Life’s muted tones

(the fading blooms of a hydrangea / Julie Cook / 2014)

“Surely your gladness need not be the less for the thought that you will one day see a brighter dawn than this – when lovelier sights will meet your eyes than any waving trees or rippling waters – when angel-hands shall undraw your curtains, and sweeter tones than ever loving Mother breathed shall wake you to a new and glorious day – and when all the sadness, and the sin, that darkened life on this little earth, shall be forgotten like the dreams of a night that is past!”
Lewis Carroll
from An Easter Greeting to Every Child Who Loves “Alice”

Evening sky

In the evening of life we shall be judged on love, and not one of us is going to come off very well, and were it not for my absolute faith in the loving forgiveness of my Lord I could not call on him to come.
Madeleine L’Engle

(a mid June evening sky in Georgia / Julie Cook / 2014)

Sweetly calm gentle evening sky;
A hush falls over the land.

Oppressive heat thankfully dissipates
as now soothing evening air eases weary minds

Gone for today is life’s hustle and bustle,
serenely replaced by an unseen artist’s muted tones

A heavy head leans against the window’s glass
while inquisitive eyes watch Peace lazily pass by

The road seemingly stretches endlessly onward
carrying way-ward travelers safely home

Rest now found in an evening sky
as serenity covers the earth

Out with the old, in with the new

Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day.
Dalai Lama

(the pumpkins tossed sadly on the compost pile)

With the passing of a single day, all that was is now no more.
Autumn has been ushered out to the compost pile. The casual tossing out of the warm muted tones and the packing away of the drifting leaves, the crisp browns, the deep woods all in order to make way for the rather garish greens, reds and twinkling lights of a magical season for children, young and old, and of the wishes and dreams of both.

With the turning of a month everything changes. Another transition leaving us feeling as if we are in a constant state of flux, ebbing and flowing with the calendar.
Time is now of the essence. It is a period of expectation, waiting and watching.
A single star shines in a cold clear night’s sky.
Life is about to change.
The world will lose the old self making way for the birth of hope and salvation.

Make certain that you make this time meaningful. Time is of the essence. Go beyond the shopping, the buying, the wrapping, the indulgence, the excess.
Be still.
Be quiet.
Listen.
Watch.
The birth of Hope and Salvation is at hand.