Daybreak – Kauai 2023
…O Christ the true Light, who enlightens and sanctifies every person who comes into the world: Let the Light of Your countenance shine on us, that in it we may behold the Uncreated Light. ~ Excerpt from Prayer of the Hours; 1st Hour
Kilauea, Kauai ~ July 2023
Whoever plants a tree, plants hope, peace, and love and has the blessings of God. ~ Elder Amphilochios of Patmos (Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit)
Let all the trees of the forest dance and sing, let all the trees clap their hands. ~ Sunday of the Cross
It’s that time of year again!
February brings
keen yearnings for the verdant
em’rald greens of spring.
Tiny tentative
tight fuzzy fronds of patience
cling to hopeful vines.
Tired of deciduous difficulties… it’s with faith and hope that we can patiently await the eternal, spiritual springs of God’s help!
Fragrant Plumeria flower, upheld aloft by neighbouring Heliconia Rostrata leaf. ~ Kauai 2023
Whatever in us that truly lives, exuding the fragrance of life like the blossoms in springtime will never know an autumn of decomposition and death. Those alive in Christ experience an everlasting seedtime of continual growth in faith, trust, hope, confidence, understanding, compassion, awareness, optimism, love, and joy. For them this world is a mere cocoon destined to release the true self on radiant, pure, glorious wings to a world alive with the fragrance of the Holy Trinity. ~ Very Rev. Vladimir Berzonsky
Struggle my children, the angels are weaving crowns with flowers of paradise. ~ Elder Ephraim
Lent is spiritual springtime. Not winter, but spring. The world of nature is coming alive round us during the Lenten season. And this should be a symbol of what is to happen in our own hearts. The dawning of springtime… We shouldn’t just have a negative idea of repentance, as feeling sorry, gloomy and somber about our failings. But repentance, rather, is new hope. An opening flower. How our lives can, by God’s grace, be changed. ~ Metropolitan Kallistos Ware
Cleansing rain makes all seem shiny and new again! ~ Kilauea, Kauai 2023
Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As raindrops on the tender herb,
And as showers on the grass.
~ Deuteronomy 32:2
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
Praise Him, you heavens of heavens,
And you waters above the heavens!
~ Psalm 148:1-4
Praise the Lord… Even when its raining!
I love seeing raindrops spill off leaves and bead onto flowers like great globes of iridescent jewels! This beauty is reminiscent of Hope. For, amid afflictions and perhaps stresses of daily life, rest assured – our contrite tears that may fall, are gathered by angels and laid before our Creator’s Feet… Those same Precious Feet which trod Eden’s dusky paths – still fragrant with Petals from Paradise.
It’s said somewhere that we first need the rain before a rainbow appears.
Rain may fall as a gentle mist, or it can be bitingly painful. But, when God’s Beautiful Promise in the sky appears, when that rainbow holds out its shining hand to you, take it… And walk joyfully into the Sonshine of Divine Consolation.
It’s so easy to praise the Lord! For, God’s cleansing LOVE truly makes everything shiny and new again!
Hanalei Church windows absorb and reflect the early evening’s Divine, Gladsome Light.
God is everywhere. There is no place God is not…You cry out to Him, ‘Where art Thou, my God?’ And He answers, “I am present, my child! I am always beside you.’ Both inside and outside, above and below, wherever you turn, everything shouts, ‘God!’ In Him we live and move. We breathe God, we eat God, we clothe ourselves with God. Everything praises and blesses God. All of creation shouts His praise. Everything animate and inanimate speaks wondrously and glorifies the Creator. Let every breath praise the Lord! ~ St. Joseph the Hesychast
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)
I cannot reflect on what is past, because I live in the present moment… Yesterday does not exist. Tomorrow belongs to God, as yesterday did… So I keep quiet in God’s Eternal Present!... ….By living in yesterday we delay tomorrow’s march. We cannot live in the past which does not exist, and so give it existence it does not have… ~ St. Gavrilia (Gerontissa Gavrilia)
What has happened has happened, it is in the past. Just keep on going, all the while asking for help from God. ~ Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
We slip.
We fall.
We pull ourselves up again.
We persevere.
We keep walking toward God.
We focus forward.
We don’t look back.
God is right here! Right now!
We are so blessed!
God loves us! Infinitely! Unconditionally!
He loves us SO much that He’s given us free will in every aspect of our life, and won’t interfere at all, unless we choose to ask Him in, and wrap ourselves in the Eternal Present of God.
May your path today be Divinely Inclusive, and imbued with His Illuminating Light!
With love in Christ.
