Category: Inspiration

Poetry, prose and images for inspiration.

Inspiration, simple joys, sunrise

Into the Sunrise

Rev Kathy

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I rarely, if ever, see a real live sunrise. First of all, I am usually asleep. And then if I do wake up in time, there are too many trees and buildings to see the sun at its rising. It’s a shame, really, to miss such a magnificent act of nature, to miss one of life’s simple joys.

So I have learned that, if there are things worth seeing in life, I have to make a concerted effort to see them.

I imagine watching a sunrise and feeling a sense of new life.

The beginning of a new day might remind me of new beginnings in life.

The brilliance of a rising sun might reveal the brightness of new hope.

Since I have not seen a sunrise in a very long time, I do not really know what emotions the sight might bring out in me. So it’s worth the effort to make the effort, I think. It’s worth losing a bit of sleep just to look into the sunrise and take in the awe of the experience. I think I’ll try it soon.

Adventures, Inspiration, Life storms

Fly with Your Wind

Rev Kathy

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While a friend of mine was driving through the plains of Oklahoma, he marveled at miles and miles of vast rolling plains of grasses and the strong winds that were making them sway. Then he noticed something else every few miles: trees in perfect rows. And he wondered why the trees grew in almost perfect rows. As he contemplated the phenomenon, he realized that when the trees seed, the seeds are blown in the direction of the wind and thus the trees are growing in the direction of the wind. The wind shapes the vegetation and literally shapes the landscape.

Our lives are guided by winds, too. Winds of change. Winds from storms. Gentle, refreshing winds. Winds of bitter cold. Winds that blow in the heat of summer. The breezes change us, challenge us, and sometimes restore us.

We become who we are as the winds blow across our lives, leaving us different than we were before. I enjoy the writing of C. JoyBell C.

I don’t believe in fighting the wind. You go and you fly with your wind. Let everyone else catch their own gusts of wind and let them fly with their own gusts of wind, and you go and you fly with yours.

Fly with your wind. Sounds to me like wise advice.

Adventures, Inspiration

Adventure!

Rev Kathy

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Life is an astounding journey. No straight paths, just circuitous ones. Few smooth roads, mostly rough ones. But what an adventure it is! I love new places, new experiences, new people, new ideas, new endeavors, new dreams.

This quote describes life so well:

“The path isn’t a straight line; it’s a spiral. You continually come back to things you thought you understood and see deeper truths.”

That’s what makes life worth living, the deeper truths we learn as we travel the journey. It is the spiral path that is so filled with that deeper truth. It is this journey that inspires us to dream new and fresh dreams. It is the spiral-like journey that allows us to grow and learn and stretch. Life is truly an adventure!

Beauty of Nature, Hope, Inspiration, sadness

Set Hope Free

Rev Kathy

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Head bowed down, I listen to the stories on the news with deep sadness. I listen to my own inner voice telling me that I am aging. I listen to others speak of aging with terms like loneliness and discouragement. I listen to the voices of the young who speak fear about their future.

These, and a myriad of other stories of despondency, try to hold me down. And yet, my faith still rises up within me in its reach toward hope. The words of Bishop Steven Charleston never fail to inspire me.

Rise up in hope again today, no matter what may seek to hold you down. If the world around you seems dark, then have faith that your own light will only shine the brighter. Your witness is needed now more than ever. Do not bow your head before the story you hear being told by others, but lift your voice to tell your own story, a story of beauty and wonder, a story of love and struggle, the narrative of a life lived and lived well, a sign of faith for all to see. Rise up in hope again today, for you are living testimony to what hope can do when hope is set free.

As we tell our stories, you and I, we can share lives of beauty and wonder in the midst of struggle. We can give witness to a life well lived. We can rise up in hope and set it free!

Inspiration, Uncategorized

Under the Shade of a Tree

Rev Kathy

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I feel very small most of the time, especially when I see so much need and pain around me. In the face of life’s strong storms, I feel insignificant. What can one person do to change communities? What can one person do to change the world.

In a world of violence and hate, I can sow seeds of peace. Tiny seeds of peace proclaimed in whatever ways I can. Tiny seeds of respect for my brothers and sisters. Tiny seeds of hope planted in faith that they will sprout and grow.

