Catfish, amazed to be in a tree. His first successful attempt last week.
Another luscious October Morning Glory
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A Prayer to the God of Ebb and Flow
by Henri Nouween, (1932-1996), a Dutch Catholic Priest who authored 40 books on the spiritual life.
You are the sea. Although I experience many ups and downs in my emotions and often feel great shifts and changes in my inner life, you remain the same. Your sameness is not the sameness of a rock, but the sameness of a faithful lover.
Out of your love I came to life; by your love I am sustained; and to your love I am always called back. There are days of sadness and days of joy; there are feelings of guilt and feelings of gratitude; there are moments of failure and moments of success; but all of them are embraced by your unwavering love.
My only real temptation is to doubt in your love, to think of myself as beyond the reach of your love, to remove myself from the healing radiance of your love. To do these things is to move into the darkness of despair.
O Lord, sea of love and goodness, let me not fear too much the storms and winds of my daily life, and let me know that there is ebb and flow but that the sea remains the sea. Amen.
October speaks yellow fluently.
16 comments:
Mmmm. I needed that today. Thank you my Marion. And that flower!!! Wonder if those will grow in California. It bursts with light, seems to glow.
(Hug)
Annie
Catfish thinks to himself, "Holy crap! you can see EVERYTHING from up here! I shoulda climbed this tree ages ago!"
Beautiful Morning Glory pic, Marion!
..."My only real temptation is to doubt in your love, to think of myself as beyond the reach of your love, to remove myself from the healing radiance of your love. To do these things is to move into the darkness of despair."...
Ah Marion if ever I needed to read such words it is now. Thank you so much for posting this. Warmest hugs and blessings to you too. xx Jos
Annie, I knew someone needed this passage. It went around and around in my head all night long. (I memorized it years ago). I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I'm sure Morning Glories will grow anywhere. I'll send you some seeds before Spring. Love you. Blessings!
Eric, I thought about posting the Catfish photo and have people suggest captions. Catfish is bob-tailed, fat and dog-like. All of his brothers and sisters (adopted) are former feral cats who climb trees routinely. Poor Catfish tried and tried, but could never climb a tree. Too bottom heavy, he is. But when he 'discovered' the Catawba Tree, his eyes lit up and with a little boost from me, he made it. I couldn't fully capture the look of joy in his eyes. It was amazing. Blessings!
Jos, thank you. We all need to be re-illuminated by the light of God's love from time to time. I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Hugs & Blessings back at you! xo
I was already familiar with this prayer and I LOVE IT!! Thank you for reminding me of it!
That morning glory is stunning. Absolutely beautiful.
Thanks, Kelly. My Morning Glories re-seed themselves every year and just get more & more beautiful. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings!
I've never heard this prayer before. Thank you for posting it! And the picture of Catfish made me smile.
I've been back to this post 4 times before I realized cat fish was a cat. My Apple Jack would be so jealous. Oh!...how he misses climbing trees.
Henri Nouween changes my attitude every time I read him.
ahh, Catfish! I love his name - is there a reason behind it?
Janelle, you're welcome. I love the prayer and the Van Gogh quote. Blessings!
Angela, I can't believe I haven't posted picturs of Catfish on Facebook. I must remedy that soon. LOL!
Deb, I know. His writings always enlighten me. Blessings!
Miss Dragonfly, I got Catfish when he was a small kitten. I have a little iron skillet I keep on the stove. He used to jump up on the stove (!) and sit in the skillet. Hence, the name Catfish. (Why, yes, I do have a photo of that somewhere. I'll post it when I find it.) Blessings!
Marion...
Who but our amazing God could have made that Morning Glory? GORGEOUS!! I must plant some next year.
A beautiful prayer, indeed. Thank you, Marion, for often posting healing thoughts, poems and words. I appreciate them.
♥ audrey
Thanks Marion... I needed this today too. It perfectly sums up why I believe in a God and what my inner faith is all about, and today I've spent half the day defending myself against people who wrote that the world would be a better place without any religion or spirituality in it. I felt crushed and tried to understand their point of view, and as they pointed out evil after evil that was done in the name of religion and I just felt more and more down...well, I just needed to come here and clear my head and read a little bit of a love letter.
Thank you - you always know the perfect thing to post, even when I don't know what I need to read. :)
Audrey, exactly! To me nature screams the existence of God. You're welcome. I think many people needed to read this just as I felt the need to post it. Blessings!
Phoenix, I completely understand. To me God is God, not religion. I see religion as man-made nd imperfect and God is perfect. God is spirituality and love. As a poet, I love reading in John that "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." Holy words! I'm glad you enjoyed your visit. Love & Blessings! xoxo
The sea does remain the sea, and me, me.
Lovely thoughts here, and the concluding yello flowers, somedays, I speak that language, too.
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