Discovering the Extraordinary

Salal Leaf in Recent Holiday Table Bouquet

In our spiritual vision we are not only to see each thing in sharp relief, standing out in all the brilliance of its specific being, but we are also to to see each thing as transparent: in and through each created thing we are to discern the Creator...

The contemplation of nature has two correlative aspects. First, it means appreciating the “thusness” or “thisness” of particular things, persons and moments. We are to see each stone, each leaf, each blade of grass, each frog, each human face, for what it truly is, in all the distinctness and intensity of its specific being. As the prophet Zephaniah warns us, we are not to “despise the day of small things” (4:10). “True mysticism” says Olivier Clément, “is to discover the extraordinary in the ordinary.”

~ Metropolitan Kallistos Ware: The Orthodox Way.

Holy Wisdom’s Water of Love

Exotic Heliconia Rostrata, the Hanging Lobster Claw Flower ~ Kauai 2023

Greetings on the Holy Mandylion Feast Day!

If you do not shatter and empty your Ego, how will you make room for God?… God’s gifts to us blossom only if watered with the water of Love… Those who love can do only beautiful things. ~ Gerontissa Gavrilia

Let us unfurl our thirsty roots and drink deeply from Holy Wisdom’s salvific Springs of Living Water.

May our hearts Blossom Forth choosing happy, beautiful, Songs of Joy and gladness today!

Silent Peace of Prayer

Image by Basil Smith from Pixabay

More than all things love silence: it brings you a fruit that tongue cannot describe. In the beginning we have to force ourselves to be silent.  But then there is born something that draws us to silence.  May God give you an experience of this ‘something’ that is born of silence.  If you only practice this, untold light will dawn on you in consequence…after a while a certain sweetness is born in the heart of this exercise and the body is drawn almost by force to remain in silence. ~ St. Isaac of Syria

It is good to learn to pray without words, with the breath and the beating of our hearts, for silence is the perfect prayer. Silence is the language of God. We learn His language as we do other languages, through listening intently and practicing what we hear. ~ Fr. Antony Hughes

We can only meet God in the present moment. This is an area where God chooses to place limits on His own power. We choose whether or not to live in the present moment. Because we can encounter God only in that present moment, whenever we live in the past or in the future, we place ourselves beyond His reach.~ Archimandrite Meletios Webber

           

Choosing Joy

Silence can be a Blessing… and during quiet moments we may receive clarity. Nothing that we do is ever too small or pointless. Everything we do matters! Every moment, each decision affects not only us, but those around us.

No life is free from pain or heartache. With faith, it is through the struggle of troubles that we grow. When trusting in God’s plan for us, through His great goodness He helps us weather our weaknesses.

We can’t rely on our own strength to live life the way God has called us to.

We need to allow ourselves to depend on Him, to ask His help.

For …the joy of the LORD is your strength.” ~ Nehemiah 8:10

In a recent chaotic situation when my Frustrameter Gage red-lined, I literally had to pause, take a breath and say (through clenched teeth), “Okay! I don’t want to, but I’ll accept this,” and I gave my problem back to God. This choice became an unexpected opportunity for joy… and the so-called difficult issue had actually been a superficial perception.

Christ Himself is Joy, Light and Happiness. He is our Hope. Our Everything. Our Heart. Our Mind.

When we can remember to let Him, He is the Joy that transforms us into different people… People who can truly love their neighbours even when they’re weed-eating dandelions on their lawn, before the crack of dawn – (bless their cotton socks). People who can truly love their brethren and everyone, including those who aren’t kind to them… this is part of loving of Christ.

When we consciously choose joy and acceptance in the midst of turmoil, when we find and celebrate joy in the smallest of things, the precious lamps of our souls begin to shine! We are not at the end of something – we are at the beginning of something else! Something greater. Something better!

…“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

“Joy is thankfulness, and when we are joyful, that is the best expression of thanks we can offer the Lord, Who delivers us from sorrow and sin.” ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

When we receive the wonderful grace of God, we need nothing else.

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