September 29, 2009

Belief and New Birth~ A Reading for my Spiritual Birthday

Salt Grass at Noon Cape San Blas FL


God,whose goodness is not exhausted,
whose mercy is not emptied out
whose knowledge does not fail
whose power can effect what You will:
Whence shall I ever be able to get back life
who have thus been driven
desparate by my sins?
For if you are angry against sinners,
at least kind Lord,
you are accoustomed to give counsel
to those who plead with you
Teach me O Lord,
Whence I ought to hope
so that I can pray
For I long to pray to you
but I neither know how because of my ignorance
nor am I able to because of my hardness
And I am forbidden to do it by dispair
because of my sins

I seek for something that will excuse me
and there is nothingthat does not accuse me
I seek for someone who will pray for me
and I find whatever exists is against me
I seek for someone to have mercy upon a wretch
and all that has being opposes the wretch

Jesus Good Lord
Why did you come down from heaven,
What did you do in the world
to what end did you give yourself over to death
unless it was that you might save sinners?

Saint Paul what did you teach?
when you were passing through this world?
God and his apostles and you most of all
invite us sinners to faith
you show us this as our only safe refuge
How then should I not hope if I believe this and ask in faith
How can this hope be frustrated in me
if that faith does not fail me
from which it was born?

Saint Anselem

Labels: Catholic, Florida, Quotable Quotes

July 26, 2009

Psalm 139~ I Will Praise Him Still

Brilliant Sunset Panama City Beach Florida

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

Labels: Florida, scripture

July 01, 2009

...A Story About Him...

Glorious Dawn over Panama City Beach FL


Anoint my heart with the oil of Your mercy,
my most merciful Lord.
May neither anger against the strong
nor scorning of the weak ever erupt in my heart!
For everything is weaker than the morning dew.
May hatred never make a nest in my heart
against those who plot evil against me,
so that I may be mindful of their end
and be at peace.

Morning Cloudscape Panama City Beach FL

Mercifulness opens the way
to the heart of all creatures,
and brings joy.
Mercilessness brings fog to the fore,
and creates a cramped isolation.
Have mercy on Your merciful servant,
most Tender Hand,
and reveal to me the mystery
of Your mercy.
The Ultimate Man
is the child of the Father’s mercy
and the Spirit’s light.

A dancing hermit crab, at low tide. Panama City Beach FL


All creation is merely a story about Him.
The mighty suns in the heavens
and the smallest drops of water in the lake
can in themselves be one part of the story about Him.
All the builders of heaven and earth,
from the exceedingly mighty Seraphim
to rulers and the tiniest particle of dust,
tell the very same story about Him,
their fore-essence and fore-source.
What are all the things on the earth
and the moon except the sun in stories?
Truly, in this way
all visible and invisible creation
is the Ultimate Man in stories.

Wind Swept Salt Grass, Cape San Blas, Fl


Essence is simple,
but there is no end or number
to the stories about essence.
My neighbors, how can I tell you about essence,
when you do not even understand stories.
Ah if you only knew how great the sweetness,
the expanse, and the strength are,
when one reaches the bottom of all the stories—there,
where the stories begin and where they end.
There, where the tongue is silent
and where everything is told at once!
How boring all the lengthy
and tedious stories of creatures become then!
Truly, they become just as boring
as it is for one who is accustomed
to seeing lightning to hear stories about lightning.

Evening Seas Sunset over the Gulf Panama City Beach FL

Receive me into Yourself,
O Only-Begotten Son,
so that I may be one with You
as I was before creation and the fall.
Let my long and weary story about You end
with a moment’s vision of You.
Let my self-deception die,
that would have me think that I am something without You,
that I am something else outside of You.
My ears are stuffed with stories.
My eyes no longer seek to see
any display of clothing but You,
my essence, overladen with stories and clothing.

from Prayers by the Lake

by St Nikolai Velimirovic

with a hat tip to The Handmaid at Christ is in our Midst

Labels: Florida, Prayers

March 29, 2009

Psalm 6~ Lord Hear Me

The Serene Shore Cape San Blas Florida

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint;

O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

My soul is in anguish.

How long, O Lord, how long?



Turn, O Lord, and deliver me;

save me because of your unfailing love.

No one remembers you when he is dead.

Who praises you from the grave


I am worn out from groaning;

all night long I flood my bed with weeping

and drench my couch with tears.

My eyes grow weak with sorrow;

they fail because of all my foes.



Away from me, all you who do evil,

for the Lord has heard my weeping.

The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;

the Lord accepts my prayer.

All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;

they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

Labels: Florida, scripture

September 26, 2008

From Sea to Shining Sea~A Blogaversary post

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Shining Seas North Shore Oahu Hawaii

I have seen my wide blue sea in many moods and in many places in this world. The vastness and everchanging nature of the ocean never ceases to facinate and amaze me. The vast ocean of human experience is like this too and I am constantly amazed at how wonderful and varied humans and the human condition is


.Sea of Dreams near San Destin Florida

I discovered the Internet and bloging in 2003 and found a whole new vista a whole different world and dived right in.Blogging became my passion. I loved sharing my Hawaii and my life with others and making friends along the way. It gives me joy to see a response to a post or to get an email for a more personal message. You have followed my Journey and shared my life and your kind words touch my heart
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California Dreaming Surfs up at Seal Beach Orange County CAlifornia

And so I begin my sixth year of blogging with a hearty thanks to all who take the time to read these humble scriblings. It is my hope that they give you as much pleasure to read as I get from writing them

God Bless you!


