When is an Ordinary Sunday Extraordinary?

“Sometimes I have loved the peacefulness of an ordinary Sunday.

It is like standing in a newly planted garden after a warm rain.

You can feel the silent and invisible life.”

The ordinary becomes extraordinary when we open all our senses to it. Be aware. How would you describe it? As a garden? Warm rain? Find your own description. Notice. Feel the silent and invisible life. It’s one way to nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

This week’s nature and shadow come in one photograph – a fern unfurling.

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For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.

Live, Breathe, Give: A Child’s Wisdom

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

This week, two quotes from children’s books seem timely:

“To fear is one thing.

To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.”

– Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved –

“Live courage, breathe courage and give courage.”

– Dhan Gopal Mukerji, Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon –

Nourish peace and cultivate loving kindness. Then live calm, breathe calm, and give calm.

Nature of the week: Japanese apricot blooming at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens:

Shadow of the Week:

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For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.

Can We Feel the Eternal?

Can We Feel the Eternal?

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Awe enables us to perceive in the world intimations of the divine,

to sense in small things the beginning of infinite significance,

to sense the ultimate in the common and the simple;

to feel in the rush of the passing

the stillness of the eternal.”

– Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man –

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week: sunlight glows through a leaf

Shadow of the Week: a fern

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For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here. karynhenley.com

Can You Hear an Inch of Silence?

Can You Hear an Inch of Silence?

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Quiet is not an absence of sound but an absence of noise.”

– Gordon Hempton –

Treat yourself to 5 minutes of nature’s soundscape in a peaceful inch of the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park, identified as the “quietest place in the United States.” From that page you can link to other sounds recorded by Hempton, a sound recording specialist and acoustical ecologist. Enjoy!

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – acorns and leaves on January ground:

Shadow of the Week:

P.S. If you’ve never been to the Hoh Rainforest, place it on your bucket list. Hiking its mossy trails is like stepping into a fantasy world. It’s a habitat for banana slugs, which secrete a slime that has an anesthetizing effect. A park ranger held one across her palm and asked if anyone wanted to lick it. My older son did – and did. With no ill effects. Except an anesthetized tongue.

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For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.

Ancient Light

Ancient Light

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Distant ancient light

Kisses red winter berries,

Timeless touches time.

– Karyn –

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – winter berries in the rain:

Shadow of the Week:

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For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.

Breakfast First

Breakfast First

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Happy New Year! If you’re in need of a resolution, here’s one you can adopt:

“Never work before breakfast;

if you have to work before breakfast,

get your breakfast first.”

– Josh Billings –

Wishing you a joyful, peaceful, kind year.

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – a December pansy:

Shadow of the Week:

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For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.

The Best of Best Wishes

The Best of Best Wishes

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Peace on earth and goodwill to all.”

– Luke 2:14 –

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – in lights for the holidays at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens:

Shadow of the Week – a small Christmas village casts a long shadow:

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For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here. karynhenley.com

A Safe Space

A Safe Space

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Hospitality is . . .

the creation of a safe, inviting, trustworthy space

– an atmosphere as much as a place.”

– Krista Tippett* –

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm into your gatherings with family and friends. May you yourself be a safe inviting, trustworthy space. May you be hospitality.

Nature of the week – sun through leaves creates a stained-glass window effect:

Shadow of the Week – morning shadows on my kitchen blinds:

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For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.

*From On Being‘s Civil Conversations project, which I highly recommend.

In Nature’s Cathedral

In Nature’s Cathedral

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The blue sky is the temple’s arch,

Its transept earth and air,

The music of its starry march

The chorus of a prayer.”

– John Greenleaf Whittier –

Pause for a moment whenever you step outdoors this week. Look up and take in the cathedral of nature. Join the chorus of its prayer.

And as always, nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.

I Have Loved the Stars

I Have Loved the Stars

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”

– Sarah Williams –

Even when stars are not visible – in daylight or under cloud cover at night – they are still there. And when life around us seems cloudy and dark, love is still there. Love holds steady. Grace holds. Kindness holds. These are our stars in the darkness. If we locate them, we can trust them to guide us on our journey; out of trust, hope is born. Step toward love. Step toward grace. Step toward kindness. And carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.

The Essential Invisible

Carry the Calm

Karyn Henley

When is an Ordinary Sunday Extraordinary?

Live, Breathe, Give: A Child’s Wisdom

Can We Feel the Eternal?

Can You Hear an Inch of Silence?

Ancient Light

Breakfast First

The Best of Best Wishes

A Safe Space

In Nature’s Cathedral

I Have Loved the Stars