Love Letters From God... From December-into-January's Moon

BLESSED NEW MOON!

And a warm hello to anyone posting here : ) For the guidelines please see here and then here , and then simply leave your post-link for this moon in a comment and it will be inserted into the post. Though ideally posted at the new moon, they can also be left later than this if preferred, as this post will remain open to additions until the next new moon.

Thank you so much for sharing how God has moved in your life this past month, be it through healing co-in-see-dance or a more simple and direct living : )


GOD'S LOVE LETTERS FOR JANUARY/FEBRUARY'S MOON:

This last moon has left things gratefully changed I feel. Each new moon brings just that, a sense of newness, but January has always felt especially so. The Christmas season, new years, crisp weather, in some places white snow...its feels to hold a real sense of hope this time of year. And personally this year, this last moon I turned fourty so it has been kind of a turning point it feels, not of speeding up but of slowing down... in a good way I think.

When I think of the "love letters from God" from this last moon, some of it ties in with dreams. I had a summer period when I was living in deep nature in British Columbia where the dreams were especially core...and it seems that now they are unraveling and yielding a bit of slow understanding. That has been the biggest 'love letter' perhaps, this looking at those gifts of dreams, but as this is taking a bit of time to find words for it will be in a seperate link upcoming and inserted here. That is if the words come. If they don't then I will await the next moon(s).

The 'love letters from God' have also been in last moon's simple pleasures. There have really been joys of deeper keeping at home this past moon. I wake up actually looking forward to cleaning and organizing now. It seems being in my own home, even if it is just a little trailer, has make a miracle of a difference there. Since this is actually my home i feel a freedom like never before to let the bond happen, to not protectively block it from happening...the bond with the cupboards, with the walls, with the everything. And perhaps that bond changes things, I don't know. All I know is I feel more 'at home' in my life itself right now. I have to wonder if these long standing home issues I've had are for my own healing, the healing as they change. After all there is no such thing as a coincidence, our lives are only possible through God's dancing with us, our co-in-see-dances.

I'd spoken previously (on the bluebird blog) of the post-Christmas joy of cooking popcorn over a flame in a vintage popcorn maker. And each night practially this has been a treat. Something about taking the corn in my hands, then pouring in the oil, standing over that flame (even if it is propane), both hearing and feeling the corn pop, then having that wonderful nightly treat...well its been making me feel so nourished, there is just something so REAL feeling that moves something so deep. Funny how something so simple goes so deep. And its been expanding more into the area of cooking in general (finally!). Small changes there, not huge yet or anything, more like just making french toast or scrambled eggs for breakfast rather than just grabbing a yogurt. Its not much i know, but its still leaves things feeling different.

The other simple pleasure that unfolded last moon was a morning ritual. The very first morning after I moved in, in all the chaos of the electricty having crashed the night before, the roof leaking, lots of chaotic stuff...well that first morning awaking I found myself doing something. I stayed in bed awhile after awaking looking out my window (the window right next to the bed). There is a large fir tree in view there that draws me like a magnet. And that first morning I just lay there watching, a morning meditation of sorts. The tree drew, the sky drew, the birds drew, the squirrels drew. And little did I know how this would become a daily ritual and how much it would hold. But it did. Each and every morning this is how it begins for me, and its been building this slowly forming 'vessel' it feels. Becuase it seems to b a habit forming, a time of being more receptive, listening, watching, more open to the co-in-see-dances, the love letters.

So far the carriers of these God given gifts have been the squirrels and the birds. (Reading what was just writen just made me smile because it reminds me of Disney's Snow White, one of my favorite movies.) On Christmas during my 'morning window time' I saw a baby squirrel and baby crow rather excitedly interacting on the phonewire line, I wonder if either had even seen the other's kind up close before. And after a bit of this, instead of the standard crow chase squirrel I'd have expected the tables were turned and the little squirrel chased the crow. I laughed so hard I cried and it made my day.

On the first morning of my fourtieth year I awoke to immediately seeing two white seagulls on the roof accross the street, and from that distance in the pose they were in they looked like two doves. Which really moved something because it reminded me of the 'year of the turtledove' thing (and 'two turtle doves').

Then recently there has been this strange harmony thing happening. Crows and seagulls and pigeons have been flocking together to one spot and rather freely intermingling. Someone must be leaving food there drawing them. And they havent been fighting really it almost looks like they have been one family. This has happened several times this past week and makes things feel 'sparkly' when it happens. I know that sounds weird. But it happens. When something kind of happens unexpectedly like that and moves something and so I feel not alone but more that things are in God's hands then things can take on a 'sparkle'. It feels so healing when it happens, I wish it would happen all the time. I suspect that sparkle is always there but it gets muddied when we fear we are far from God and forget He truly is right here with us.

