It Is Well With My Soul

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Give me the joy of your saving help again and sustain me with your bountiful spirit.

                                                     Psalm 51:11-13

These words pierce my heart this morning.  “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” What a beautiful, courageous cry!  That He can clean me up, can wash me until I am white as snow, this is Hope!  David was calling out to the only help he had.  He understood that only God can offer us true healing.  The truth of this reflects into my heart this morning like a prism sending out shards of rainbows.

Peace and hope climb into my heart like a mist, on little cat feet. "Could it be true?"my heart whispers.  It is Truth and my true self answers, as tears prick my eyes, that the answer is God.  Always and only God.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,


When sorrows like sea billows roll;


Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,


It is well, it is well, with my soul.

(Horatio Spafford)

My heart and my mind find their rest in you, my Abba Father.  Today, in this moment, for this moment, I choose to trust in You, the author and finisher of my faith.

Amen, so be it.

References: “Fog” by Carl Sandburg

Birmingham and Chris Clark

I love Birmingham.  My "California" daughter, Hannah, and I roamed our way through old haunts and new yesterday and this city never fails to delight us.  We started with a "Slow Food" lunch at the Birmingham Museum of Art.  The food there is scrumptious and the southern hospitality of our waiter made the noon time respite a delight.

We wandered down to an amazing exhibit:
CELEBRATE LIFE: THE ART OF CHRIS CLARK

BOHORFOUSH GALLERY //THROUGH MARCH 4, 2012 // FREE

Our family had meet Chris Clark a number of years ago at an outdoor art festival.  We are folk art collectors by hobby. I've always loved Chris' work and this exhibit stuns with the talent and beauty of a truly visionary artist. 

From the museum's website:

In 1990, Clark’s vision began to fail due to diabetes.  Believing he would eventually lose his eyesight entirely, he resolved to pursue a longtime desire to paint while he still could.  He began painting on scraps of wood and flea market furniture, but soon after his grandmother taught him to piece and stitch quilts, the artist combined the two mediums, to lively and colorful effect. Celebrate Life: The Art of Chris Clark allows us to honor Clark’s artistic legacy even as we, as a community, reflect on his passing.

http://www.artsbma.org/

What is our "longtime desire?" To paint, to write, to love?  In honor of the great Chris Clark, let us begin today.

Practicing Mindfulness: Watching Family Movies

Their cherubic faces shine through the TV screen.  Seaside, Florida, our family vacation, 1996.  Matching dresses for the five daughters and love flowing onscreen from the young son who was elder brother and superman to his younger sisters.  He took them one by one into the ocean, holding them up so they could experience the “big” waves with him.  Helping them go where they couldn't go without him.

What is family?  What is love?  This season of family coming home, if just for a meal together before they go back to their work and their world.  Each moment is a blessing.  Each moment is a priceless gift. Watching their baby faces on a screen, then hugging their grown up selves as they return to their own homes, I am mindful of the absolute preciousness of time and the sheer joy of making memories.

Practicing Mindfulness: Day Two

The LORD has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron.   
                                                   Psalm 115:12 NASB

I “happened” upon this verse this afternoon.  I think this mindfulness journey is like buying a new red car.  I might start seeing it everywhere. 

Practicing this new habit is already opening my eyes:

Lesson One:

I discovered that I speed.  Very sad fact, but true.  Right after I finished my blog entry yesterday, I headed to join a friend for lunch.  Hurrying to not be late, I saw that I was almost 10 miles an hour over the limit.  That surprised me.  I slowed down and even set the cruise control for a cool 45 mph, the posted limit.  That gave me time to think and I felt a peace replace the hurry.  Driving the speed limit frees me on many levels:

1.   I feel safer.

2.   I have no fear of a ticket.

3.   I have space to enjoy the drive.

Lesson Two:

As my friend and I settled into our delicious lunch, I took a moment to savor the beauty of the salad, with its combination of green lettuces, scarlet strawberries and creamy goat cheese. Toasted pecans and tangy dressing made it a delight to the tongue. The gift of this moment of mindfulness was a true gratitude for the abundance of food that the Lord has provided.

Lesson Three:

Friends are priceless.  The gift of someone who knows your heart and loves you anyway, who brainstorms with you on what you want to be when you grow up, who shares coffee with you just so you both can stay together and talk a little bit longer…this was the gift I received yesterday.

What has mindfulness given me already?  Peace and joy and a growing-in-gratefulness heart.

Come join me on the journey. I would love to hear your story.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness: A state of active, open attention on the present.
From Psychology Today  


The idea of being awake and aware in the very heartbeats of life is calling me. Right now, as I hear the fan blowing and the bird singing, I sense the light from the window to my right drawing me.  It illuminates the room and beckons me to come outside, into the clearness of the day.  Can I become this person, who is alive in the now-ness of life?  I feel the presence of the Lord in this drawing, He who is ever mindful of us:

In Psalm 8:4, King David asks, "What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?"

That God thinks of us...always, that He is the "I AM" and not the "I WAS" or the "I WILL BE."   

I shall try, for this moment, for this hour, for this day, to be "awake and aware," to be mindful of the day, of my own heartbeat, of the glory and truth of this "God With Us" season of joy.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

Psalm 92

Psalm 92: 1-4

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,

to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

to declare your steadfast love in the morning,

and your faithfulness by night,

to the music of the lute and the harp,

to the melody of the lyre.

For you, O LORD, have made my glad by your work;

at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

I awoke, O LORD, 

and You where still with me.

A retreat from my world 

into Your Arms,

Arms that will never leave me 

nor forsake me.

Thank you, Father, 

for the beauty of this world. 

The fall colors 
here in the North Georgia mountains ,
with the fog of early morning clinging to them, 
refresh and renew me and I know it is all a gift from You, 
evidence of Your ever-present love.  
Thank You for eyes to see 
You
this morning. 

May it always be so.  

Forgive me my busyness and hurry.  

Teach me to see 

and hear and experience

You

 in the everydayness of this life.

Thank you, Lord 

for Your loving kindness, 

which is new every morning.

The Joy of Late Summer Tomatoes

We are enjoying a rare and precious treat here in Alabama this beautiful October Sunday.  My husband found a supplier to satisfy our unending addiction to summer tomatoes.  A brilliant marketer-gardener planted a regular and a late crop of the delicious fruit.  We are such regulars, the gardener simply reaches under his produce table when he sees my husband, in his trademark Panama hat and Hawaiian shirt, approach and discreetly hands him his special stash of heirlooms each Saturday morning at the Pepper Place Farmer’s Market.

Heirloom tomatoes, as a rule, are not a pretty fruit.  Their wrinkles and pits may scare off the uninitiated, but to the addicted, they are beautiful.  Kind of like an ugly child to its grandparents.  Love sees no faults.

A little salt, a little pepper and the "Alabama Caviar" is ready.  Our sixteen-year-old even comes out of her room for a while to join in the feast.  World Peace is next on our list.