Fragrant, plumeria blossom falls to rest on neighbouring Heliconia Rostrata leaf (Hanging Lobster Claw Flower) ~ Kauai 2023
Every flower is fragrant through the power of the Holy Spirit, in a delicate flow of aroma and tenderness of colour; the beauty of the Great contained in what is small. ~Akathist Glory to God for All Things, Kontakion 3
Without winter there would be no spring, and without spring there would be no summer. So it is also in the spiritual life: a little consolation, and then a little grief-and thus little by little we work out our salvation. Let us accept everything from the hand of God. ~St. Joseph the Hesychast
Everything that God has created is beautiful!
Even the flowers are full of grace!
Like so many places all over the world that are special to each one of us – to me, Hawaii is the Living Epitome of Heavenly Fragrance. It still contains the Sweet Essence of Eden with: Aromatic maile (MY-lee) leaves from the rainforest… Divinely fragrant, mangoes that hang as luscious, topaz jewels… Delightfully perfumed blooms of pikake, jasmine, lilies, and plumeria…
All of these and more, help awaken the numinous senses with Awe in Nature’s Mysterious Beauty of the Great.
When we perceive God’s Gift of Nature, how can we not admire it?
How can we not be grateful for consoling glimpses and reminders that Paradisiacal Eden – once our Original Home – is never very far away from us?
May we take time today to observe, touch and smell one flower!
May we listen to the still, small, voice of flowers that continue to magnify our Creator!
May we actively allow our day to be filled with the Sweet Essence of Eden and the Divine Fragrance of Christ!
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!
Raindrops dot flowering Thunbergia Laurifolia vines overhanging tiered lava rocks. Kauai ~ 2023
Kauai is vibrant and beautiful. In my opinion, it’s the most Heavenly Island on God’s Green Earth.
However, along with the spectacular scenery, wonderful generous people, and tropical songbirds… there are also thousands of feral chickens and roosters everywhere!
These feathered creatures seem compelled to serenade the sleeping masses of humanity, sometimes as early as 3 am.
Lying drowsily in the predawn darkness, being treated to incessant crowing, chatty clucking, boisterous cackles, and hiccupping squawks… One (somewhat) amusedly ponders the logic of their little bird brains’ internal chronometers – channelling the mainland’s West Coast Time Zone? (3 hours ahead of Island Time)
It’s a blessed relief to fall back asleep to the redeeming white noise of a pre-sunrise tropical rain shower, or the rattle of palm fronds rustling in the warm trade winds.
Without a doubt, chickens rule the roost in Kauai. Their competitive cacophony is heard everywhere… Whether strutting through restaurants, or scooting daringly across the proverbial road to the other side! I must admit though, the mother hens and chicks were darling. They almost broke me.
There was a fascinating book at the vacation home – An Ocean in Mind with some (fittingly) amazing quotes by Steve Somersen.
There’s a world out here that I didn’t know anything about until forced into it by my choices. Analytic thinking alone cannot bring understanding, and I’m glad of that. We aren’t searching for understanding, but understanding is coming as a result of the search. ~ Steve Somersen (An Ocean in Mind, by Will Kyselka)
I’ve used another of his poignant quotes as text on the feature beach image of my post No Matter Where…
Meanwhile, I’m home again, and have come to the stunning, perplexing conclusion I actually miss hearing those foul rascally fowl!? They cluck. Ergo sum. Go figure!
Contemplative Sunrise on Kauai – July 31, 2023
For our good, for our happiness, let us make a vow that from this day forth, from this hour, from this minute, let us strive to love God above all else and seek to do His Holy Will. ~ St. Herman of Alaska
Greetings on the Feast Day celebrating the canonization of Saint Herman of Alaska.
Felicitations also, on today’s Feast of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon! He’s been a helpful blessing for family and friends.
You can read more about these two amazing saints’ lives (including some of today’s other saints) on the Orthodox Calendar, located at the very bottom of each post and page. Daily Scripture readings are listed there too.
Through the prayers and blessed intercessions of our most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, with all the Saints – may God give Help to the residents and tourists on the Hawaiian Island of Maui, struggling today with unprecedented wild fires and evacuations!
Golden Bamboo Grove, Kauai 2023
Photo Art Quote excerpt from the Morning Optina Elders’ Prayer. Full Prayer here.
Pray sincerely to the Heavenly Father; especially say the Lord’s Prayer, reverently, peacefully, not hurriedly: in general, read all the prayers quietly, evenly, with reverence, knowing before Whom you are saying them. ~ St. John of Kronstadt (My Life in Christ)
My Life in Christ is a wonderful book… bursting with practical and spiritual tidbits. One can pick it up at any time and read small portions. It’s like a great golden dollop of butter accompanying our Daily Bread. I highly recommend owning a copy of these spiritual yum yums!
May we all have good and mindful dealings with those who surround us today, whether in person – or thought! With love in Christ.
