Icon of Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ
Your job is to work upon yourself: the rest is in the Hands of God. ~ St. Theophan the Recluse
Tag: our first job
Florescence of Efforts
Your job is to work upon yourself: for this you are chosen; the rest is in the Hands of God. ~ St. Theophan the Recluse
Very many wish to be vouchsafed the Kingdom without labours, without struggles, without sweat; but this is impossible. ~ St. Macarius of Egypt
Beauty is found in the physical and numinous splendour surrounding us… and God rewards the florescence of efforts with refreshing Spiritual Dew!
Marvellous in Our Eyes
The Cranesbill Geranium (we put ours in large patio pots) is a bushy summer perennial with small flowers that attract bees and butterflies. Even curious hummingbirds zoom in for visits! To inspire repeat blooming well into early fall, we prune them back when the initial blossoming period is over… and they provide a long lasting array of peaceful purple.
This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. ~ Psalm 118:23
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
It’s amazing. You’re out on a walk or tending the garden, and suddenly a simple flower rivets your gaze! The Echoes of Eden make everything new again. We see that nature is perfect, because God’s Love is perfect. God’s Gift of Nature nourishes us physically and spiritually. We feel the light and warmth of the sun on our face and skin. Summer breezes revive muddled thoughts. Spiritual Fragrance abounds. Through a single flower we remember all is God’s Handiwork, and that Creation’s Planter also lovingly made us. Nature is a Secret Gospel. It refreshes and renews our spirit. How fitting that our first job was to tend and dress the Garden of Eden! Glory to Thee O Lord!
Green Branch
Noni Tree, Hawaii – 2014
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. ~ Genesis 2:8-10
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. ~ Genesis 2:15
As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. ~Numbers 24:6
I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees… ~ Ecclesiastes 2:4-6
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. ~ Isaiah 61:11