Scripture Quote – Blisswood

Learning How to Fly

Fledgling Starling Rests Briefly Before its Next Take Off ~ Shared by M.

Christ is Risen!

It’s truly amazing how much God loves us all… including those precious little fledgling birds “coming in hot” and touching down safely in daisy dotted fields!

It’s hard work learning how to fly! I KNOW, because I tried really hard when I was around three or four years old… Vaulting off picnic tables and launching myself out from low tree branches.

My hair (styled in required pig-tails) although catching the wind, never helped with upward thrust. It was a rude awakening that my flapping arms were simply too slow, and just couldn’t cut a decent lift off.

Never thwarted for long, I logically hatched a brand new plan on my high-tech Etch-a-Sketch (taking in all previous failings and fallings into account), and a brand new, final experiment became that day’s Swan Song.

Let’s just say it could have ended more disastrously, with my leaping high off the top bunk bed (bumping my head on the ceiling) all while holding a balloon. Gravity prevailed, and I wouldn’t blame my long-suffering Guardian Angel if he may have pondered an immediate transfer that day, but has stolidly stuck with me… And still protects me! (Thank you Holy Guardian Angel!)

Mom, ever-commiserating, consoled me. First, by telling me to stop bleeding all over her newly washed kitchen floor, and second, distractingly bandaging my bruises, along with sharing the amazing concept – there were other “ways” we can soar aloft… in our minds and hearts! That it’s our souls that have invisible wings! God made us all special, in our own ways.

Today, I’m sitting placidly beside an open window and joyfully hearing the many kinds of birds in my yard singing sweet songs of praise, who are Blessing the Name of the Lord, from henceforth and forever more!

Meanwhile, I’m still learning how to fly in the way God wants me to. It’s a life-long process. Happily, there are inklings of updraft, and for that I’m grateful.

God is Good!

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father… Fear ye not, therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows. ~ St. Matthew 10:29,31

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. ~ St. Luke 12:6,7

Truly He is Risen!

Inexpressible Joy!

Fragrant Wisteria Cascades Over Sunny Pergola

Christ is Risen!

Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun; ~ Ecclesiastes 11:7

Now in the springtime, when nature is wearing its most beautiful apparel, one feels inexpressible joy when this natural beauty is accompanied by a sublime spiritual state. Truly, our holy God has made all things in wisdom! ~ Elder Ephraim

Orthodoxy is the sunlight that falls upon the earth. It shines for all who want to be warmed by its rays. ~ Archpriest Victor Potapov.

Nature has donned its beautiful springtime apparel, and everything’s vibrantly alive with the Breath of the Holy Spirit. Let us exalt and rejoice in the golden glow of Sonshine reflecting the spiritual and Divine Light of His Glorious Resurrection!

Truly He is Risen!

Layers of Lent

Strolling through a verdant Blisswood Grove in Costa Rica~ Pura Vida!

…You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. ~ Romans 13:11-12

Wishing you a Blessed Clean Monday! Let us Spring Clean our souls, Grow in God’s Grace… and Bloom in His Sonshine!

As we sail across the Great Sea of the Fast may our Great Lenten Journeys be Peaceful, and Fruitful – helping us to see Christ in others, and preparing us to joyously reach those Shining Shores of Great and Holy Pascha – the Feast of Feasts… the reason why Christ was Born!

Wishing you all the Bright Joys of the Fast!

Clean Monday, Great Lent, Holy Week – Past Blisswood Posts Resource

Possess Ye Your Souls!

Photo detail shared by Melania

The Little Snowdrop Flowers above, patiently persevere in a church garden. They struggle and successfully push up through the soil and debris, to bloom and thrive from the Feast of Christ’s Nativity to Candlemas! May we do the same on our journey!

You may have heard of Ukrainian Christmas or Orthodox Christmas, that’s celebrated on the civil calendar date of January 7th, and wonder what this means? 🤔 The history of the church calendar is complicated. During the past 100 years or so, for fixed feast days, some Orthodox jurisdictions and parishes follow the New (civil) Style Gregorian Calendar and some continue to use the Old Style Julian Calendar (which falls 13 days behind today’s civil date), appearing like it’s landing on January 7th New Style calendar… but its actually December 25th on the Old Calendar! All Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25th, and one calendar date is not “more Orthodox” than the other. There are simply two different calendars which tell us when December 25th happens! 🎄If you have family and friends who celebrate Christmas on a different calendar, be joyful with them! Celebrate and glorify Him, regardless! For, Christ is Born!

On December 25th according to the New Style Calendar (December 12 Old Style), St. Herman of Alaska and St. Spyridon of Tremithus are happily celebrated. While my husband and I are Old Calendar, and some of my family are New Calendar… we simply commingle this special date together.