The burning sea Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico Port St. Joe Florida

Labels: Blogging, California, Florida, Hawaii, Traveling

June 22, 2008

Matthew 6:24-34~ Trust God To Provide

Stillness at the Water's Edge... Panama City Beach FL

Matthew 6:24-34

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Labels: Florida, scripture

February 09, 2008

Luke 5:27-32- Follow Me

Thunderhead over the Gulf Cape San Blas FL

The Call of Levi

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow me."And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

Labels: Florida, scripture

January 27, 2008

Psalm 15~ Requirements for Holiness

Between Sand and Sky Panama City Beach Fl

A Psalm of David.

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?



He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;


who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;


in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;


who does not put out his money at interest
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.

Labels: Florida, scripture

November 18, 2007

Deuteronomy 8:11-20 Forget Not the Blessings of the Lord

Burning Sunset Panama City Beach Florida


Deuteronomy 8:11-20


Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today,lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them,and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock,who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Labels: Florida, scripture

November 17, 2007

Kekaimalu or "The Calm Sea"

The gleaming shore, Panama City Beach Florida

Written at The Summit,
Panama City Beach, Florida November 11, 2007

The Summit


I am surrounded by Kekaimalu. The Calm Seas... The waters of the Gulf of Mexico are the resplendent shades of the tourmaline. There is an offshore breeze and so the soft "shuff shuff" sounds of the surf are subdued... almost subliminal... If you cant tell by now, I love it here...





We came to this strech of sugar sand beach in 2005, recovering from The Huakai or the Journey from Hawaii to Arkansas. We drove down through the Katrina ravaged Gulf coast to find this town still recovering from Hurricane Ivan the season prior. I enjoyed our time here so much that Woody bought me a week of timeshare here so I can always come at this quiet time. I was to buy an ajacent week a few months later so we can come at this time every year for two weeks during Thanksgiving time. When I have my business I will be able to do that. Currently "thisplace" only allows you to take a week of vacation time at a time, unless it is unusual circustances ie, when I was considering going with John Michael Talbot to Ireland in October. They were going to give me the time off simply because it was such a rare opportunity. I am SOOOO glad I chose not to do that as I can hardly walk 30 minutes now let alone a whole day of sightseeing, up and down stairs

Our journey yesterday was even more simple than the flight to Charleston was last spring. We boarded our flight at XNA, which is near "thisplace" and flew to Atlanta, had just enough time to change planes...had a deplaning delay even on saturday, I try to avoid Atlanta and OHare for that reason, but Woody booked this flight. Our only worry was Ms. Annabelle, who was spayed the day before and will be boarding with Dr. Eric, her vet, for the time we are away. She was bedraggled and not feeling very well when we left but assured that we would be called if there was a problem. When we went to Louisville she was well cared for so I have no doubts about her care now, but we are nervious parents...

We ate at Captain Anderson's a local Icon of a resturant. We missed them last time as they close for the holiday season and reopen in early spring. The place was packed and we dropped a c note for dinner...the place is making a killing...was it worth it...absolutley..


Poolside at the Summit



11-13

We have spent two full days here and while our quarters are a lot smaller than we are used to, (about 350 sq ft)there is plenty of space and amenities that we need, like a King sized bed and a washer dryer. Knowing that we could launder stuff allowed me to pack only half of what I would normally pack and I had a plesent surprise when the luggage was weighed. Woody's was overweight by 6 lbs and mine was just 40 lbs. Pretty good considering how heavy the bags are empty, you put a few clothes in there and you get screaming counter people and overweight fees

11-14 The weather has been spectacular, so we have spent our days driving around to different points of intrest. Yours truly is not as agile as she thought she would be so my picture taking has suffered. However the view off out 14th floor balcony is spectacular at sunset and I got some great shots the other night.

sunset


Woody have not talked much. I think he and I have so much on our minds. The situation with going to Louisville and the new business is never far from my mind...Then there is RCIA, where Ed challenged me with one paragraph in the Catachesim..."this is the summation, the rest is commentary" I will be writing more on this at a later time as I want to post on why I am making this huge decision...

11-17

The rest of the trip was wonderful. I got down to the waters edge a number of times but not as much as I would have liked. I was really concerned about putting stress on the newely formed joints in the break in my foot. The tendon is healing and reattached but its going to remain fragile for some time. The sand felt good to walk on as long as it was somewhat stable and level. I wore a sand shoe on the dry sand and that was more stable than athletic shoes.


Woody walking the beach



The water had already turned cold, and the cold burned the broken place but it was delicious to have my feet in the ocean. Walking along the shore, seeing the life in the sand as the sea creatures would work to keep themselves burried as the waves washed over and over the sand, seeing dolphins and loggerhead turtles sticking their heads up to look at us. They were the only other people on the deserted beaches

Other than the night club next door to the resort that cranked up the band all night on the weekends...I hear it everynight during the busy season, how the residents stand it is beyond me... It was a beautiful quiet time
A pool day, poolside at The Summit, Panama City Beach FL

Labels: Florida, Traveling, Woody