Tulip in the sunlight

Just look at the glorious colours...

*Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette

Please feel free to use copyright free for any worthy purpose

Tulips from Amsterdam

When Auntie Elly used to come and visit our family in Welkom, she and I used to sit at the family piano and sing together. All the girls in our family are singers, and so when we get together for a song it is a joyful occasion. Auntie El and I used to love to sing this lovely tune from Holland; when we came to 'I can't wait until the day you fill these eager arms of mine,' she used to wrap her arms around herself and wink at me, laughing out loudly when Mom used to go 'tsk, tsk.' It was a family tradition. This year I grew my first bulbs, and every time I have gone out into the lovely garden to admire the tulips, I think of Aunty El.

When it's Spring again I'll bring again
Tulips from Amsterdam
With a heart thats true I'll give to you
Tulips from Amsterdam
I can't wait until the day you fill
These eager arms of mine
Like the windmill keeps on turning
That's how my heart keeps on yearning
For the day I know we can share these
Tulips from Amsterdam

When it's Spring again I'll bring again
Tulips from Amsterdam
With a heart thats true I'll give to you
Tulips from Amsterdam
I can't wait until the day you fill
These eager arms of mine
Like the windmill keeps on turning
That's how my heart keeps on yearning
For the day I know we can share these
Tulips from Amsterdam

Listen to the song sung by Max Bygraves, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Cf1oS7csE

*Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette - please feel free to use copyright free for any worthy purpose

Blossoms and the poet Ki no Tsurayuki

We are told that about a thousand years ago, the poet Ki no Tsurayuki wrote,


"The poetry of Japan has its roots in the human heart and flourishes in the countless leaves of words. Because human beings possess interests of so many kinds it is in poetry that they give expression to the meditations of their hearts in terms of the sights appearing before their eyes and the sounds coming to their ears. Hearing the warbler sing among the blossoms and the frog in his fresh waters - is there any living being not given to song!"


*Photograph was taken in the Irish springtime. Please feel free to use copyright free for any worthy purpose

All you trees

PSALM 148

'Praise the LORD.

Praise the Lord from the heavens,
 praise Him in the heights above.
Praise Him, all His angels,
 praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.
Praise Him, sun and moon,
 Praise Him, all you shining stars,
Praise Him, you highest heavens
 and you waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
 for He commnaded and they were
  created.
He set them in place for ever and
  ever;
 He gave a decree that will never pass
  away.

Praise the LORD from the earth,
 you great sea creatures and all ocean
 depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do His bidding,
 you mountains and all hills,
 fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
 amall creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
 you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and maidens, 
 old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the LORD,
 for His Name alone is exalted;
 His splendour is above the earth and
   the heavens,
He has raised up for His people a
   King,
 the praise of all His saints,
 of Israel, the people close to His
  heart.

Praise the LORD.'

The Holy Torah Psalm 148
The Bible, The Old Testament, Psalm 148

*Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette of beautiful trees 'praising' in autumnal Ireland. Please feel free to use copyright free for any worthy purpose

A glorious Irish Rose

A glorious Irish Rose

*Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette

Please feel free to use copyright free

for any worthy purpose.

An Angel in your life

"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones.
For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the Face of My Father in heaven."
The Bible, The New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 18, verse 10.

Jesus Christ tells us in this passage that the guardian angels (spirits) of children are constantly in communication with God as they seek guidance for their earthly charges.

'An Angel in Your life

I have
  an angel in my life
  I once was a child
   Now I am a grown up child
    I am mature
     Yet deep inside me, sometimes
       I feel my little child
        When I am scared
           When I remember a past hurt
               When I dream about a past difficulty
                  The little child in me comes out
                     Needing reassurance.
God is my reassurance.

You have
   an angel in your life
     who finds it difficult to understand
       when you are treated with disdain, injustice,
         are called names or spoken about with disrespect
           because your angel knows
              just how much the Creator in Heaven knows and loves you
               as your angel knows and loves you.
God is your Father.

We all have angels
      angels in our lives.
        Whether we are an infant, teenager, young adult,
           mature or senior adult,
             or in the waiting room of Heaven,
                waiting for our call to our eternal destiny.
                   Let us speak to each other with the respect
                    that our angels have for us and for each other.
Our angels in our lives see the Heavenly Face of God
   at each moment.
     Let us live each moment of our lives
       Remembering that - as we were created in the image and likeness
         of God -
            We are worthy of that dignity.
May the God of the Angels and our Father
   Bless each one of us today
     With love, companionship and understanding

Thank you, Father,
   for the Angels in our Lives.'    

*Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette. Please feel free to use copyright free for any worthy purpose.

The Serenity of the Buddha

This beautifully carved sculpture sits, eternally gracious and serene.  Who carved this beautiful image? Whose talented hands spent patient hours perfecting each wondrous fold in the robe, the detail in the hair and the fold falling gracefully over the left shoulder? What thoughts went through the sculptor's mind as the face of the Buddha was carved, deep in the enlightenment?

I do not know. What I do know is, the talent and the quiet elegance of this sculpture left me breathless in the wonderment of the creativity and artistry of the sculptor.

As beautifully and dedicatedly as the sculptor created this image for us to see, so God is patiently at work sculpting our souls.

'I sit on the bedrock lotus of my life
Thinking deeply about many things.
The third eye on my forehead - my conscience, my soul
opens up and reaches towards God, my Creator.

God, please sculpt my soul
With infinite patience help me to accept your wisdom
in arranging the folds of the pattern of my life

Grant me the grace to see that
your ways are not always my ways. That Your Hands raised in blessing
over me are meant to heal, not hurt

Help me to have the courage and strength
to see that I matter enough, am important enough,
to take a few minutes of my busy day

(as worker; employer; employee; mother; father; daughter; son; carer; partner; husband; wife; friend)
- to spend solely at Your Feet
Listening quietly to Your inner Guidance to me

Guide me to allow the gifts of grace, serenity
Acceptance, patience, love, fortitude, wisdom
and gentleness  to grow within me

As the Buddha came to enlightenment
Let me, too, come to enlightenment within You
The God of all Light.

Amen.'

*Photograph taken by Catherine Nicolette with permission