I may not see much more than seedlings for my efforts. I may work hard only to see the small beginnings of a sprout. But someday in years to come, someone may just sit in the shade of a tree that grew from one of the seeds I planted.

In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 English Standard Version (ESV)

Faith, Inspiration

Where the Spirit Lives

Rev Kathy

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Wonder of wonders, God’s Holy Spirit makes her home within us, in that messy place where we live. It might have been otherwise, of course. In God’s best wisdom, the Holy Spirit might have remained only near us or beside us. But God took a big risk with us, deciding that we should be filled with the Holy Spirit. It was the greatest gift we could have received, that indwelling of love and hope, light and peace.

No one describes this more eloquently than Bishop Steven Charleston.

Here the Spirit resides, here in this worn and weathered heart, living among the lesser virtues of being, the strong but ragged hope of many years. God does not dwell in distant mansions, far removed from the mud and grime of common life, but rather chooses to sleep beside us, on a bed of dreams in a lower realm, where sickness and struggle are noisy neighbors, and the new morning often brings both worry and wonder. Here is where the Spirit abides, here in this clay we call home.

“Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” (2 Timothy 1:14)

A beautiful hymn text written by Thomas Troeger and published in 1994 speaks of the Holy Spirit within us.

Holy Spirit, Wind and Flame,
Move within our mortal frame.
Make our hearts an altar pyre.
Kindle them with your own fire.
Breathe and blow upon that blaze
till our lives, our deeds and ways
speak that tongue which every land
by your grace shall understand.

Spirit Wind has blown through my life and Spirit Fire has warmed my journey. Thanks be to God.

Creating, Inspiration, Spiritual growth

Lessons

Rev Kathy

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I don’t throw too much of my art into the trash can, but my painting on the day before yesterday was an abysmal creative failure. I love the serenity of Louisiana bayous, but I cannot paint them. I’ve tried before and it simply does not come out serenely, nowhere near it.

It makes me wonder how one might capture serenity on paper or canvas. It takes creative giftedness to be sure. I’ve seen it captured before by great artists. Which begs the question, why would I continue to paint knowing beyond any doubt that I am not one of those gifted artists?

I think the answer is that, though I cannot create works of genius, I can definitely engage in reflection and expression. Art is one of the ways I relax, refresh, and even worship. Trying too hard to create a worthy piece of art just spoils the experience.

There are some lessons here about not turning self-expression into the creation of a product.

1. Don’t worry about the final art. Instead relish in the creation of art.

2. Know that anytime a brush strokes paper, you are expressing a part of yourself.

3. Let your art come from within, a soulful gift you give yourself.

There are probably many other lessons, but this is a good start. The same lesson probably holds true for any creative endeavor, teaching us once again that the important thing is the journey, not the destination.

And all this emerged from a painting disaster destined for the trash. That’s a lesson in itself!

Friendship, Inspiration, Transformation

Namaste

Rev Kathy

 

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Namaste. “I bow to the divine in you.”

The word Namaste, now spoken as a greeting all over the world, is used both for salutation and valediction. Namaste is usually spoken with a slight bow and hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointing upwards, thumbs close to the chest. This gesture is called Añjali Mudrā or Pranamasana. In Hinduism it means “I bow to the divine in you.”

What a respectful and loving sentiment. Would that all persons would see the divine in one another. And how incredible it would be for persons to speak this word to others, showing respect, love and compassion. It would bring transformation.

One writer defines Namaste with these words:

My soul honors your soul. I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the light, love, truth, beauty and peace within you, because it is also within me. In sharing these things, we are united, we are the same, we are one.

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The truth is that the divine does dwell within each of us, just waiting for an opportunity to reveal itself. A prayer for a friend. A word of care and comfort in crisis. A cup of cold water offered to one who thirsts. A proclamation that bears witness to all that is just and righteous. A song of praise to God. All of these are ways the divine in us is released to bless others.

And so on this day I share with you . . . Namaste!

Hope, Inspiration, Life pathways, Stars, Transformation

To the Stars

Rev Kathy

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It’s not easy to reach for the stars, to cast our aim higher. Life certainly presents us with a healthy share of obstacles and challenges. The way can be difficult. But facing life challenges makes us stronger and more resilient.

