Our Time Within May Lead to New Path

I’ve been drawing labyrinths for about 15 years now. I fell in love with them after walking my first one before I even really knew what they were. Labyrinths have been around for millennia, giving people a meditative path to walk on, without having to go far. It is not a puzzle but a single path to the center. Traditional labyrinths (like the one pictured to the left here) have only one path to the center, which you walk, then when you are ready, return on the same path to get out. This is symbolic of prayer and meditation. We pause, go in to the center, and then return to our lives.

For 2020, I suddenly felt like we needed a new path, a new labyrinth. So I drew this blue one and added notes. In this one we walk to the center, then when we are ready, we walk out by a different path, visiting some of the same scenery but ultimately coming out changed and in a different place. It gives me hope at that this time of going in and then staying in, (this time of the COVID-19 quarantine) will be a time of change, that we will be able to come out of it transformed in a good way and on a new path! In the meantime, please enjoy my labyrinth experience with your fingers...or draw one on the driveway to share.  

                                                
                               ~ prayerfully, jules

You can also access this labyrinth photo here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BwBJK8THdeNDKEYM6

Grounding in Nature: Walking Views

Today's blog is a slide show: Walking Views

During this time of COVID-19 and #StayHome, we've been attempting to walk every day. This has helped so much with managing the stress and reminding me of God's grace and abundance. Even now, it is still a beautiful world.

please enjoy my slides here. You can watch it in full screen by clicking on the full screen [ ] icon at the bottom.

THE GIFT WITHIN

THE GIFT WITHIN

Close your eyes.
Imagine your favorite place
What does it look like?
What does it smell like?
What does it feel like?
What does it sound like?
Who else is there?
Stay there for awhile and hang out.
Feel the love and the beauty of that place sink into you.

did you know that you carried paradise around inside of you?
Did you know you could visit anytime you want without paying a dime?

About Noise & Silence....and finding the Holy in it. Entry #1

A parable by Theophane the Monk in his book Tales of a Magic Monastery:

"Would you teach me silence?" I asked.
"Ah!"
He seemed to be pleased. "Is it the Great Silence you want?"
"yes, the Great Silence."
"Well, where do you think it is to be found?" he asked.
"Deep within me, I suppose. If only I could go deep within, I'm sure I'd escape the noise at last. But it's hard. Will you help me?" I knew he would. I could feel his concern and his spirit was so silent.
"Well i've been there," he said. "I spent years going in. I did taste the silence there. But one day Jesus came--maybe it was my imagination--and said to me simply, 'Come, Follow me.' I went out, and I've never gone back."
I was stunned, "but the silence...."
"I've found the Great Silence, and I've come to see that the noise was inside."

I hope you enjoy this parable form Theophane. I read it and immediately decided to do a series here on noise and silence. Perhaps i should ended it with this. I think I'll just see where each entry takes me. Tune in for more about noise and silence.

blessings on your noise,

jules