Beloved Thou Art

My soul collage
states plainly:
"Art Becomes You"

What drew me to those words?
What does that mean,
"Art Becomes You"?

"become" means:
to grow to be;
to change or develop into by growth
or
to befit;
suit
or
to be right for
or
to happen to;
be the fate of

When I think of all this,
I think "Art Becomes You" means
"Art Brings Out the Best in You"

How will art become me today?

Maybe it starts by remembering:
"In the beginning God created."
(Genesis 1:1)

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*early morning light turning cactus leaves light green
*the warmth of the fire on my leg
*fearing not
*Ben and the Breakfast Club
*a day at home
*Windflower Hollow
*Victor's waterfall dreams
*the privilege of listening
*Your presence
*possibilities coming to mind

With gratitude,
Sally

Vespers, Beloved

Vespers from Vicki:

Just as I was
about to be overtaken
by weariness
and stress,
this photo
of peace,
of evening prayer,
miraculously arrived
to help me
breathe
and be. . .
beloved.

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*Margaret and friends going to a knitting party
*and not knitting but staying until eleven
*finding a book on the spirituality of knitting
*Ben and the boys
*JV finding rest in seeing a tree
*driving and visiting with sons
*focused prayer
*a three day old full moon shining through
*pancakes and bacon
*a new bed for Berklee

With gratitude,
Sally

Beloved, Reach High!

Beloved,
reach high to the clear blue sky!

Beloved,
Reach High!

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*Victor giving the nod to another of my crazy ideas
*an artist date adventure
*a dear sister-in-love
*lunch with my sisters
*celebrating birthdays
*praying while making prayer beads
*raisin bran
*Dante loving his catnip treats
*Joseph pampering Dante
*on the road again

With gratitude,
Sally

Peace, Beloved!

Peace To All Who Enter

Jesus says to the Beloved:
"Peace I leave with you;
My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives
do I give to you.
Do not let your heart be troubled,
nor let it be fearful."
(John 14:27)

To All Who Enter:
Peace, Beloved!

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*a grandmother and her grandson in each other's arms in heaven today
*peace
*a gift that blesses with power
*experiencing the building up of the kingdom
*Mema loving the church bells
*smiling orange slices on blue glass plates
*writing and realizing
*sweet sleeping puppies
*a platter of carved, colorful fruits and vegetables
*taking time to celebrate life

With gratitude,
Sally

Begin Beloved

2014 has begun.
Where will the path lead?
I don't know.
All I can do is begin,
one step at a time,
following the path
in faith.

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*just the place above the door for peace
*a full moon through the trees
*a beautiful card from a friend
*sitting and talking at Mama's table
*a Scrabble tutoring session
*Margaret being ready to share
*poetry
*naval oranges
*being able to be ourselves
*blankets fresh from the dryer

With gratitude,
Sally

Beloved, Enter In!

Beloved,
God is beckoning to us,
by way of the cross,
to enter in
to go deeper
to follow farther
to come closer.

Beloved,
will we?

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*Margaret's purple shirt
*Sarah's purple and orange stained-glass shirt
*a January retreat
*Sweetie Pie coming home
*Victor persevering through problems
*Ross's reply
*a new tire for Andrew
*filling the fruit stand
*Ben feeling better
*the possibility of hearing a favorite author speak

With gratitude,
Sally

Beloved Friends

LuAnn by the lake.

I happened by
and noticed LuAnn
sitting on the bench.

I stopped
and took a picture of her.

Turned out,
a breakthrough was beginning.

And God had arranged
for her to have a picture of it.

Isn't that just like God?

"Beloved,
since God loved us so much,
we also ought to love one another."
(I John 4:11)

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*You arranging a day at home
*friends that understand the unexpected
*Margaret's concern for Ben
*texting Jane just in time
*a beautiful work of art explained in detail
*a sparkly silver star
*a photo of a Christmas dinner to remember
*a sweet smile for the camera
*our compassionate, funny vet
*poor, sweet Sweetie Pie

With gratitude,
Sally

Beloved Every Day

This is a picture of
me and my brother and sisters
with my dad
taken on the occasion of
Daddy's 80th birthday party.

I just love this picture!

It reminds me of
how beloved I am,
how beloved we are.

Special occasions
are a wonderful time
for feeling beloved.

But really,
shouldn't we,
couldn't we,
feel beloved
every day!

"Beloved, let us love one another"!
(I John 5:7a)

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*a great story that kept me reading until 2:00 am
*a welcome burst of energy this morning
*a friend being able to come by earlier than planned
*a friend calling to make a date to get together
*the "I" standing out on the "BELIEVE" banner
*still pretty poinsettias
*vitamins
*Victor's idea for naming the prayer chapel
*a letter of true compassion
*blue sky

With gratitude,
Sally

Lift High Beloved

These almost bare branches
with bright bits of beauty
lifting themselves
high to the clear blue sky

remind me
of this quote
from Nouwen's
Life of the Beloved:

"Yes, there is that voice,
the voice that speaks
from above
and from within
and that whispers softly
or declares loudly:
'You are my Beloved,
on you my favor rests.'"

Today,
let's lift high our bare selves,
with our bright bits of beauty,
to God
and hear him call us
Beloved.

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*the alleluia bells chiming the hour
*the stray dog at the door (he hasn't frozen)
*turning on a warm fire on a very cold morning
*working side by side with Victor by that fire
*hearing Margaret play the guitar and worship in the parlor
*beginning an extraordinary book
*camellias blooming beautifully in winter
*fresh spaghetti sauce
*putting our house in order
*sweet puppies lying by the hearth

With gratitude,
Sally

Beloved Gifts

Today is the traditional date for
Epiphany.

