Patience for Short Steps

O Ice and Snow

Painting: František Kaván, in US public domain due to age

Where to Find You

Snow and Mist...

N Shuman photo

While You Still Have Time...

Can You Ask for a Louder Voice Than That?

"Creation is a great book. Look above you; look below you! Note it! Read it! ... 

God did not write that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes 

the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that? 

Why, heaven and earth cry out to you: 'God made me!'"

St. Augustine

Painting: Peder Mørk Mønsted, Wood in Snow, in US public domain due to age {{PD-1923}}

Ice and Snow, Bless the Lord

'Frost and chill, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Ice and snow, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Nights and days, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.
Let the earth bless the Lord;
praise and exalt Him above all forever.'

Daniel 3:69-74, 
from Azariah's hymn of
praise in the fiery furnace 
  




Painting:  Endogurov Zimniy 

Letter to St. Nicholas

Re-blogged from The Cloistered Heart, 2011: 

Dear Saint Nicholas,

My wish this year is not like what I’ve asked for before.  I'm not writing to ask for candy or trinkets.  This year I have but one wish:  I want to be a candle.

I want to stand tall and firm, carrying the Light of Christ even when winds and storms lash about me.  You see, good St. Nicholas, the world has grown terribly dark.  We talk of peace and sing of peace, yet rumors of wars swirl all around.  We’re busy and distracted, we have no time left over to pray.  We get confused about what is truth and what is not; we redefine sin and call it “choice” and “entertainment,” and there is more darkness around than I could tell you about.  In fact, there’s more darkness than I can even see.  It can be hard to peer into darkness, and I feel sometimes like a child at night who wants to cover her head with blankets and wait for morning light.  I need the light; the world needs the light.  So I want to be a candle.

Like a pillar of flame standing beside the Tabernacle in a monastery, lifting firelight fingers high in adoration, I want to offer praise to God.  Like a sanctuary light gently calling attention to the fact that Jesus is with us, I want to keep vigil by His side and call attention to Him.  I would like to flicker softly, as a gentle reminder of His presence, no matter where I may be.  So I want to be a candle.

I know I am asking a lot.  I know that in order for the Flame to increase, a candle must decrease.  A candle gives itself for the Fire; it gives its all.  That’s okay.  You see, I want to live my life for God.  I am not so good at the doing of this, but with the grace of God I’m getting better at the wanting. 

And I want to be a candle….

“The light came into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were wicked.  Everyone who practices evil hates the light; he does not come near it, for fear his deeds will be exposed.  But he who acts in truth comes into the light, to make clear that his deeds are done in God.” (John 3:19-21)

Text not in quotes © 2011 Nancy Shuman.  
 
Originally posted at thecloisteredheart.org; reblogged at thebreadboxletters.blogspot.com.

This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Monthly Linkup

public domain photo 

Come Home

"'Come now, let us set things right,'

says the Lord:

'Though your sins be like scarlet,

they may become white as snow;

Though they be crimson red,

they may become white as wool.'"

                                                                                                         Isaiah 1:18

Painting: The shortening winter's day is near a close; Farquharson; US public domain