… watching for the brushstrokes of God
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.
~ Howard Thurman
What is your first step?
Less than half an ounce of fluff and a brain like a treasure map of summer seeds stored in a wide radius. To survive the cold dark nights of winter, the chickadee needs to eat well during the short daylight hours by relying on its memory of seeds stored.
What does your treasure map contain to nurture you during winter seasons?
Stillness opens our hearts to a sense of wonder, allowing us to discover the presence of God in the unexpected and ordinary.
What do you notice in stillness?
Redwing in winter
with leftovers in the snow
nourished by color
What nourishes you when life gets bare? How does God provide?
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me. Emily Dickinson
What form or shape does hope take for you?
“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.” Leonardo Da Vinci
What have you discovered this way?
With the Eyes of the Heart 