Simple and Sacred

“The art of art,

the glory of expression…

is simplicity.”

It’s the simple things that nourish me. My grandson’s smile. The laughter of friends. A pepper turning red on the vine. The dance of leaves in a breeze on a hot day. The sun shining red through a broad canna leaf. The scent of citronella leaves at the back door. The prickly center of a coneflower. Smooth, sweet coconut yogurt. The chirring of a wren as it guards its nest box. Simple, sacred gifts, each a wonder of art and glory, each an invitation to joy and peace.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Nature. Art. God.

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The course of Nature is the art of God.”

– Edward Young –

Linger,

heart open,

intent on the smallest bit

of nature’s art—

a pebble,

a butterfly,

a bud,

raindrops;

let wonder widen,

dreams deepen,

hopes stretch and soar

up and out and into

the eternal mystery

that many call

God.

–KH

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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A Place of Inner Peace

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Here’s a riddle for you:

What’s so fragile that you can break it by just saying its name?

(The answer follows this next quote.)

“In a world of noise, confusion and conflict,

it is necessary that there is a place of inner silence and peace,

not the peace of mere relaxation

but the peace of inner clarity and love.”

– Thomas Merton –

The answer to the riddle is:

Silence.

Wishing you the inner silence of peace, clarity, and love.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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One of the Hardest Lessons

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“One of the hardest lessons we have to learn in this life, and one that many persons never learn, is to see the divine, the celestial, the pure, in the common, the near at hand—to see that heaven lies about us here in this world.” – John Burroughs

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Broken Dreams, Beautiful World

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive God to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.” – Max Ehrmann, “Desiderata”

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – shadows and reflections in a double paned window:

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Peace and Possibility

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

The energy of this week lost some of its spark at the death of a lovely friend, a good, creative, and generous soul. I’m grateful for the community we shared at Art and Soul Nashville, where she was—and her memory continues to be—a joyful, hopeful part of the welcome, the creativity, the encouragement, and the peace.

Here are some thoughts on peace that I wrote a few weeks ago:

For Peace

I’m grateful for the gentle souls

who hear peace,

hold it in their hearts and

hum it into mine.

I’m grateful for the fiery souls

who envision peace,

sing it out loud and

shout its possibilities into the world.

I’m grateful for souls both gentle and fiery

who know peace is both deep and wide,

sometimes the gift of a whispered breeze,

sometimes a hard-won shelter in storm.

I pray for the holding,

the hoping,

the healing

of peace.

– KH

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – short cat, long shadow:

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If We Listen

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair.” – Howard Thurman

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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In the Back Yard Under the Pines

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

I rarely share my thoughts here, because so many have said them before, much more clearly and beautifully. But here’s one I put to paper yesterday.

I meant to put on sunscreen,

insect repellent,

maybe even a floppy hat—

Isn’t that how you dress

for a garden that needs weeding?

Instead, I went out to take a picture

of a rose,

the first of the season.

Then the mahonia beckoned,

its berries hanging in grape-like clusters,

blue, powdered with white,

another photo op

in the back yard under the pines

in the garden that needed weeding.

I’ll just test the weeds, I thought,

see if recent rains have softened the soil,

find out if they pull easily.

Up came a mat of chickweed,

a clump of wild violets,

tendrils of ivy,

all overstretching their bounds.

And so it went,

tugging and tossing,

freeing the spent daffodils

from one clump of weeds,

then another

and another.

There on my knees,

fingers digging through pine straw,

I breathe the rich smell of dirt,

the fresh scent of leaves.

A surprised millipede skitters past,

disturbed earthworms tunnel deeper.

Chickadees sing their name,

Wrens chirr,

a woodpecker tap-tap-taps overhead.

Wind brushes the pines and elms,

ebbing and flowing like the ocean,

a sea of air

swishing,

sighing,

whispering peace—

peace with the rhythms of nature,

peace with the seasons of life and death

in the garden now in late spring bloom

after dying back for winter.

Whispering, too, of my own seasons,

of my own dying to come

some day.

Even though I hear the whisper,

even though I might prepare,

that day will surprise me.

Oh—

I meant to put on sunscreen,

insect repellent,

a floppy hat—

Isn’t that how you dress for a garden?

–KH

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Sunrise and Song

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“The sun is rising. All the green trees are full of birds, and their song comes up out of the wet bowers of the orchard. Crows swear pleasantly in the distance, and in the depths of my soul sits God.” – Thomas Merton

Nature of the week – Gardeners made out of Lego by Sean Kenney for Cheekwood Botanical Gardens’ new art show: