heart – Page 6 – Blisswood

Secret Garden Secrets

Vibrant, Autumnal, Garden Nasturtiums

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 to The 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!

Rock and Stream

Local Stream on Journey to the Sea

As flowing water smooths and polishes sharp edges of rock and stone, the Holy Spirit does the same with souls. It surrounds us. It refines us. And… bit by bit, with less and less, we become – more.

All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. ~ Ecclesiastes 1:7

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you… ~ Isaiah 43:2

May the living water of the Holy Spirit fill my heart, and the rivers of living water flow from my heart to the glory of God, and for the salvation of God’s people. ~ St. John of Kronstadt

As From One Great Heart

You cannot pray at home, like you can at church, where there is a great multitude; where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the unions of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of priests. ~ St. John Chrysostom

The Church, through the temple and Divine service, acts upon the entire man, educates him wholly; acts upon his sight, hearing, smelling, feeling, taste, imagination, mind, and will, by the splendour of the icons and of the whole temple, by the ringing of the bells, by the singing of the choir, by the fragrance of the incense, the kissing of the Gospel, of the cross and the holy icons, by the prosphoras, the singing, and sweet sound of readings of the Scriptures. ~St. John of Kronstadt

We ought to have the most lively spiritual union with the heavenly inhabitants, with all the saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, prelates, venerable and righteous men, as they are all members of one single body, The Church of Christ, to which we sinners also belong, and the living Head of which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This is why we call upon them in prayer, converse with them, thank and praise them. It is urgently necessary for all Christians to be in union with them, if they desire to make Christian progress; for the saints are our friends, our guides to salvation, who pray and intercede for us. ~ St. John of Kronstadt

Seasons of Time

Backyard Foliage as it Turns… Turns… Turns

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

The Book of Ecclesiastes is attributed to King Solomon and written circa the 10th century BC. During the mid- 20th century AD, the King James Bible’s version of these verses were borrowed and adapted into a folk melody called Turn, Turn Turn.

Initially “written” and arranged by Pete Seeger in the late 1950’s, it was The Byrds’ 1965 recording of his song that made it a number 1 hit with the oldest lyrics.

The song became synonymous with that decade’s escalating protests and poignant pleas for world peace.

Even in my youth, this song made a huge impression on me, and the wise words quoted from Ecclesiastes are… Timeless.

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:11

So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:18

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. ~ Romans 13:11

Reflections of Living Water

Scripture Art Photo by Irena

May the living water of the Holy Spirit fill my heart, and may rivers of living water flow from my heart to the glory of God… The only requirements of our soul are righteousness, holiness, truth, love, mercy, meekness, kindness, peace, spiritual freedom, or the grace of God in the heart. These treasures give life to our whole being and are eternal. ~ St. John of Kronstadt

Drink Holy Water as often as possible. It’s the best and most effective medicine. I say this not as a bishop, but as a doctor, from my experience in medicine. ~ St. Luke of Simferopol

Silence is a Mystery

The highest form of prayer is to stand silently, in awe before God. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian

Words are instruments of this world, but silence is a mystery of the age to come. ~ St. Isaac the Syrian

Very desirable is the prayer of the heart. Very desirable is the silence of the heart. ~ St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

The Great Mystery of Him

Wild Backyard Poppy

…Whenever you discern something… which is a revelation of harmony and beauty, emphasize it and help it to flower. Strengthen it and encourage it to live. ~ Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

In love did He bring the world into existence; in love does He guide it during this its temporal existence; in love is He going to bring it to that wondrous transformed state, and in love will the world be swallowed up in the great mystery of Him who has performed all these things; in love will the whole course of the governance of creation be finally comprised. And since in the New World the Creator’s love rules over all rational nature, the wonder at His mysteries that will be revealed then will captivate to itself the intellect of all rational beings whom He has created so that they might have delight in Him, whether they be evil or whether they be just. ~ St. Isaac of Syria

The soul leaves all surface appearances, not only those that can be grasped by the senses but also those which the mind itself seems to see, and it keeps going deeper until by the operation of the spirit it penetrates the invisible and incomprehensible, and it is there that it sees God. The true vision and the true knowledge of what we seek consists precisely in not seeing, in an awareness that our goal transcends all knowledge… ~ St. Gregory of Nyssa

Floral Grace

Photo from the Feast Day of the Exaltation of the Cross

A week after celebrating the great Feast Day of the Exaltation of the Cross, I was reminded how amazingly preserved flowers that surround the Cross can be. They are protected from the usual quick wilt and deterioration other bouquets (placed in ordinary locations) can experience within two or three days.

The same holds true with flowers that grace icon corners or icon stands. I remember visiting a convent in the heat of summer, and one of my obediences was to clean and prepare the church for the Sts. Peter and Paul Liturgy. I had picked some wildflowers to put where the festal icon was to be placed, but it appeared someone had already done so. I took my new bunch of flowers back to the main house and was told the hot little church had been locked since Pentecost, as the air conditioned house chapel was being used instead. The last time flowers had been placed in the actual church was nearly 3.5 weeks previously! One “forgotten’ wildflower bouquet had remained at the foot of the analogian where the icon of the Holy Trinity sat. This is the same bouquet I saw when I unlocked the church to clean. It looked as fresh as could be! When I revealed this mini miracle, the nuns nodded their heads, crossed themselves, and stated matter-of-factly, “Oh yes, these kind of things can happen.”

Every flower is indeed fragrant through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the beauty of the Great is contained in the small!

…let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. ~ Psalm 96:12

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. ~ Isaiah 55:12

God does not create a cross for man. No matter how heavy a cross a man may carry in life, it is still just wood, from which man himself made, and it always grows from the soil of his heart. ~ St. Ambrose of Optina

Through Attention

Beautiful Sunflower Church Bouquet with Lemons and Chestnuts, by Evguenia

It is impossible for anyone who stands in God’s holy Church collecting his thoughts, lifting his mind to God, occupying his understanding with the sacred singing from the beginning until the end, and waiting patiently, not to undergo a divine change, in accordance with his attention to God and His teachings. Through this attention a certain warmth is born in the heart which chases away evil like flies, creates a spiritual peace and comfort in the soul and bestows sanctification on the body, according to him who said, ‘My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned’ (Psalm 39:3)… ~ St. Gregory Palamas

The church has been planted as a paradise in this world. ~ St. Irenaeus of Lyons

A Christian should inscribe the Symbol of Faith upon the tablets of the heart... Your accumulated offences do not surpass the multitude of God’s mercies: our wounds do not surpass the great Physician’s skill. ~ St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315 – 386 AD)

Closer Than Our Own Heart

Local sunset, on paddle board – photo shared by Katherine

Such, then, is our God: unknowable in his essence, yet known in his energies; beyond and above all that we can think or express, yet closer to us than our own heart. ~ Kallistos Ware

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. ~ Kallistos Ware

We know that prayer in itself cannot and of itself cannot save us, but carrying it before God can. For when the Lord’s eyes are upon un, He sanctifies us, as the sun warms everything upon which it shines. ~ St. Gregory Palamas

Prayer is spiritual breathing; when we pray we breathe in the Holy Spirit; “praying in the Holy Spirit“. Thus, all church prayers are the breathing of the Holy Spirit; as it were spiritual air and also light, spiritual fire, spiritual food and spiritual raiment. ~ St. John of Kronstadt