Eat from my banquet table, dear one. See the foods before you. Endless choices.
Smell the aromas of roasted meat and fresh vegetables. Taste the sweet fruits.
I provide abundantly. Sit with me at my feast. Let us join in celebration. The music of a festival fills the air. Flames dance in joy from torches and fireplaces. Children clap their hands as they dance, as they celebrate the abundant life I provide.
Join in, dear one. Enter my feast and let me be your host.
Let me set this banqueting table before you in the midst of the darkness beyond, in the midst of loss and pain.
In me is life and healing and joy. Join me, my love.
Join me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
Mountain flowers look delicate but have to be tough. They don’t get a long growing season and often have to battle other plants and predators. Yet, these had shot up in what looked like a triumphant victory. They deserved their own composite.
The graceful curve and majestic stone of these stairs caught my eye. We were on a retreat at the magnificent Glen Eyrie Castle and Conference Center near Colorado Springs. The setting took me back to a more stately–and peaceful–time.
We pulled in at a small farm in the mountains of the Domican Republic where the farm family quickly showed us some of their produce, including fresh coffee beans and cacoa. The yellow cacoa pods contain cacoa beans, which will eventually become chocolate. It was a fascinating visit for us.
When the darkness settles onto you, do not trust your perception. You are not trapped in a black cave.
You are standing instead in an open field. Look up. Even in the dark night, light persists. My light. My stars. The moon above. You are not in utter darkness.
The darkness of loss and despair threatens to defeat you. But I bring light to your darkness and you are not trapped. You are not alone.
Seek the light and run toward it. In those dark moments, remember my light.
I have never left you. The dawn is coming and my light will never be lost. Run to me.
In panic I cried out, “I am cut off from the Lord!” But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help