I'm looking forward to these 'witnessing reflections' each new moon, looking back and letting ourselves feel and admit God has truly been here in our life, through the small important stuff... through co-in-see-dances, through simple pleasures, through dreams, through___. I hope folks newly seeing this blog can see just how simple and flexible these reflections can be. Its nothing fancy really, its just whatever takes form around what has been experienced, has been gifted. Something about letting these experiences and reflections kind of "crystalize' by posting them here once a month has just been something I've really needed, and I truly hope it will be helpful to others as well. So onto the other posts : ) ...

Plain and Simple of Echo From the Green Hills, whose post can been seen here, has shared the joy that moves her from tea, cake, and knitting. From her post:

"For me, one of the simple, everyday kind of pleasures in life is tea. Not fancy tea, with a posh name, but good old fashioned "builder's brew". Every now and again I drink Earl Grey, or some herbal concoction, or Assam but I always go back to the kind of tea I was brought up on. Like most English children I drank tea from a very early age and it has always been a source of comfort. I drink tea when I'm tired, when I'm sad, when I'm poorly, when I've finished my jobs for the day. It's the national panacea. I also tend to drink it from a mug in the morning, but from an old cup and saucer in the afternoon. It's such a simple pleasure!

Whilst drinking my tea in the afternoon I like to sit down, watch my F play and do a spot of knitting. I love knitting. Knitting makes you slow down, there is a quiet rhythm to it, it's almost like meditating. You can't rush a knitting project, it forces you to appreciate that good things take time. Knitting is also like a gentle puzzle and there is always something new to learn, it stretches the mind...but not too much, after all it's the afternoon, and there may be a good movie on soon...

I also like cake. Cake is a simple pleasure because it is easy to make one but EVERYONE loves it and appreciates it. It's so nice to go to someone's house and it smells of bread and biscuits and cake. It yells "this is a home!" It seems to me that I like homemade stuff not just because it is a "green" way of doing things or a "frugal" way of doing things, but because there is something very special in giving and receiving stuff that has been made by someone you love...even if they do gobble it down in two seconds flat and say "made anything else mum?"

And moving across from Plain and Simple in England over to Me in the US, there is that same real love of tea as a simple pleasure. Me of Those Northern Skies, whose post can be seen here, went back over her daily gratitude journal and noticed just how often she mentioned tea, and shared those passages. She also gathered some very cool qoutes on tea, and brought things home with her own experience in recieving her special teapots that have brought her much simple joy, a recieving that is ripe with co-in-see-dance. From her post:

"I started to drink tea when I was pregnant with C. After my pregnancy, I planned to return to coffee. It did not happen. Coffee no longer tasted good. The little blue teapot I bought when I was pregnant received daily use for the next two years - then I decided I was drinking more than the poor thing could handle. So told hubby I would like another one. So for Mother's Day when I was pregnant with K I got this one. It is a very nice teapot - that can actually double as a kettle. Well - then I went through two pots a day (I drink it iced - lousy American that I am). Eventually, the blue one was riddled with cracks and I was afraid she would literally break apart so I started combing the thrift stores. It took me several months and several false pots before I found this ones slightly homely big sister. I paid five dollars for it and considering how much these pots cost when new it was a delight. The newest 'used' one doesn't have quite as nice of shape and the handle is woven willow instead of bamboo with heavy wire hooks instead of the lovely copper ones that this one has. The poor thing was also clearly mistreated by the owners as it is has a white streak/stain running down one side that nothing will remove. However, it is a steady pot and I have two pots that I think will last me for years to come."

Again from the US, Christine of The Sacred Art of Living shares many moving things from her last moon. Her post can be seen here , and from it:

"My last month has brought an abundance of gifts: time away in wild places, endings and new beginnings, wonderful teaching experiences, the gift of unexpected days off with my beloved, meals shared with friends, creative inspiration, and the gifts of winter, which include a sweet creature for our Epiphany gift. When I share my joy, it blossoms, bursts forth to elicit joy from others."

And looking more broadly at the sacred in the mundane she explains: " In the Rule, Benedict wrote that “all utensils and goods of the monastery” are to be treated as ”sacred vessels of the altar.” (RB 31:10-11) Esther DeWaal writes that Benedictine life “simply consists in doing the ordinary things of daily life carefully and lovingly, with the attention and reverence that can make of them a way of prayers, a way to God.