I’ll always remember and treasure my husband’s and my very first visit to an Orthodox Christian Church Service. We arrived on what we thought was Christmas, but ended up learning about Saints Herman and Spyridon, and the TWO Church calendars. In the golden glow of candlelight, smokey tendrils of incense swirled like living halos about the holy icons of the saints adorning the walls… saints who lived holy lives and had a lesson for each one of us. As the incense wafted upwards like prayers to heaven, sunbeams pierced through a little window and lit the gold tessera on a mosaic, like fiery embers. And we knew we had “come home.”

In your patience possess ye your souls. ~ St. Luke 21:19

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. ~ St. John 12:24

No matter how little you are, no matter how tired, you mustn’t give up. For, I repeat, no misfortune means anything. Nothing is lost as long as faith is established, the soul doesn’t surrender, and you must raise your head again!
~ Elder Arsenie

…For life is a continuous death. It is just a matter of our approach to it, for we must know how to die and to arise everyday. ~ Eternity in the Moment; The Life and Wisdom of Elder Arsenie Papacioc [page 257]

Highly recommend this book!

Eternity in the Moment

by Sorin Alpeti
(Published by the St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood)

To order in Canada:
From Monastere Vierge Marie La Consolatrice, Quebec

We have passed the winter equinox. Days are becoming longer, and there’s always Sonshine above those clouds!

With love in Christ.

Planted in Our Place

Wild Chamomile Thriving on Rain-Quenched Rural Grass

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. ~ Isaiah 40:8

Do not be confused because dark thoughts often trouble you, for dark thoughts, like autumn clouds, come one after another and darken everything. But then they pass and the sky remains clear and pleasant. And so our thoughts wander, they wander around the wide world, but the mind remains planted in its place, and then there is quiet, and the soul becomes joyful. But our mind, from wandering here and there, becomes accustomed to the brief but often repeated prayer of Jesus, which God may grant you the habit of saying and then your days will be bright. ~ St. Anthony of Optina

We are all planted in our places. For whatever reason. On a recent excursion I thrilled to discover wild chamomile still popping up here and there, where least expected. Bending down for closer inspection, I spied bustling beetles and ants – struggling – yet dashing determinedly amid obstacle courses of pebbles, fir-needles, twigs and dandelion detritus. Sometimes its hard to consider that even in autumn, a little piece of country ground thrives as a living thing. Organically interconnected beneath the soil, and strengthened through marvellous myriads of neighbouring roots and fungi, we can sense the Great within the small. When we recognize nature’s perfection, its because God is perfect. What joy there is in giving oneself over to a moment in nature… To inhale that especially fresh, spicy fragrance that happens only after a rain… to harvest and store Creation’s nourishing gifts in the silos of our minds. For these blessed memories, tucked carefully away in our autumnal hearts, may be recalled as needed. These sweet seeds of peace and contentment are numinous aids. They are spiritual brooms of beautiful, expectant hope – that sweep away dried, withered leaves and debris from life’s storms and personal obstacle courses. God sees and rewards all our efforts according to our salvation. Let us remain patiently planted in our places, thoroughly engaged – and prepared to bloom joyfully wherever we are planted, offering ourselves unto Creation’s Planter – as a Living Fruition of Spiritual Fragrance!

This is Just For Now

Mosaicked Cross Detail at Archpriest John’s Grave ~ Memory Eternal!

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. ~ St. Matthew 11:28-29

The seasons are different. You can’t be unaffected. In the summer you can be lulled into thinking that there is nothing but sunny days from now on. But now even the weather tells us we should get down to work… We have pain and struggles. We have needs. And, sometimes miraculously, these are answered. But sometimes they are not. God wants something more for us than the physical, He wants us to be first of all, spiritually well. God knows each of us. He knows us better than ourselves. See how the Church brings all these things (faith, good works, glorification) to our remembering so we can see what’s come before, where we are and what we have to keep. ~ Archpriest John Adams

As Christians, we take up our cross; and not a cross of our own choosing, but the cross which God assigns specifically for us, to help us become spiritually well.

When distracted by life, I’m inevitably surprised to find myself stumbling beneath a particularly burdensome, personal cross… wondering why am I so bruised up? How did this happen? Why do things suddenly seem harder? Well – Duh me (says I, smacking my forehead)!!- Because I’m trying to carry my cross – all by myself!

Through faithful perseverance, prayer, and asking/allowing God help us, we are rewarded with Christ’s fragrant Petals of Healing Love. Let us, in our brokeness, exalt in carrying the Life-giving Cross of Jesus upon our hearts and minds… strengthened, joyful, peaceful, rested… calling to remembrance His Shining, Glorious Resurrection.

Troubles? Afflictions?

This is just for now. ~ Archpriest John

Greeting you with a Cornucopia of Thankful Thoughts on this Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend! Thank you for visiting Blisswood.