An easy pathway does little to refine us. It doesn’t cause us to grow and change much. It maintains a status quo existence. So in some ways, I welcome difficult times, always believing that those times will make me a better person.

As W.C. Done has said, “Life has no smooth road for any of us.” Though he was born in 1832, his words are timeless.

Life has no smooth road for any of us; and in the bracing atmosphere of a high aim, the very roughness stimulates the climber to steadier steps, till the legend, over steep ways to the stars, fulfills itself.

Yes, the way to the stars can be a steep way. But aiming for the stars moves us to higher plains, to more full lives, to a new glimpse of hope. The steep path is treacherous, but getting there is worth it.

Clouds, Contemplation, Dreams, Inspiration, Life storms

Beyond the Clouds

Rev Kathy
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Mammatus clouds over Weir, Texas. Photo by @jasonweingart.

I always wonder what I might find beyond the clouds. Literally and figuratively, there is always something hidden beneath clouds, something to make one wonder, something unknown that causes us to contemplate the beyond.

Clouds can be harbingers of storms. They can also be breathtakingly beautiful. They bring wonderment at times, if we take time to watch them. They hide what is above, making us wonder what kind of weather pattern formed them.

For me, clouds hold dreams, dreams from the past and dreams that are yet to be. Clouds bring the dreamer in me out into the open. They inspire me to contemplate life and transform my earthly thinking. They take me to a celestial realm where imagination soars. They call out to me to look up, and beyond, so that I can clearly see all things new.

I also strain to see beyond the kinds of clouds that come to me in life. I seek to find what is beyond them. I greet the storms they bring because I know that life is incomplete without its storms. I am even grateful, at times, that they give ne time to pause.

So I cherish cloudy days that paint the sky with the most magnificent art. I often rediscover God in the clouds. I imagine God in fresh, new ways. I wonder about God’s plan that included clouds. And I think that God must truly value beauty and majesty. The clouds prove that.

Contemplation, Inspiration, Prayer, Spiritual growth, Transformation

Hear Deeply

Rev Kathy

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I try to practice deep listening. It’s a time for prayer and contemplation, but also a time set aside to really listen to God, to deeply listen to God. It is a quiet time and a tranquil space, not always easy to find. But it’s so cleansing and refreshing to listen to God from the depths of your soul.

Does God speak audibly? Does God communicate with us in a way we can literally hear? Probably not. It’s more about hearing with your soul and discerning with your heart. It can take time and personal discipline. Mostly it takes a desire to truly hear the message God wants to send.

Theron lies the problem. Perhaps I hear nothing because I am afraid of what God would ask of me. Perhaps I am afraid of what God might show me about myself. Perhaps I fear the truth of God’s message to me.

My desire is to get past that fear, to open my heart to God fully and completely, to listen with the ears of my soul. I will search for the sacred space I need, the quiet, alone place that is so important. I will figure out how to find the place that nourishes my soul, the place that enables me to hear deeply. Doing that brings transformation.

Beauty of Nature, Inspiration, simple joys

Wow!

Rev Kathy
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Boston Fern in my yard

Wow! Not the most eloquent thought for a writer. Nevertheless, “wow” is the best word I can come up with for a day with bright sunshine and gentle, cooling breezes. And I don’t even have to leave home to enjoy the beauty of nature. Flowers are blooming all around my house. Lush ferns are swaying with the wind. The leaves of the Chinese Tallow tree are glistening in the sun.

I am grateful to God for the wild and free beauty in nature, a Creation extraordinaire, available for our enjoyment. I am amazed at the shining stars at night, at the luminous moon, at the rising and setting of the sun. There is enough in this marvelous world to astound me beyond measure. All I need do is pause for a moment to take it all in.

Lord Byron penned eloquent words that express the love of nature.

There is pleasure in the pathless woods:
There is rapture on the lonely shore:
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
There is society, where none intrudes.
I love not man the less, but Nature more.

So it’s very true: “Wow!” Is not eloquent. But it really is accurate.

Creating, Inspiration, Self care, Spiritual growth

I Am Creating Me

Rev Kathy

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As a fledgling artist, the metaphors in this quote by Bishop Steven Charleston resonate with my experience.

