The Prayer of St. Theresa

Evening late spring light in the maple tree, originally uploaded by annamaren.

Saint Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.  

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be .  

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.  

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love
that has been given to you.  

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing,
dance, praise and love.  

It is there for each and every one of us.

Sufjan Stevens ❝ Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing ❞

Climb

k high up a tree, mama's daughter, originally uploaded by tudobain.

My daughter, so much like her mama.... how I love her!

Waiting

Wall in Sultan's Palace, originally uploaded by Paksta.

Justyn, I know you are waiting, waiting, waiting...... hoping that you will make it home soon. Our hearts and doors are open and waiting!

Easter weekend:365: flow

Easter weekend:365: flow, originally uploaded by annamaren.

Easter lessons in going with the flow, in acceptance, in willingness.
All good life lessons.

growth

may i, and you, remember that in this very moment they are the new growth of our, your, family tree.

Home.

So it was easier to show Biz about DDR, rather than just tell her!, originally uploaded by annamaren.

"Start by making your own home a place where happiness and love abound, through your love for each member of your family and for your neighbor. Try to put in the hearts of your children a love for home. Make them long to be with their families. So much sin could be avoided if our people really love their homes."

-Mother Teresa

Rilke. On the Poetry Doorway...

Rilke., originally uploaded by annamaren.

I have painted a chalkboard on a door downstairs in my home, and I post poetry of wide variety on the door...changing it up every few weeks.

On Tuesday I posted a new poem from Rilke's Book of Hours, and L and I talked about it today. I asked L- Do you remember what God said to you as he made you?
L thought for a big and then told me God said to him "Be careful down there"!
I had no words for that... it was just the best.

Lone Winter Tree

Lone Winter Tree, originally uploaded by Hero's Journey.

You See I Want a Lot

You see, I want a lot.
Perhaps I want everything:
the darkness that comes with every infinite fall
and the shivering blaze of every step up.

So many live on and want nothing,
and are raised to the rank of prince
by the slippery ease of their light judgments.

But what you love to see are faces
that do work and feel thirst.

You love most of all those who need you
as they need a crowbar or a hoe.

You have not grown old, and it is not too late
to dive into your increasing depths
where life calmly gives out its own secret.

--Rainer Maria Rilke (translated by Robert Bly)

Silver and Gray

Silver and Gray, originally uploaded by Hero's Journey.

Winter Mountains

Winter Mountains, originally uploaded by Hero's Journey.

I am sharing some winter love with Justyn. These photos were taken by my friend Chris Royer who works in the mountains of West Virginia where I go for Hero's Journey Foundation work.

Sweet Darkness

Icicle Sunset Reprise, originally uploaded by ...escher....

Sweet Darkness

When your eyes are tired
the world is tired also.
When your vision has gone
no part of the world can find you.
Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.
There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.
The dark will be your womb
tonight.
The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.
You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.
~David Whyte

boys will be boys...

...especially when given a roll of duct tape. The smiles they have are brightest when they have the ability to create. Even if it means taping up each other with tape & laughter.

Thank you Lord for their creativity, energy and the ability to laugh.

hammock time

unable to read pages without interruption, i was not bothered. it was the laughter of my boys that caused me to lift my eyes from the pages. i watched, i smiled. i would read a few sentences more before my gaze returned to the yard where the sounds were being made.

what a blessing a 70 degree day in early november has become.

Mysteries, Yes

Gran and L race to the water, originally uploaded by annamaren.

Mysteries, Yes

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.
How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds
will never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.
Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.
Let me keep company always with those who say
"Look!" and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.

- Mary Oliver

Joh and Flo Bjelke-Petersen

Joh and Flo Bjelke-Petersen, originally uploaded by State Library of Queensland, Australia.

I just wanted to share with you Justyn, and 'Becca.... check out the smile on her face! I love this photo. The original is in her bedroom I think.
This photo came up on my flickr contact mix..... from the library of Qld.

A blessing from John O'Donohue...

For Longing

Blessed be the longing that brought you here
And quickens your soul with wonder.

May you have the courage to listen to the voice of desire
That disturbs you when you have settled for something safe.

May you have the wisdom to enter generously into your own unease
To disover the new direction your longing wants you to take.

May the forms of your belonging- in love, creativity, and friendship-
Be equal to the grandeur and the call of your soul.

May the one you long for long for you.

May your dreams gradually reveal the destination of your desire.

May a secret Providence guide your thought and nurture your feeling.

May your mind inhabit your life with the sureness with which your body inhabits the world.

May your heart never be haunted by ghost-structures of old damage.

May you come to accept your longing as divine urgency.

May you know the urgency with which God longs for you.

-John O'Donohue

The world is round so that friendship may encircle it. -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Diamond Cairn, originally uploaded by escher (waiting no longer).

For 'Becca.... this was shared with me last week....

you are me and i am you.
it is obvious that we inter-are.
you cultivate the flower in
yourself so that i will be beautiful.
i transform the garbage in myself so
that you do not have to suffer.
i support you you support me.
i am here to bring you peace.
you are here to bring me joy.

thich nhat hanh

Silliness!

Silliness!, originally uploaded by annamaren.

Oh, I just can't resist the silly photo.

When all is said and done, and Justyn, you are miles and miles away, I am so glad that I took a few silly photos of the farewells at the airport.

Levity brings a kind of common feeling to these moments.... anchors the bigger moments in their place within the day to day of life I guess... at leas this is how I feel. How I felt when I took the photo, and how I feel when I look at this now, and see these precious goofy faces captured in a moment last weekend, when we were getting ready for a big goodbye!