The saints and sages have said it differently, the manner of speaking has changed over time, the core message has stayed remarkably consistent. Go within. Go to the secret place where your true self is, and where God is there with you. Go within and seek God who is in you, that is, the God who is in your sisters and brothers also. In drawing near to him draw near to them, your sisters and brothers. Seek not to escape but to embrace them and yourself in the love of God who gave himself for them and for you. Thoughts after Merton. I'm a day behind on the writing prompts. The lower back is getting better, I think, but with fits and starts and

The writing prompt for yesterday was 'wait', which is what I did, and I didn't like it.  I rather overdid it at yoga on Saturday evening. I didn't realize how stiff I still was from my very careful and very intensive one on one pilates session Thursday morning. I did not go anywhere yesterday or do much of anything. Just moving was painful.  I prayed, "Dear God, I am an idiot." The Lord responded, "Yes you are, as a matter of fact. And this latest bit of idiocy is going to take some time to recover from."  I don't like to wait. I want to be up and doing and moving forward with my agenda. Sometimes the Lord's agenda

Sixty-eight is not too old to dream. I dream of what has passed, I dream of what lies ahead. I'm still getting used to this retirement thing. It seems I am just as busy as before, though now I have more choice about what I am busy with. I do have more time now to think and to dream. I enjoy my monkish mornings. When I lean back and dream ahead I think of days on the trail, endless days, or at least six months of days. And why should not my entire life be days on the trail? For I am on a journey, and closer now to the end than I was before. Each day is a day on the journey, a day of putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time.

After a long break, Amanda published a set of self-care writing prompts for the month of November. I will write every day; some sketches may get posted. Thursday's writing prompt was "perfect day". I wrote something. It was nothing wonderful, but it was a start. Today is a perfect day to begin again and take small steps forward.

Pinhole Meandering Some photographs invite me to step up and look close. This is how they draw me into their world. I find my pinhole photographs invite me to step back and gaze through their window into the world beyond. There are three pinhole cameras represented here. Most of the photographs were taken with the Ondu 135 pinhole. “Looking up” I took with my home-modified Argus C3 beer-can pinhole. It is the one photograph with from camera that has stayed up on my wall at home. “Back fence flowers” I took with the Holga 120PC. Since this show runs through the month of Movember, I thought it appropriate to include b

I went on a #HikeYoga outing this morning. The instructor incorporated a pair of short sketchbook sessions, one to draw or write about an object close by, and a second with a prompt. Her prompt was, "I will always remember...". She gave us two minutes, so it had to be off the top of the head. I will always remember... - I am finite, with assorted weaknesses, and that's ok. - I will not live forever on this earth, and that's ok, too. I will always remember that Jesus loves me, and that is enough.

I posted this review on Goodreads and Amazon for PTElephant (https://www.deviantart.com/ptelephant)'s new novel. Once upon a Time from the Perspective of an Innocent Bystander by Cynthia Breheny My rating: 4 of 5 stars Cynthia Breheny has created a gem of a story in this, her first novel. She writes with a sure hand. Elphadora Pratt is a boring and dreary girl of fourteen. Her twelve siblings are all wonderfully gifted children; Elphadora most assuredly is not. That's where the story begins, but it not where it ends. She and we are in for a wild ride. I bought the book because I know Cindy on-line. I had not known she wrote. I know now. I started reading in the morning. It wa

I am one of the guest artists in the current show at Image City Photography Gallery. This is the bio displayed with the images. I have been hanging around Image City Photography Gallery for close to ten years, exhibiting a couple times a year, and learning about life and photography from the other photographers who hang around here. As I say at pearwood.deviantArt.com, where I’m coming up on thirteen years, "I'm not leaving any time soon". I bought my first personal computer in 1983; I have made my living with computers and networks for the last three decades or so. Shooting with no-batteries-included film cameras is my rebellion and

When I was a child, one of our favorite Sunday School choruses was this.Jesus love the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.The song still rings true, even if much of the conservative white church has added, "as long as they keep to their place and don't get uppity." I do not say "evangelical church", because an Evangelical is one who trusts in the gospel (evangelium), the good news of Jesus Christ. That includes me. Jesus inaugurated his public ministry by quoting from the prophet Isaiah.“The Spirit of the Lord is

Rebecca pogopuggie (https://www.deviantart.com/pogopuggie) is battling breast cancer. She posted a thirty-day challenge for October, a pink-ribbon challenge for Hopetober. I plan to use the series as writing prompts. I have not had cancer, but at 66 I have been through the mill often enough to say with confidence, when the going gets rough, how well you make it, or whether you make it at all, is closely tied the quality of your support network. If you are facing cancer or some other apparent calamity yourself, and you don't already have a support network, a team of people helping you pull through, build one. Now. Even if it means saying to a relatively casual acquaintance, "This