Sunday, April 22, 2012

I Spy Beauty...

A weekly post of beauty seen, heard or discovered

This week has been a bit ordinary. And sometimes I find it hard to see God and beauty and time in the ordinary.

But I keep coming back to some words in Sara Grove's new song, 'Precious Again'.
"Promise that just when love grows cold
You'll make it precious...
Press mud with holy fingers
Light the ineffable
Fused in the ordinary
So much to wonder..."(copyright 2011 Sara Groves Music)
The 'ordinary' around us is laden with beauty if we have eyes to see it. I believe God speaks to us through the ordinary just as much as the extraordinary- Jesus certainly did.

May we have eyes to see the BEAUTY and take it in.

Check out the full song 'Precious Again'.

And Sara's commentary on the story behind the song.

Monday, April 16, 2012

I Spy Beauty...

A weekly post of beauty seen, heard or discovered

On the road from West Wyalong to Hay. I didn't know such red dirt existed in NSW.
Just outside Hay, the intense greenery of post-flood land.
Floods are devastating, but the colours on this day were stunning.
On the Hay Plain, one of the flattest places on earth. A magical Easter Sunday morning.
Henley Beach, Adelaide.
I do love jetty's
The colour of the sea in South Australia is breathtaking.
Port Willunga, south of Adelaide.
Hugh Hamilton Vineyards, McLaren Vale (south-east of Adelaide).
This past week I saw parts of the Australian country as I road-tripped with my mum to visit my sister in Adelaide.
It was definitely BEAUTIFUL.
God put on a magical colour show for me- none of the above pictures have any filters! I felt my soul being recharged as I watched the scenery go by me on the drive; I didn't want to nap in case I missed out on any of it.

Seeing the flooding, and it's aftermath, in south-western NSW was also amazing. My mum can not recall ever seeing the land so green. I reflected on this in my journal the day we drove through...
"I know that flooding can cause farmers just as much damage and difficulty as drought, but when the floodwaters have receded it looks as if the land is so full of life and better than ever. It is sad that our world and environment are experiencing such extremes from droughts to large floods, that communities are forced to struggle to make a living so dependent on the seasons of weather. And yet seeing the countryside recovering and rejuvenating itself was phenomenal."

All in all, it was a week filled with seeing beauty in God's creation.... I am so grateful.

Monday, April 9, 2012

I Spy Beauty...

A weekly post of beauty seen, heard or discovered

Poppies

Mary Oliver

The poppies send up their

orange flares; swaying

in the wind, their congregations

are a levitation


of bright dust, of thin

and lacy leaves.

There isn't a place

in this world that doesn't


sooner or later drown

in the indigos of darkness,

but now, for a while,

the roughage


shines like a miracle

as it floats above everything

with its yellow hair.

Of course nothing stops the cold,


black, curved blade

from hooking forward—

of course

loss is the great lesson.


But I also say this: that light

is an invitation

to happiness,

and that happiness,


when it's done right,

is a kind of holiness,

palpable and redemptive.

Inside the bright fields,


touched by their rough and spongy gold,

I am washed and washed

in the river

of earthly delight—


and what are you going to do—

what can you do

about it—

deep, blue night?

sourced from: http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~richie/poetry/html/aupoem142.html


I only discovered the poetry of Mary Oliver in the last year, and I have very quickly fallen in love.

While being bogged down in a mountain of study last week, I was excited to see a Mary Oliver poem on my text list for English class.

And I was blown away by this one!

Redemption from, and through, darkness is such a large part of my story. So I was instantly drawn to this reflection on light and darkness. Everything might die or darken, but we can still appreciate beauty and happiness... And as Oliver writes doing so "is a kind of holiness,/palpable and redemptive."

Sunday, April 1, 2012

I Spy Beauty...

A weekly post of beauty seen, heard or discovered



It's been a hard week. And I've found myself humming this song so many times.
I think it speaks for itself - so hope-filled and beautiful!

Since I last mentioned The Civil Wars on this blog they have won multiple Grammy's. I think they deserve it!