Today we remember those kings
who traversed afar
bearing gifts.

Gifts for the Christ Child.
Treasures opened and presented.

Gifts of
gold (costly, valuable),
frankincense (worshipful, creative, sweet),
myrrh (painful, sacrifice).

O God,
please help me
to be brave
like those kings
and to be loved
like those kings
and to open myself
and bow beloved before You
and present my gifts,
myself,
as a
costly
valuable
worshipful
creative
sweet
painful
sacrifice.

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*the accepting voice of a friend
*settling in for a new season
*FUEL refigured
*a big bag of almonds
*Ben's forecast of a chance of snow
*the first full week of January
*Joseph eagerly offering to drive Mema
*sparkly snowflakes
*news of a book soon to be delivered
*comfort food: meatloaf and mashed potatoes

With gratitude,
Sally

Flash: Beloved!

epiphany: a moment of sudden intuitive understanding;
flash of insight.

"When they saw the star,
they rejoiced exceedingly
with great joy.
After coming into the house
they saw the Child
with Mary His mother;
and they fell to the ground
and worshiped Him.
Then,
opening their treasures,
they presented to Him
gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
(Matthew 2:10-11)

Will we,
like the Magi,
have a moment of sudden intuitive understanding
and realize
that we are so
beloved
that God gave
His One and Only Son
because He loves us?

Will we see
and rejoice exceedingly
with great joy?

Will we see
the Child
and fall to the ground
and worship Him?

Will we open our treasures?
Will we present to Him gifts?

Today,
will we experience
our own Epiphany,
our own flash of insight:
that we are God's Beloved!

And what difference will it make in our lives?

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*warming up on a cold January afternoon walk with Vic
*exploring a prayer garden
*juniper
*writing by a warm fire
*making a set of prayer beads to give to someone I love
*praying for that person while I make them
*a bag for Ben
*Margaret helping to lead worship
*God connecting my reading to the preaching
*Godiva peppermint bark candy (just one piece)

With gratitude,
Sally

Beloved Bean Trees

A bean tree
growing right outside
my door.

I had just finished reading
a wonderful novel
by Barbara Kingsolver
entitled The Bean Trees.

Then
I walked out my back door
and realized
that right in my own yard
were bean trees!

I had never noticed
wisteria in winter
before.

But God,
dear God,
let me know that day
through the bean trees
that I am beloved.

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*Your impeccable timing
*eyes to see
*a plan to pray, to wait and pray
*cooking
*candlelight
*the warmth of the dining room fire
*soccer and skateboarding in the cold
*Victor finding a way
*Speck taking the time to figure it out
*"it doesn't matter what she wants it for"

With gratitude,
Sally

Beloved Book

Somehow,
I came across this book
and ordered it
after I knew
the word God had given me
for 2014.

I've been reading it
as we enter this new year
and Nouwen's words
are bearing witness
with something deep within me.

". . . I have been wondering
it there might be one word
I would most want you to remember
when you finished reading
all I wish to say.
Over the past year,
that special word
has gradually emerged
from the depths of my own heart.
It is the word
"Beloved,"
and I am convinced
it has been given to me
for the sake of you
and your friends."

I John 5:7 says:
"Beloved,
let us love one another,
for love is from God;
and everyone who loves
is born of God
and knows God."

I pray we each know
in this year 2014
deep in our being
that we are God's Beloved.

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*Bertha keeping going after 350,000 miles
*sunshine, cold sunshine, but sunshine
*tomato pie
*crab cakes
*John Victor staying home one more night
*getting to watch the final episode of season 3 again
*finding a way to develop old film
*Margaret walking Berklee (or Berklee walking Margaret?)
*tennis in the rain
*Victor finding sweet "Grace" and bringing it home

With gratitude,
Sally

Beloved Butterfly

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over,
it became a butterfly."

A beloved butterfly!

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*waking to the sound of gentle rain
*realizing it was only a nightmare
*indestructible hope
*a cup (or two) of good coffee
*silver toenails
*a new year's tradition revisited
*"Finding God in the Present Moment"
*Little Darlin asking to be helped up on the bed
*looking over the calendar possibilities of the new year
*candlelit nativities

With gratitude,
Sally

Beloved!

God has given me a word
for the coming year.

My word for 2013 was "Wonder".

My word for 2012 was "Rejoice".

God gave these words
and I lived them
and they changed me.

For 2014
the word God has given me is
"Beloved".

The Sumatanga cross,
created by a member of
The Academy of Spiritual Formation
to honor Sumatanga Retreat Center,
expresses "Beloved" clearly to me:
"Suma" means "highest, best".
"Tanga", to me, means "tangle"
or "dance" (I think of "tango").



In the cross of Christ
we find
the highest, best, most excellent
tangle or dance of love.


The strong, unbreakable bonds
of God's love
in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
hold all of us, each of us
together
to make a
beautiful
blazing
tangled
dance of love.


O God, I pray that
in this year of 2014
I will "beloved"
and I might encourage others to "beloved".


I pray that we might "beloved"
in order to "be love".

Thank You, God, that I know I am beloved by:
*Happy New Year greetings
*clearly knowing Your word for me
*the first day of "Disciplines"
*the continued brightening of the light born in Advent
*our buddy Berklee
*Ben coming home safe and sound
*knowing our friend is alive
*the grace of new beginnings
*hoppin john and scallops
*walking and praying

With gratitude,
Sally