You and I are artists of time. We bend and shape, color and texture, make and form what is to come by what we do now. Now is our tool, our brush, our chisel, with which we work diligently to create something new. We use all of the materials we have at hand, our experience, our memories, our dreams, and seek to put all of those into a finished piece both recognizable and beautiful. Our work never stops. We are born to this art. It is our vocation, our passion. Time is our medium, life our creation, reality our gallery, tomorrow our masterpiece.

What a lovely way to say that we are the creators of our lives, that our experiences, our memories and our dreams fill our canvasses with untold beauty. We are each unique, artists in our own right. We work incessantly, through wake time and sleep time, through every season, to create this art. Indeed, it is our masterpiece.

The reality is that I am in the holy process of creating me, and no one else gets to add to the masterpiece.

We create our darkest tones in difficult times. Brighter days call for the most vibrant and bright colors. Melancholy blues . . . joy-filled yellows . . . greens that hint of growth and change. Our palettes are endless as we swirl and mix the colors of our lives.

So we must never let another person disparage what we are creating. We must take our inspiration, not from other individuals, but from our own souls and from our Creator. This gives a whole new meaning to the declaration we should imprint on our hearts, “I am beautiful!”

Beauty of Nature, Inspiration, Sunset

Breathtaking Moments

Rev Kathy
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Breathtaking sunset in Yell County, Arkansas. Photo by Charles Ross

Some moments just take your breath away. We have to make sure we don’t miss those fleeting moments because they can be few and far between. Or perhaps there are more breathtaking moments than we notice because of our preoccupation with more mundane activities.

Just this week the brilliant full moon flanked by a gorgeous view of Mars created one of those breathtaking moments. The rising of the sun creates a breathtaking moment. The misty fog after a gentle rain can be a breathtaking moment. The setting sun is almost always breathtaking to me.

There is an important lesson here: not to miss any of those moments. They are once here, and then gone forever. Keep your eyes open. Keep your heart open. You may have heard this often used quote: “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

Hope, Inspiration

Rise Up in Hope

Rev Kathy
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Delta Sunrise. Photo by Cathy Jones.

Hope keeps us going forward. No matter what obstacles we face, no matter how dark our path becomes. We lift up our eyes to the rising of the sun knowing that we will rise up in hope for another day. We lift up our hearts to receive God’s never ending love. We lift up our voices to tell our own stories, with assurance that we have lived a story of wonder, a life well lived.

That’s the important thing about stories, no one can take them from us. They are ours to tell, and surely, our narrative of love and struggle is a sign of faith for all to see. Bishop Charleston shares these comforting words:

Rise up in hope again today, no matter what may seek to hold you down. If the world around you seems dark, then have faith that your own light will only shine the brighter. Your witness is needed now more than ever. Do not bow your head before the story you hear being told by others, but lift your voice to tell your own story, a story of beauty and wonder, a story of love and struggle, the narrative of a life lived and lived well, a sign of faith for all to see. Rise up in hope again today, for you are living testimony to what hope can do when hope is set free.

So beyond every struggle, we do rise up in hope once again. And we are a living testimony of what happens when hope is set free!

Grace, healing, Inspiration

Grace! Amazing!

Rev Kathy

 

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The grace of God . . . I receive it continuously, but even after all these years, I don’t understand it. I am on the beach today, one of my favorite places in the world. The gentle surf, the vast sky, the sunrise over the ocean is grace to me, given by a God who deeply cares about times of re- creation and spiritual refreshment.

We who are Christians sing about grace often, and one of our most beloved hymns is “Amazing Grace” written by John Newton and published in 1779.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

The words of the hymn touch me beyond words, reminding me that, though I am undeserving, I receive the gift of God’s grace every moment of my life, through the calm and through the storm. It has always been enough to get me through. I love the words of Anne Lamott about grace:

I do not at all understand all of the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.

