Deserts bloom – Blisswood

Sufficient to Suffice

Image by Amy Spielmaker from Pixabay

If I do not feel a sense of joy in God’s creation, if I forget to offer the world back to God with thankfulness, I have advanced very little upon the Way. I have not yet learnt to be truly human. For it is only through thanksgiving that I can become myself… Christianity is more than a theory about the universe, more than teachings written down on paper; it is a path along which we journey – in the deepest and richest sense, the way of life… Joyful thanksgiving, so far from being escapist or sentimental, is on the contrary entirely realistic – but with the realism of one who sees the world in God, as the divine creation. ~ Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (The Orthodox Way)

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

As we journey life’s path we sense God’s Presence in the most unexpected places! Numinous Viewpoints pop up everywhere. When our spiritual eyes glimpse the Extraordinary within the so-called ordinary, we perceive that the Little Things in life are in fact – Exceptional!

God satiates our souls with joy and wonder!

He is MORE than Sufficient to Suffice!

Greeting you all today with Love and Gratitude in Christ.

What Are We Looking For?

Image by Παναγιώτης from Pixabay

When we are coming to church what are we looking for? Fish in the desert? No, we are looking for that hidden “inward meditation” of the heart which unites us to Christ… The same thing happens in the church where you are mystically and sacramentally united with Christ. In and through your inner meditation on these things they will become a reality… In order to find Him strive to enter into that hidden, inner meditation and you’ll see that He’ll come of His own accord. You’ll see the heavy stone roll away from your heart and He Himself will rise! ~ Elder Aimilianos (The Way of the Spirit)

Beautiful Things Are Seldom Easy

Poppy in Denmark, shared by Marianne

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name… ~Psalm 63

A dear subscriber has shared some brilliant reflections that I’ve found helpful.

Sometimes we feel like we’re digging channels, ever waiting for the Lord to fill them. (It takes faith to do that!)

We know God is with us, but sometimes we may struggle to feel His Presence and Love, or even pray.

Yet, there is consolation!

When we carry out our “religious duties” we are like people digging channels in a waterless land, in order that when at last water comes, it may find them ready. ~ C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms

During times of spiritual dryness, faithful perseverance in prayer is the sweetest of all our prayers to God. By clinging tenaciously to Christ’s love with prayer, regardless of circumstances, we are truly blessed.

May we persevere in ploughing our personal furrows and be ready when the Lord fills them… in God’s Good Time.

Dry Spells

Sometimes we are tested by pleasure, sometimes by distress or by physical suffering. By means of His prescriptions the Physician of souls administers the remedy according to the cause of the passions lying hidden in the soul. ~ St. Maximus the Confessor

We know God is with us, but sometimes there may be struggles to feel His Presence and Love, or even pray. Yet, there is a consolation!

4th Century St. Macarius the Great reminds: One must force himself to prayer when he has not spiritual prayer, and God, beholding him thus striving, and compelling himself by force, in spite of an unwilling heart, gives him the true prayer of the Spirit.

The Holy Apostle Paul writes the rewards of perseverance in prayer: And we also have joy with our troubles because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces experience, and experience produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts. God gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us. ~ Romans 5:3-5

Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov encourages: Do not grieve, do not be sad: Again will come a time to be glad; patiently wait, patiently endure, to those who wait will come their reward!

Everything that has a beginning has an end… Except for God, Who is beginningless.

This is just for now!