Winter Evenings

 

On winter evenings, I sit at a window

and watch the twilight sky

as the sun slips away,

leaving in its wake

a gift of shifting color.

Tonight, the sky is soft,

a silver blue tinted with yellow,

and patches of pink.

Bare branches of backyard trees

curve and cross in silhouette,

upstretched in silent worship,

vespers on a silver evening.

Between and beyond

the filigree of twigs and branches,

a light appears,

bright white,

barely moving.

A distant plane.

Slowly,

smoothly,

quietly

it traces a line

through the delicate maze,

then glides away

as the silver blue sky,

slowly,

smoothly,

quietly

darkens

into a rich hush,

the velvet blue,

of a winter night.

– kh –

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Text and photos © 2023 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Give Me October

 

Give me October’s meditative haze,

Its gossamer mornings, dewy-wimpled eves…

And all is peace, peace, and plump fruitfulness.

Alfred Austin, “October” –

 

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness.

When you can, step away from the chaos and into the calm.

Then carry that calm with you, deep in your heart.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2020 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Breathless With Adoration

“It is a beauteous evening, calm and free;

The holy time is quiet as a Nun

Breathless with adoration; the broad sun

Is sinking down in his tranquility . . .”

– William Wordsworth –

Evening, morning, afternoon – any time of day and any length of time, even a single minute, can be holy time. We make it so by paying attention, by pausing in breathless adoration, by settling, if only for a moment, into tranquility.

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

Nature of the week:

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Shadow of the Week:

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

Text and photos © 2016 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

 

 

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