prayer

Bowing Pines, Drifting Clouds, and the Scent of Rain

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“Deep Peace,” a traditional Gaelic prayer, inspired my post today. You can hear a lovely musical version by Libera at this link. Below you’ll find my own words to this brief, traditional blessing. It’s my prayer for you.

Deep peace

of the bowing pines to you.

Deep peace

of the drifting clouds to you.

Deep peace

of the scent of rain to you.

Deep peace.

Deep peace.

____

Deep peace

of a quiet dawn to you.

Deep peace

of a blooming garden to you.

Deep peace

of the gliding geese to you.

Deep peace.

Deep peace.

____

Deep peace

of the dozing dog to you.

Deep peace

of the purring cat to you.

Deep peace

of a gentle hug to you.

Deep peace.

Deep peace.

____

Deep peace

of the evening star to you.

Deep peace

of a cool night breeze to you.

Deep peace

of a silken pillow to you.

Deep peace.

Deep peace.

____

Deep,

deep

peace

to you.

-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the week:

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Text and photos © 2024 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

A Single Grateful Thought

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“One single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer.”

– G.E. Lessing –

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

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 © 2021 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Loving Well, Praying Well

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“He prayeth well who loveth well

Both man and bird and beast,

He prayeth best who loveth best

All things both great and small.”

– Samuel Taylor Coleridge –

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

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 © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Art and Stillness

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“Art has something to do with

the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos.

A stillness which characterizes prayer, too,

and the eye of the storm . . .

an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction.”

– Saul Bellow, quoted in Writers at Work, edited by George Plimpton

 

Find your place of stillness, your prayer, your eye of the storm. Rest in it, embody it, for you are a work of art.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

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 © 2018 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

A Heart Without Words

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“When you pray, rather let thy heart be without words

than thy words be without heart.”

– John Bunyan –

 

Prayer often has no words but is simply a heart silent and open and listening, searching and sensing and settling, like a child reaching out and grasping a mother’s hand. And that is more than enough. You are the prayer. Your heart is heard and loved.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, be the prayer, and carry the calm.

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.

For my longer posts on the art of noticing, link here.

 

Text and photos © 2018 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

The Most Perfect Prayer

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“One single grateful thought raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer.”

– G.E. Lessing –

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week: This looks like a perfect prayer to me.

Shadow of the Week:

 

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

For my posts on life and the wonder of it all, link here.

 

Text and photos © 2018 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

In Nature’s Cathedral

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“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:

mooncrapemyrtle

Shadow of the Week:

ptonshdw1

If you want to receive these thoughts by email each week, simply sign up on the right.

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

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

 

I Have Loved the Stars

 

 

White as Wings of Prayer

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“The mists above the morning rills

Rise white as wings of prayer.”

– John Greenleaf Whittier –

 

Need a bit of solace for your soul? Gently soar on the soft music and prayerlike, birdlike wings of this kinetic sculpture, Diffusion Choir. It’s short, and it’s amazing.

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

Nature of the week – fragrant ginger, still blooming here in November!

ginger

Shadow of the Week:

shdwflrspikes

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

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

 

Cares Will Drop Away