winter

Night, Still and Silent

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Profoundly still the twilight air,

Lifeless the landscape; so we deem,

Till like a phantom gliding near

A stag bends down to drink the stream.

And far away a mountain zone,

A cold, white waste of snow-drifts lies,

And one star, large and soft and lone,

Silently lights the unclouded skies.

– Charlotte Bronte, “Speak of the North” –

 

May the skies of your heart be unclouded, lit by the star of peace.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Text and photos © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Deep in Winter, Deep in Me

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“In the depths of winter, I finally learned

that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

– Albert Camus, “Return to Tipasa” –

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week – summer smiles from the “garden” of my supermarket floral department:

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.

Winter’s Welcome

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Winter welcomes,

beckons,

invites us to

pause

on the brittle brink of the year,

witness

the shimmer of the season,

listen

for undertones of time passing

on icy tiptoe,

breathe

the crisp air.

Drink all of it.

Deeply.

Deeply grateful.

– kh –

 

Wishing you peace and grace in the new year!

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.

Dancing Toward Spring

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“. . . O Wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind.”

– Percy Bysshe Shelley, from “Ode to the West Wind” –

 

Winter and Spring are in their annual dance until Winter bows out and Spring takes center stage. Enjoy the dance of the seasons!

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week – Lenten rose:

Shadow of the Week – missed the cat but caught the shadow of her tail:

 

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.

Before the Robins Sing

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“We must live through the dreary winter

If we would value the spring;

And the woods must be cold and silent

Before the robins sing.

The flowers must be buried in darkness

Before they can bud and bloom,

And the sweetest, warmest sunshine

Comes after the storm and gloom.”

– unknown author, from Poems That Live Forever –

 

The seasons of our lives seem to follow that same pattern – storm, gloom, and then sweet warmth. “I have been bent and broken,” said Charles Dickens, “but – I hope – into a better shape.”

May your heart bloom in the warm sunshine of hope.

Nurture peace, cultivate loving 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.

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

 

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

A Heart in Bloom

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“The blossoms of earth wither and fade

the blossoms of the heart, what a joy!”

Rumi

Happy February!

Nurture peace, cultivate loving 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.

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

 

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

Among the Frosts

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“There is a rumor of total welcome among the frosts of the winter morning.”

– Mary Oliver, Upstream –

 

Winter welcomes,

beckons,

invites us to

pause

on the brittle brink of the year,

witness

the shimmer of the season,

listen

for undertones of time passing

on icy tiptoe,

breathe

the crisp air.

Drink all of it.

Deeply.

Deeply grateful.

– kh

 

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

Nature of the week – a visitor at my heated birdbath:

Shadow of the Week – spied at church:

 

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

For my posts on life, faith, and the mystery we call God, link here.

 

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

Mute Music

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“[E]very withered stem

and stubble rimed with frost,

contribute something

to the mute music [of winter].”

– Emerson, “Nature” –

 

Pause for a moment this week to enjoy stems and stubble, to listen to the shushing sound they make in the wind – or if the day is still, to discover the season’s mute music.

Nurture peace, cultivate loving 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.

For my posts on life, faith, and the mystery we call God, link here.

 

Text and photos © 2017 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Ancient Light

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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:

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

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

 

Breakfast First

 

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

Steps on Silver Sod

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“Black are my steps on silver sod;

Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;

And tree and house, and hill and lake,

Are frosted like a wedding cake.”

– Robert Louis Stevenson, “Wintertime” –

 

Each day is an open palm, offering gifts of the season. Catch its scent. Taste its flavors. Hear its song. Pay attention. Tomorrow’s gift will be different.

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

Nature photo of the week:

SnwCardB'house

Shadows of the Week:

ShdwOurHseSnw

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