For Thine is the Kingdom…

Rugged Southwest Coast of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. ~ Psalm 118: 23-24

The sun rising over the earth creates the daylight; and the venerable and Holy name of the Lord Jesus, shining continually in the mind, gives birth to countless intellections radiant as the sun. ~ St. Hesychios the Priest; On Watchfulness and Holiness – Philokalia Vol. 1

But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? ~ Job 12: 7-9

On a recent trip, when the waves crashed upon stony beaches they sounded like giant sighs… as contented exhalations to their Creator. Spicy pine and fir trees dotting the cliffside above, lifted craggy, creaking boughs skyward to sway a Windy Dance of Praise.

And farther out upon the ocean? The dusky mantle of heaven parted like curtains allowing the sun to blast below a great, gladsome beam of sparkling diamonds. This raw, intense beauty made one’s heart pang with gratitude… that the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (St. John 1:5)

Mewling gulls zipped past, and the morning light flashed as silver on their white feathery breasts. Glossy otters and sleek seals placidly swam in the foreground, deeply intent on their first rounds of the day, with places to go and things to do.

It was beautiful. It was majestic. It was orderly. It was holy.

Animate and inanimate joined in one chorus, praising our Creator.

God is everywhere.

Even the humblest of surroundings become holy places!

Fragrance of Love

Christ is Risen!

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. ~ 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

The rose does not speak, but puts forth a strong fragrance. We too, should put forth fragrance – pour forth spiritual fragrance, the fragrance of Christ. The fragrance of our deeds should be heard from far around: good, pure and righteous deeds, full of love. Only thus can the Kingdom of God appear within our hearts, appearing not through words, but with power. ~ St. Luke of Simferopol

At long last, the patio roses have begun to bloom. Their nourishing perfumed mantles celebrate the deep sacredness and beauty of God’s Creation. May we, too, throughout each and every season of our lives, blossom droplets of love – to become a Sweet Savour of Christ, Amen!

Truly He is Risen!

Within the Limitless

Christ is Risen!

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)

…it is also important for us to establish why we go to church. To listen to the sermon? But these days you can get that from a radio presenter (or social media). To pray? But you can pray everywhere and at any time… To put up a candle? But you can put up a candle in front of your icons at home. And so, why do we go to church? …Some people say that if they want to go and pray, they go off to a wood, or to a stream or the seaside, and there in a “Church Erected by God” it is easier for them to be aware of the Creator and to send up glory to Him. Why, they say, do we leave the boundless temple [of creation] to place ourselves under the narrow vaults of a church that is man-made? …That which we offer God, we can offer Him in any place. All that is in the world can thus be laid before Him. But there is that small portion of existence in which God is well pleased to reign, not in Himself but in another. That is my soul. This is that chamber within the limitless edifice of the universe, wherein the Builder thereof will not enter without an invitation. And it depends upon us at whose disposal we lay that freedom of ours, which was given us by God. Will we serve God, or will we serve ourselves…? The only way we can augment the limitless power of the Lord is if we offer Him our own free will… …It is not so important why we seek God. It is more important why He seeks us. …Christ grants us something further which the mind cannot comprehend. “Abide in Me, and I in you…. Receive ye this, this is My Blood, which is shed for you….” Christ entrusts His whole Being to the people; both His Divinity and His manhood. …And so, we come to church, so that we might receive something therein. The church – it’s just walls; but walls built around the Mysterion [Sacrament] of Communion The Mysterion consists in this: that to the people a Hand is extended with the Gifts. Therefore to visit church is not an onerous obligation, but a wondrous privilege. To us there is granted the right to stand as participants in the Mystical Supper. To us there is given the possibility of becoming “partakers of the divine nature.” To us there is granted to possibility of contacting an Energy, such that not one of of the power stations of the world could produce. God sought us. And has found us. We simply need to go to that place, where closer than anywhere else God approaches the people, to that place where in an unprecedented way, through the Gifts themselves, He is distributed to the people. If Christ presents us with the Cup with Communion through the Royal Gates, does it behoove us to turn up our noses and affirm that “I have God in my heart”? ~ Deacon Andrei Kuraev “In Answer to the Question, Why Go to Church If I Have God in My Heart?” – (Orthodox Christian Information Center)

Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. ~ St. Matthew 11: 28-30

A Virtue and Prize

Forest in Ireland
by Josip Rmc from Pixabay

In your patience possess ye your souls. ~ St. Luke 21:19

It is a virtue and a prize to listen patiently to and put up with insults for the sake of God ~ St. Brigit of Kildare

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ~ St. John 15:13

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. ~ 1 Corinthians 1:13

Greetings on the Forefeast of the Meeting of our Lord!

Today (Feb. 14/1) is also the Feast Day of St. Brigit of Ireland and St. Valentine of Rome. St. Brigit is one of my favourite saints, and St. Valentine is the first western saint I heard of, as a child. I delight in how instrumental St. Brigit was implementing educational and artistic centres… How she founded the spiritual community that bettered their county and country – through charity, hospitality, and medical support. I love how St. Brigit perceived Christ in everyone she met, and through the strength of her great faith and pure heart, performed – and continues to this very day… working miracles!