My gift to you today is a YouTube link to a gorgeous arrangement of “Amazing Grace” performed by Noteworthy of Brigham Young University. Let it lift your spirits at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Mtpk4jeVA

Adventures, Africa, Home, Inspiration

Out of Africa

Rev Kathy
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Sunset over the Nile River in Uganda

One never comes out of Africa. It is said that once you have been to Africa, you will never come all the way back. I can identify with that statement. Coming back from living in Africa was one of the most difficult times of life for us. It was a magical place to live, filled with wonderfully friendly people, acres of lush banana groves, rolling hills spotted with growing things, verdant tropical rain forests and mountains capped with snow.

On the plains of Africa we saw elegant giraffes, gazelles, zebras, elephants and cape buffalo meandering through swaying grasses that move with the breeze. The hippos splashed in the water only an arms reach from our boat. The Ugandan kob ran gracefully across the vast expanse. The great Rift Valley invited a sense of awe with cliffs several thousand feet high.

It was an experience to remember always. But even more significant than the natural beauty of Africa was the experience that we shared with the people of Uganda. Stripped from all of life’s comforts by the brutal reign of Idi Amin, the people were so eager to move into a better life. We joined them right after Idi Amin was deposed. It was a time of digging water wells, taking seeds, fertilizer and gardening tools into villages, offering blankets, medicines, protein supplements, sewing supplies, books and other educational materials, sports equipment and Bibles. It was a time for grieving their losses, healing, and rebuilding their lives. Sharing that time with them made it seem unfathomable to leave.

But we did, and we returned to America with a huge piece of Africa in our hearts, where it remains after more than thirty-five years. It is really true: once you’ve lived in Africa, you’ll never come all the way back.

Courage, Inspiration

Life Lessons

Rev Kathy

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Often we learn life lessons from unusual places. These are some of my favorite life lessons gleaned from a most unlikely source. Enjoy a dozen life lessons from Dr. Seuss.

  1. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
  2. You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes.
    You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
  3. So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life is a great balancing act. 
  4. Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!
  5. If you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you will learn. Go, the most wonderful stuff.
  6. Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
  7. If things start happening, don’t worry, don’t stew, just go right along and you’ll start happening too.
  8. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.
  9. It is better to know how to learn than to know.
  10. Don’t give up. I believe in you all. A person’s a person no matter how small.
  11. Today you are you. That is truer than true.There is no one alive who is youer than you.
  12. Today is gone. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

 

Inspiration, Joy

Joy!

Rev Kathy

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You shall go out with joy, be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills will break forth before you into singing, and all of the trees of the field will clap their hands. – Isaiah 55:12

What an expression of pure joy! It’s the kind of joy I long to experience, to live my life in praise to God. Such joy doesn’t come naturally for me. The toils of life push me down, and often disturb my joy. Problems and concerns often assail me. But I believe that there is a secret to finding joy, prayer and singing.

It works every time, no matter how grave your circumstance. Sincere prayer, giving praise to God with your whole heart, and singing songs of joy are remedies for the blues. And God desires that we experience that kind of joy.

I think it’s all about making life’s journey a spiritual journey. Wendell Berry writes about such a journey.

The world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our own feet, and learn to be at home.

When my journey turns the corner leading to sadness and I am feeling melancholy, my cousin always says, “Be joyful!” That is very good advice. Feeling joy brightens my journey and invigorates my physical, spiritual and emotional being.

And so today, I embrace joy!

Courage, Inspiration, simple joys

What Is Holy Is Not Tame

Rev Kathy

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“So tell me, what is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver

I love that question! And even at my age, I love being able to answer it. Even with a serious illness hanging over me, I have plans for my one wild and precious life. The passing years, in fact, make life even more precious. My goal for life is not only to make it precious, but to also make it wild . . . one last wild ride that takes in the magnificent world around me!

My goal is to have experiences that can be described with words similar to the words of Bishop Charleston:

I have seen the Spirit moving behind the gathering clouds, with wings the color of rainbows. I have watched the light of creation split the sky, as angels pound the drums of heaven. What is holy is not what is tame, what is divine is as wild as a desert rain. Love is not a timid breeze, but a storm of change, sweeping the comfortable before it like leaves, blowing the dust off our ordered lives, challenging us to dare the elements of our own vision. What is holy is not what is tame, so when you stand to pray, stand facing the wind.

I agree that what is holy is not tame at all. So blow through my life, refreshing breeze. Rearrange me, storm of change. I am standing facing the wind with great anticipation!