excerpt from the Nicene Creed
I love seeing raindrops reflect like jewels on flowers and leaves. They’re mysterious, beautiful, and the centre of each drop contains a single speck of cloud dust.
Like the sphere of our own world, every raindrop is globe-shaped, and holds a microcosm of Earth’s history within. All water on Earth is – and always has been – continuallyrecycled through the hydrosphere of our oceans, rivers, lakes and clouds.
Raindrops remind us everything’s connected.
Who knows… Perhaps a raindrop that falls on us today was once part of the Jordan River, surrounding Christ where He stood to be baptised?
Maybethat fluffy snowflake melting on our nose couldhave at one time, splashed against the bow of The Ark during the Great Flood?
Perchance this morning’s dew which sits serenely on a rose petal, once glistened in Eden’s Garden?
Raindrops are ancient and possess the numinous beauty of Creation. Water is life, and blessed water is Holy Water.
Let us keep looking up… for the heavens declare the glory of God!
…Accept the fountain of my tears, Thou who dost gather the waters of the sea to clouds... ~ Hymn of Kassiani
For when the ground soaks up rain that often falls on it and continues producing vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated, it receives a blessing from God. ~ Hebrews 6:7
…All things become opportunities for us to be joined more closely with everything and everyone. They become occasions for thanksgiving and prayer. Live in the midst of everything, nature and universe. Nature is the secret Gospel. But when one does not possess inner grace, nature is of no benefit. Nature awakens us, but it cannot bring us into Paradise. ~ St. Porphyrios (Wounded by Love)
