Memoria Arts~ Life in the Making

Light, last week...

Inside:

The paper mache stars were finished and delivered to Grace. It was a lot of fun, but hear me when I say I hope I don't see paper mache any time soon. There were five in total- two six pointed, two eight pointed, and one 'star of bethlehem', each about four and a half feet in diameter. All were made from Pex pipe, twine, paper, flour, and water. 

 
 

Outside:

Such beauty! The skies have been competing each day to see who can be the prettiest. It's fine with me; winter's gray cloak will settle down around the mountains' shoulders all too soon. We had the nicest of snows on Saturday. It wasn't too cold, and there wasn't a lot of ice and muck. Just enough to enjoy and play in!

 Making the stars and watching out the garage windows has made me think so much about light- how it changes, the different moods...and of course, the Light. This Advent season so far has felt quiet and peaceful. Just enjoying the moments as they come.

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." Isaiah 9:2

 

Occupied country...

The Din Undoes Us
(written in anticipation of reading 1 Samuel 2-3: [Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening])

Our lives are occupied territory…
occupied by a cacophony of voices,
and the din outdoes us.

In the daytime we have no time to listen,
beset as we are by anxiety and goals
and assignments and work,
and in the night the voices are so confusing
we can hardly sort out what could possibly be your voice
 from the voice of our mothers and our fathers
 our best friends and our pet projects,
because they all sound so much like you.

We are people over whom that word shema has been written.
We are listeners, but we do not listen well.

So we bid you, by the time the sun goes down today
or by the time the sun comes up tomorrow,
by night or by day,
that you will speak to us in ways that we can hear
out beyond ourselves.

 It is your speech to us that carries us where we have never been,
and it is your speech to us that is our only hope.
So give us ears.
 Amen.

~ Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann.

Light, #8

“Perhaps it will seem to you that the sunshine is brighter and that everything has a new charm. At least, I believe this is always the result of a deep love, and it is a beautiful thing. And I believe people who think love prevents one from thinking clearly are wrong; for then one thinks very clearly and is more active than before. And love is something eternal--the aspect may change, but not the essence. There is the same difference in a person before and after he is in love as there is in an unlighted lamp and one that is burning. The lamp was there and it was a good lamp, but now it is shedding light too, and that is its real function. And love makes one calmer about many things, and in that way, one is more fit for one's work.”

- Vincent Van Gogh

Light, #7

Teach us to number our days aright, 
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

  Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
       Have compassion on your servants.

  Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
       that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

  Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
       for as many years as we have seen trouble.

  May your deeds be shown to your servants,
       your splendor to their children.

  May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
       establish the work of our hands for us—
       yes, establish the work of our hands.

{Psalm 90:12-17}

Light, #6

The fabric
faded floral
tosses in the wind

sheet smelling of lemons
sunshine
brushes across face

tickling emerald grass
caresses feet
bare caked of summer

popcorn sounds
of laundry line
chasing breeze

running through the
rows of Grandma's line
I catch sight

Little girl
blonde tossed curls
eyes starry blue

Reach to catch  her
Slipping like a whisper
through fingers

musical laugh fades
sun beats on bare lawn
And I remember innocence.

Light, #5

Monday morning's rising song- it needs no other compliment.

Light, #4

"Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space.  It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe.  It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished."  ~Michael Strassfeld

{Our "make-do" fireplace, where we like to spend our evening family times.}

Light, #3

"We-or at least I- shall not be able to adore God on the highest occasions if we have learned no habit of doing so on the lowest. At best, our faith and reason will tell us He is adorable, but we shall not have found Him so, not have "tasted and seen." Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are 'patches of godlight' in the woods of experience."
- C.S. Lewis, Letters to Malcom: Chiefly on Prayer

{The snow, steadily falling today...not much light to be found, but the snowflakes are beautiful.}

Light, #2

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
                            {I John 1:5-7}

(Lorelei, dancing in the light this morning...)

Light, #1

Snowy and dark outside today. These lemons are a much needed burst of sunshine!