Yellow and rust
Harmonious colours
with softened green
form a palette of beauty
from the Hands of the Divine Artist.
Photograph by Catherine Nicolette for use copyright free
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Good morning
Blossoms bring a smile to our face as they
seem to say 'Good morning...'
Photograph by Catherine Nicolette for use copyright free
Star Flowers
Flowers like stars
brightening the day...
Photograph by Catherine Nicolette for use copyright free
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Luminous Cathedral
Luminous Christ Church Cathedral Dublin
founded in c.1028
Phtograph by Catherine Nicolette
Monday, April 8, 2013
O Lord, hear my prayer
To God, our Dad, Whose Home is in Heaven ...
we miss you.
We really pray that we will be together again as a family
as You planned in the beginning
until somehow that all got messed up.
And you know, Lord,
we still manage to mess things up today.
Relationships are hard!
And we fight
in families
and in marriage
and at work
But deep down, inside us, there is that wanting
just to be loved and to love.
And You know, Dad God, You fill that need.
We long for you so ...
For peace ...
For happiness ...
not to be hurt ...
not to be hungry ...
not to be scared ...
not to be beaten ...
not to be mocked or bullied ...
not to feel pain ...
not to feel scared of dying.
And, Dad God, we pray that when everything gets sorted, that what you want for earth happens.
Which is, of course, peace and happiness for each and every one of us.
Life, and love, and peace, and a home, and enough for our needs - for each and every one of us, every single day and night.
Wow, what a wonderful thought.
In the meantime, Dad,
we battle here on earth.
We need food, and clothes, and doctors, and transport, and all sorts of things
and often we just simply don't have enough.
Please help us to get what we need.
And that we learn to share the goodness you have given us with each other.
Not to keep twenty five bags of flour for our one family,
but to share our twenty five bags, which after all, came to us from Your Providence and Goodness
with twenty four other families.
So all our families get to eat.
And also Dad,
we have messed up.
We have made mistakes - oh we really have made mistakes.
We were learning, and honestly, we did not always know that we were making a problem for the future when we made it.
And now we live with the regret, and the remorse, and the ill health, and the relationship problems.
Dad, please go easy on us.
You know that if You were to be just, we would deserve to be grounded
and not be allowed to inherit our inheritance portion, our right to be in Heaven with You as your child, your created one.
But please Dad, forgive us.
We promise to try not to mess up again.
And to help others with our guidance not to make the same mistakes we did.
And to help others who have made the same mistakes with their grief and their sorrow and to help them try to make things right.
And fair's fair Lord. We promise in return to go easy on others who have given us a hard time.
They also made mistakes. Sometimes we want to ground them
by giving them a hard time in the same way they hurt us Lord.
But You know, if You forgive me, well then I'll forgive them.
If I'm going to be Your child, it means that I'll have to give others the same treatment I hope for from Your loving Hands and caring Heart.
And Lord, there are dark powers going around which cause a lot of trouble,
Well this is all I can say, Lord; they are mighty smart and make a lot of heartache.
Help us to avoid them and walk in Your Light of Truth, Love and Honesty.
Help us to give lies, deceit and nastiness a wide berth.
And last of all, and certainly not least,
Congratulations on your wonderful world.
Honestly Dad God, it's gorgeous.
You can't believe; swans, and water that turns to steam in the summer and ice in the winter and frost on the windows,
and you can drink it. And it can be cold in summer drinks and hot in lovely tea and soup in winter.
And there are lovely animals, and fawns with big brown eyes,
and there's this person that I love. Love was such a wonderful invention, Lord, it makes my heart sing.
And families; and babies.
And work; and shelter; and laughter, and song. And all manner of wonderful things in this world.
Thanks for giving us a chance to share in this wonderful world You made.
And You are great, Lord God.
It gives me such happiness to bow down before You
with my heart full of love,
my voice full of song
and the words on my lips,
'I love you.'
Well that's it for today Lord.
With all my love.
Amen.
Photograph by Catherine Nicolette - for use copyright free
Monday, April 1, 2013
Relationship and communication ...
When two swans communicate lovingly, their beaks and arched necks form a heart shape
of total communication and love.
When two swans fall out, the heart shape just does not quite match up ...
It was summer, and I had been watching swans all afternoon
in the midsummer heat.
The one swan had wanted to touch the beak of his mate in affection
and the other swan waited until the last minute, and then walked clear past him ...
leaving the swan, with his affectionate heart, standing there, forlorn.
And, I mused, aren't we a little like that?
Sometimes when we are irritated or upset by something,
Instead of standing our ground and communicating about it,
we communicate by body language
leaving the other person's affectionate handshake unreciprocated
ignoring the other's proffered affection and coldly ignoring the person.
Yes, we all have issues.
Yes, we do not always behave well.
Yes, others need to know of our displeasure.
But isn't it better to talk about it,
rather than ignoring sincere love and walking past it ...?
If we walk past sincere love too often, and continue ignoring it,
One day we may have succeeded in extinguishing that soul-felt love
and it may no longer be there.
And the person who may feel most upset about the extinguishing of that love
May be the person who extinguished that spark in the first place...
Let us always celebrate love,
Not walk clear past it ...
Photograph by Catherine Nicolette. For use copyright free
Soft Autumn day - near the river
A soft autumn day
near the river
The shimmering afternoon light
paints the trees with Monet tones
Dublin prepares for the snow...
Photo by Catherine Nicolette. Use copyright free
Simplicity of our faith and complexity of life
The simplicity of our faith
is gnarled with the complexities of daily life
Let the worries and difficulties
of relationships and finance
not get in the way
of our central heart shaped window
which looks towards
the faith in our life -
the open window of the freedom of loving God
within the sanctuary place of worship
which lies within each of us
Each of us is a tabernacle of God.
We carry His divine spark within our souls ...
Perhaps that spark has not been fully nurtured
Perhaps that spark has been buried
Perhaps that spark has been extinguished by anguish and the difficulty of life
Perhaps that spark has been killed by lovelessness and cruel actions of others
Nevertheless, that spark is always there
God, waiting to roar His loving Fire of being into a divine flame
within us.
Let each of us
Bow our heads to the great Paternity of God the Father of our souls
and be the best person we were meant to be.
Worthy to have been made
...as Genesis told us ...
made in the Image and Likeness of God ...
What a mystery. And what a privilege.
Photograph by Catherine Nicolette. For use copyright free
Artistic Dublin
Artistic Dublin -
Dublin is a centre for expression of the most beautiful art
Every time I pass by this masterpiece in the street
as I go on my way
I stop to admire.
What talented hands have shaped this?
What clever mind has thought of this lovely animal?
Who lovingly executed all the details of art from the first concept
drawing
model
casting
until the final tribute to the beauty of God's creation
drawing
model
casting
until the final tribute to the beauty of God's creation
was placed on the Dublin streetside to gladden our hearts as we
carry out our daily life...?
Why not visit Dublin?
It's great!
*Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette
With thanks to the sculptor of this lovely animal
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)