#107

Sky this morning like a delicate piece of paper with water damage... but beautiful.

Thought for the day: The way to make peace with the past... is silence.

#106

'...but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts...' (Ephesians 5.18-19)

#105

On earth reveal'd the beauties of the skies,

Angelic features, it was mine to hail;

Features, which wake my mingled joy and wail,

While all besides like dreams or shadows flies.

And fill'd with tears I saw those two bright eyes,

Which oft have turn'd the sun with envy pale;

And from those lips I heard--oh! such a tale,

As might awake brute Nature's sympathies!

Wit, pity, excellence, and grief, and love

With blended plaint so sweet a concert made,

As ne'er was given to mortal ear to prove:

And heaven itself such mute attention paid,

That not a breath disturb'd the listening grove--

Even æther's wildest gales the tuneful charm obey'd. (Sonnet cxxiii of Petrarch)

#104

Beautiful, sun-soaked day with not a cloud in the sky...

'The life of Jesus makes the Christian experience a real delight, not a religious duty.' (p. 78 Steve McVey, "Grace Walk")

#103

A hot, heavy, humid haze enveloping Manhattan; resounding a firm 'no' to every idea or plan that requires effort...

'Comfort, ease, and joy can be cultivated through practice. To do this, we must give up excessive ambition and the desperate struggle for results, and let ourselves feel the pain of our longing, of having to wait to make music the way we want to. We can learn to relax with this longing and to enjoy its soft, warm presence in the heart. This warmth will then shine through the music we make and touch the hearts of others.' (Madeline Bruser - Art of Practicing p14)

#102

Awash in the burning light of dawn...

'Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.' (Romans 12.9.12)

#101

Cloudless morning...


'But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light.' (Eph. 5.14)

#100

Ceci n'est pas un ... Super-real or surreal clouds like in a Magritte painting...

#99

Light appearing in a mauve band on the low horizon... alone with the birds.

Thought for the day: Good music competes poorly against noise; sounds inifinitely better the more you listen... and eat of its fruit.

#98

Chirping begins to fade with dawn...

'You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.' (Ephesians 4.22)

#97

Everything bathed in pinkish orange light...

'I pray that, acc. to the riches of his glogry, he may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.' (Eph. 3.16-19)

#96

Strong gusts sending bits of cloud scattering - like sheep being chased by a big dark, slow-moving ominous presence with a gaping jaw and covetous arms...

#95

Day dawning earlier; clouds being scattered by the sun.

The sermon yesterday was on Matthew 18.15-17, 23-35: 'The servant fell on his knees before him. "Be patient with me," he begged, "and I will pay back everything." The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.'

#94

The world looks asleep... The only time to hear birds chirping in this area. Do they really mistake man-made light for light?

'You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.' (Ephesians 2.1-10)

#93

Beautifully silvery evening with clouds like clasped hands holding back the rain....

#92

A very close, humid morning - harbinger of the summer months - the kind that seems to drag through the clouds yawning as it does so.

'so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints...' (Eph. 1.18)

#91

A monochromatic end to the day, with clouds seemingly rushing away from the sun. Where do they all go?

'We... try to live for Him when He wants to live His life through us.' - Steve McVey

#90

The skyline is a faint shadow this morning. Lots of gushing rain; love that sound - like washing being done in mass scale with great gusto and energy.

From the sermon yesterday on Galatians 5.16-26. These ('...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.') are the 'communicable' attributes of God which must not be directly sought (original sin). Desires of the flesh start with desires for a good thing.

Realize that you are loved and cherished by God before you even start. The fallacy is to believe that if I manage the flesh, then I will grow in the Spirit. It is the reverse...

#89

Gentle sunrise on a Sunday morning still enough for the chirping to be heard...

Thought for the day: the sun 'burns' the earth with colors at points in the day when it is the least scorching...

#88

Beautiful sundown... beautiful day. Clouds silhouetted and wispy like brush strokes.

'To be in Christ is... to have theSpirit, who is the actual presence of God in our midst and in our hearts.' Note to Romans 8.2 (Oxford Annotated Bible)

#87

Birds chirp loudest at this hour. Or perhaps I just hear them best, because it is quietest at this hour, no buzz of traffic to compete with...

'By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.' (Gal. 5.22-23)

#86

A foggy morning with ferries zipping speedily in all directions...

'Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.' (John 17.24)

#85

Even hazier morning than has been of late with that same building (whose name I ought to find out) aflame with the rising sun.

'For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.' (Gal. 4.5)

#84

Mid-afternoon fairytale clouds with yachts starting to appear on the river...

Thought for the day: 'So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman.' (Gal. 4.31)

#83

A new day with slight haze on the horizon...

#82

The rising sun seems to 'like' that building, near the UPS building on the river.

'Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a dsciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.' (2Gal 24-26)

#81

The photo looks almost painted in the haze; the earth and sky look incongruous. The clouds could have come from a Titian painting, but instead of Renaissance architecture or figures beneath, there are these jarring, modern and post-modern edges, like the jaw of a shark with bad teeth...

Remembering that every single thing in life is a sheer act of grace... -Tim Keller

#80

Fog lifted somewhat from this morning, but still a monochromatic day. Am off to a reunion in Manhattan...

#79

Not quite dawn on a day enrobed in fog.

'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.' (2Cor. 12.9)

#78

A misty morning...

Thought for the day: what is love but accepting God's acceptance of you...

#77

A colorless evening. The clouds gathering up as if in preparation.

'...she began to feel the old hypnotism of his intelligence, sometimes exercised without power but always with substrata of truth under truth which she could not break or even crack.' (F Scott Fitzgerald, Tender is the Night)