What if we were to rise each morning and give thanks for the coffee that awakens our mind and body, offer gratitude for sleep and the renewal that comes with rest. What if we bowed down before the night offerings of sacred texts our dreams have laid on the altar of our wholeness. What if each bite of food we exclaimed wonder at the ways our bodies take in nourishment, at the flavor and gift of food. Savoring oatmeal becomes an act of praise. And as we read the morning news, what if we each took a moment to gather in all the sorrow of the world into our hearts and hold it there with great love and kindness so that we might carry this awareness to all those we encounter during our day. What if each day we could find wonder in the way sunlight hits a small patch of pine needles or heavy frost lingering outside our front door? What if each drop of water that flows from our faucets reminded us of baptism and the new birth that is possible in each moment?

...What if you just began by treating all the utensils in your kitchen the way you might treat the sacred vessels used on an altar? What if your life itself slowly became the altar of your thanksgiving?"

What indeed!

Back to England, Sarah of Faith Hope and Love's post can be seen here. Sarah looked back over some of the miracles that have stood out from her past. She shared several amazing times where money was gifted at exactly the right moment, leaving no room for doubting God's loving and provident hands there. And she remembers not only the big things like this but also the small ones that had such deep impact, such as these, from her post:

"...the other miracle made me giggle. We are on a strict weekly grocery budget at the moment. On Wednesday of that week I ran out of rice which messed up two of my planned meals for the week *sigh* we really have been on rations. On Thursday we were given some rice out of the blue - exactly the right amount for the two meals I had planned (and of course I hadn't mentioned the lack of rice to him). LOL!

Even in the little things He cares for us. What a wonderful Lord and Saviour. It takes me back to another little miracle that made me giggle and realise that God cares about everything. Our toilet is very old and I am constantly obsessed it smells (it doesn't apparently, but I still obsess). I have these scented rim blocks and one was running out. I knew we had visitors coming the next day and I sort of sighed to the Lord "now I'll be worried about the smell"...the same day at the evening service at church our Pastor's wife came up to me with a bag full to the brim with rim-blocks, she said "I wondered if these would be of any use to you, I don't use them and someone has just given them to me"...I was speechless. What a God! I feel He has a perfect sense of humour too, as if He were saying "even your rim-blocks are important to Me", lol. I laugh today to think of it.

Such little co-in-see-dances...cause us to reflect on God's many blessings and His perfect care for us. Even when things seem to be going wrong...which they always will in this imperfect world...we need to remember that He sees all, knows all and cares for us more than any earthly father could ever care. We are His creation, it is up to Him what happens to us; all that we have belongs to Him: "For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all...All things come from you and of your own we have given you" (1Chronicles 29:11,14); we should fear nothing even when things look bleak. I am naturally a worrier and it has been hard letting go of my fears, when things go wrong I immediately go into panic mode and want to DO something, but through His grace I'm learning to let go and let Him take control."

A comment after this post of Sarahs's really stands out as well. Christine (The Sacred Art of Living) said "What touched me most about this story is that your family and friends were listening closely enough to God to be able to respond so generously".

Truly we are in God's hands...but we are still meant to be God's hands for one another.

Another thing that stood out in Sarah's post was she unconciously called these 'love letters TO God' rather than from Him. In a way its true really....the co-in-see-dances and gifts and simple joys as His love letters to us...and our embracing them and praising Him for them as our love letters to Him.

From British Columbia, Krina of QueenHeroical's post can be found here. She has shared how this past moon has revealed God's gifts of the wonder of snow, the healing balm of slowing down and "chewing through the words slowly (like a) turtle plodding along", and the slow resurgance of quiet time. From her post:

"Hollowing out my full days:

God has been leading me to spend some morning time alone. Not time which was already in use other than for sleep. I have been draw to give up that which I have clung to for sanity’s sake for so long, sleep, oh wondrous sleep, at least in the morning. In its place I have been given an oasis of quiet in which to begin my day ... I had no idea how much I had missed time like this. I hadn’t even been aware that I have always had such time through out much of my life, walking to school, riding buses, living alone. There was time in the mornings when I didn’t have to talk, when I could look, touch, taste, smell, and listen my way through space without having to interrupt, without having to impact it. I could be the recipient of sights, of warmth, of cold, of music and here I would fill up and ready myself for the day. I have missed this time and my family and I have paid a price for it. So now, I am hollowing out a cave of time, for Him and I."

And she shared something which struck such a healing note I have just not been able to get it out of my head:

"...everything (from the holidays) was a blur of this and that and this and that and I missed so much of what I really wanted out of that time, before and during the season. But then I realized that I hadn’t missed it, I had simply not taken advantage of my time or the opportunity to slow down and see that He is not confined to days or months or even holidays, He, in all his wonderful fullness and forms, is the I AM -- not the “I was and you missed it.”

Personally, I've been taking such deep comfort in that qoute after reading it...because my gut feels a warm and healing truth there.

(Image from here, of a Medieval January Calendar)