We wish you a blessed time as you celebrate your seasonal holiday.
Purely Prema will welcome in the New Year on January 3.
And the lion shall lie down with the lamb
Christmas
And the lion shall lie down with the lamb
And the lion shall lie down with the lamb
“Reflections” by Craig M. Brandt* and “Patterns of Divinity” by Stephen Michael Camp*
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| Photo Courtesy of Craig Brandt |
Trees tilt, as if invited by the water. A lake, perhaps, softens to a blurry mirror’s lost clarity of memories. Wrist-width limbs lift prows onto a surface silvered in coming dusk. A migration passing through mellowed sunsets approaches grassy islands, traveling past the rim. Gray, pencil-thin trunks support the woods, like posts under a dock, where I walk to the limit and pause; feelings form. Words would diminish.
The lyrics of Stephen Michael Camp invite feeling and thought into the soul’s mystery.
He sang each note as round as a miniature globe and as full as aged wine—messengers of the divine found in the wonderment of vibrations.
Patterns of Divinity
Reflections in the silent waters,
Rainbows after summer storms,
Overtones of angel voices,
Patterns of the Divine form.
We are patterns, patterns of Divinity,
Living out our worldly lives, lost in our mortality.
God sends angels to remind us,
We are patterns of Divinity.
Wonderment in thoughts sublime
Vibrating all around me.
Spectrum voices, chords of color,
God’s love and joy and peace are mine.
We are patterns, patterns of Divinity,
Living out our worldly lives,
Lost in our mortality,
God sends angels to remind us,
We are patterns of Divinity.
Return with me to the heaven,
Jesus promised us within.
There’s a blueprint deep inside us
Waiting for the Master’s hand.
We are patterns, patterns of Divinity,
Living out our worldly lives,
Lost in our mortality,
God sends angels to remind us
We are patterns of Divinity.
My realization is, “The gift of opening our heart and mind to image and word is magnified by our ensuing reflection.”
* Retired naval officer and former Dean of Academic Affairs as well as Deputy Commandant for the Defense Institute of Security Cooperation Studies located at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
* Generous-hearted, loving lyricist and guitarist (1943 – 1996). Lyrics of “Patterns of Divinity” from the author’s collection of Stephen Michael Camp’s writings.
Meister Eckhart, German Theologian, Philosopher, and Mystic (c. 1280 – c. 1328)
“If the only prayer you say in your entire life is ‘Thank you,’ that would suffice.”*
~ Meister Eckhart
Could prayer be simpler? There then can be no one who does not pray. Some might receive this with a “Humph” of embarrassment; others, with a forceful denial. But to some, it would be a blessing to realize how many times they have been appreciated, when perhaps they were hoping (even longing) to receive more generous gratitude.
Since the 19th century, Meister Eckhart has received renewed attention and has acquired a status as a great mystic within spirituality.* His following quote speaks directly to those who believe in God and may also offer an answer to those who have had a quicksilver inspiration of God, but do not know what to do with it or if desired, how to expand the experience. And to those whose firm belief is that there is no God, the answer rests outside the circumference of their awareness, which is in alignment with their time and place. Yet universal truth is apart from beliefs that are changing—universal truth exists through its inherent vibration.
Spirituality is not to be learned by flight from the world, or by running away from things,
or by turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, we must learn an inner
solitude wherever or with whomsoever we may be. We must learn to penetrate things
and find God there.*
or by turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, we must learn an inner
solitude wherever or with whomsoever we may be. We must learn to penetrate things
and find God there.*
My realization is, “On Thanksgiving Day in America, and on the days of recognition in other countries,* may we feel good in our hearts and smile a little wider when we say, ‘Thank you.’”
* Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, eds., Honoring the Earth: A Journal of New Earth Prayers (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993).
* httpss://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meister_Eckhart
*https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/73092.Meister_Eckhart
* Canada, Germany, Grenada, Japan, Liberia, The Netherlands, Norfolk Island.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/60261/how-7-other-nations-celebrate-thanksgiving