Climbing

Whoever has integrity shall climb the mountain of God.

Rainy Day Monday Always Gets Me Down

Rainy Day Monday Always Gets Me Down
Originally uploaded by vajra.

i am a little church (no great cathedral)

i am a little church(no great cathedral)
far from the splendor and squalor of hurrying cities
-i do not worry if briefer days grow briefest,
i am not sorry when sun and rain make april

my life is the life of the reaper and the sower;
my prayers are prayers of earth's own clumsily striving
(finding and losing and laughing and crying)children
whose any sadness or joy is my grief or my gladness

around me surges a miracle of unceasing
birth and glory and death and resurrection:
over my sleeping self float flaming symbols
of hope,and i wake to a perfect patience of mountains

i am a little church(far from the frantic
world with its rapture and anguish)at peace with nature
-i do not worry if longer nights grow longest;
i am not sorry when silence becomes singing

winter by spring,i lift my diminutive spire to
merciful Him Whose only now is forever:
standing erect in the deathless truth of His presence
(welcoming humbly His light and proudly His darkness)

ee cummings

Window and Doors

Window and Doors
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Cat Friday

Isabella Looks Sharp
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Fire

Fire
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Evening

Evening
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Cold Moon

Cold Moon
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Mother and Child

Mother and Child
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Sexual Perversity In Chicago

Mamet is entirely bleak. Folie à deux times two. Happiness splintered and exchanged for lonliness. The strange bonds of men. Ineffectual efforts toward love.

Deep Pink

Deep Pink
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Cat Friday

Repose
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Turning

Turning
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Afternoon In Sepia

Afternoon In Sepia
Originally uploaded by vajra.

You Call This Winter?

You Call This Winter?
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Succulent

Succulent
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Fleshy leaves.
Luscious.
Inviting.

Winter

Winter
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Sometimes an ordinary day is made extraordinary by the slightest bits of happiness. Tasks well done. Time to rest. Good food. Prayer.

Deciduous Magnolia 5

Deciduous Magnolia 5
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Cat Friday

Neighborhood Watch
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Pink Rose

Sailor's Delight

Sailor's Delight
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Basho

Awakened at midnight
by the sound of the water jar
cracking from the ice
(Basho, trans. Hamill)

Monday Morning

Resting

Resting
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Waiting for the wind to rise.
Waiting for a direction to fly.
Waiting.
Resting.

Stone Angel

Stone Angel
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Beloved:
We have this confidence in God,
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,
we know that what we have asked him for is ours.
___1 Jn 5:14-21

Cat Friday

I'll Fly Away

I'll Fly Away
Originally uploaded by vajra.

Some glad morning when this life is o'er,
I'll fly away;
To a home on God's celestial shore,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

[Chorus]
I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

When the shadows of this life have gone,
I'll fly away;
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away)

[Chorus]
I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

Just a few more weary days and then,
I'll fly away;
To a land where joy shall never end,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away)

[Chorus]
I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

Dogwood

Dogwood
Originally uploaded by vajra.

The deciduous magnolias are starting to bloom. I took a picture of a tree half in bloom today. Such splendor against bare branches. Spring is hidden in cold but it's coming.

Stormy

Stormy
Originally uploaded by vajra.

12 of the 13 West Virginia miners were rescued. Happy news. One man is described as having worked in the mines for 33 years...from the time he was 16 years old. Manual labor: do we think of those who work to provide for us? Or do we simply eat the vegetables, turn on the light switch, pour a glass of water, ignoring the huge amount of heavy work it took to bring it to us?

I Pray To You, Lord

But by your great mercy
I enter your house
and bend low in awe
within your holy temple.

Embrace
Originally uploaded by vajra.

As Morning Breaks

As morning breaks I look to you, O God,
to be my strength this day, hallelujah.


God, my God, you I crave;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body aches for you
like a dry and weary land.
Let me gaze on you in your temple:
a vision of strength and glory.

Your love is better than life,
my speech is full of praise,
I give you a lifetime of worship,
my hands raised in your name.
I feast at a rich table,
my lips sing of your glory.