Joey swims in hot tub La Honda California Christmas 2011

Safely Home

I am home in Heaven, dear ones;
O so happy! and so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty
in this everlasting light.

All the pain and grief is over,
Every restless tossing passed
I am now at peace forever
safely home in heaven at last

Did you wonder that I so calmly
trod in the valley of the shade?
O! but the Lord's love illumined
Every dark and fearful glade.

And They came Themselves to meet me.
In that way so hard to tread
And with The Lord's arm to lean on.
Could I have one doubt or dread.

Then you must not grieve do sorely,
for I love you dearly still
Try to look beyond the earth's shadows
Pray to trust our Father's will

There is work still waiting for you
so you must not idly stand
do it now, while life remaineth
You shall rest in the land of the One,
the All That Is.

When the work is all completed
he will gently call you Home
O, the rapture of that meeting
Oh, the joy to see you to come.

~Priests of the Sacred Heart

She Walks in Beauty ~

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half iapair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in ever raven tress,
Or softly lightens over her face.
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
The pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and over the brow.
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

~George Gordon. Lord Byron

Tough Questions From Kids ~ Why do we have to thank God at every meal when He already knows we're thankful?

Tough Questions From Kids ~ Why do we have to thank God at every meal when He already knows we're thankful?

Thanking God for food reminds us to be thankful for all that God gives us. Sometimes we think we are thankful when we really aren't. Pausing to give thanks helps us renew our thankfulness. If we just sit down and eat without thanking God every time, we can easily forget to be thankful. We can forget that out food comes from God.

It is also nice thing to do. We give thanks to God because He is our friend and He has done something kind to us.

Tough questions from Kids ~ Does God have things to do at nightime?

Tough questions from kids ~ Does God have things to do at nightime?

God does not have a body like ours, so He does not need to sleep. And because God is everywhere and lives in eternity there is no night or day for Him. (And when it is night here, it is day somewhere else.)  So God is always working when we are sleeping. When you go to sleep, you can be sure that God is awake, watching over you.

Tough questions from kids - How can God hear our prayers from heaven?

Tough questions from kids - How can God hear our prayers from heaven?

God can do everything. He is everywhere all the time. He also knows everything. He knows what we think as well as what we say. So God can hear everyone's prayers from all over the world at the same time. Sometimes people think that God is "out there in heaven," far away. But God is not far away; He is always right here with us.

Road Trip~

Only God I Saw ~

Only God I Saw ~

In the market, in the cloister - only God I saw.
In the valley and on the mountain - only God I saw.

Him I have seen beside me oft in tribulation;
In favor and in fortune - only God I saw.

In prayer and fasting, in praise and contemplation,
In the religion of the Prophet - only God I saw.

Neither soul nor body, accident nor substance,
Qualities nor causes - only God I saw.

I opened mine eyes and by the light of his face around me
In all the eye discovered - only God I saw.

Like a candle I was melted in His fire;
Amidst the flames outflashing - only God I saw.

Myself with mine own eyes I saw most clearly,
But when I looked with God's eyes - only God I saw.

I passed away into nothingness, I vanished,
And lo, I was the All-living - only God I saw.

~Baba Kuhl of Shiraz

Lord, Thou Hast Searched Me - Psalm 139

O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,
Thous understandest my thoughts afar off.

Thou measurest my going about and my lying down,
and art acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue, but lo, O Lord,
Thou knowest it altogether.

Thou hast hemmed me in behind and before,
and laid Thy hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
and laid Thy hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
too high, I cannot attain unto it.

Whither shall I go from Thy spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there;
If I make my bed in the nether world, behold,
Thou art there.

If I take the wings of the morning,
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there would Thy hand lead me,
and Thy right hand would hold me.

And if I say: "Surely the darkness shall envelop me,
and the light about me shall be night."

Even the darkness is not too dark for Thee,
but the night shineth as the day;
the darkness is even as the night.

For Thou hast made my reins;
Thou hast knit me together in my mothers womb.

I will give thanks unto Theem
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
wonderful art Thou works,
and that my soul knoweth right well.

My frame was not hidden from Thee
when I was made in secret
and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance,
and in Thy book they were all written -
even the days that were fashioned
when as yet there was none of them.

How weighty also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!

If I would count them,
they are more in number than the sand;
Were I to come to the end of them,
I would still be with Thee.

Search me, O God, and know my heart,
try me, and know my thoughts;
And see if there be any way in me that is grievous,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Julie Swennes Butler with niece, 1949 ~

The Dhammapada - The Saint ~

She has completed her voyage; she had gone beyond sorrow, The fetters of life have fallen from her, and she lives in full freedom.

The thoughtful strive always. They have no fixed abode, but leave home like swans from their lake.

Like the flight of birds in the sky, it is hard to follow the path of the selfless. They have no possessions, but live on alms in a world of freedom. Like the flight of birds in the sky, it is hard to follow their path. With the senses under control, temperate in eating , they know the meaning of freedom.

 Even the gods envy the saints, whose senses obey them like well-trained horses and who are free from pride. Patient like the earth, they stand on the threshold. They are pure like a lake without mud, and free from the cycle of birth and death.

Wisdom has stilled their minds, and their thoughts, words, and deeds are filled with peace. Freed from illusion and from personal ties, they have renounced the world of appearance to find reality. Thus have they reached the highest.

They make holy wherever they dwell, in village or forest, on land or at sea. With their senses at peace and minds full of joy, they make the forests holy.

Hymn from the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton

Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer,

pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but thou art mighty

hold me with they powerful hand;

Bread of heaven

feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain

whence the healing stream doth flow;

let the fiery cloudy pillar

lead me all my journey through:

strong Deliverer,

be thou still my strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,

bid my anxious fears subside,

Death of death, and hell's destruction,

land me safe on Canaan's side:

songs of praises

I will ever give to thee.

La Honda, Christmas 2010

March in A Night

I know you're new
O, so new
to me
to you
New, in a way
of Ah
Of wonderment
to me
to you
A babe you call
A spark for a new fire
A different kind of heart beat
A different taste
generosity in trust
a respect, understood
To be new
Oh, forgiveness!
I watch the tress turn dark
with night
I fade with
lightness
guiding my way
in hope
in love
in thought of you...
I have never felt so loved
cared for
respected as me
So, new
Full of wonderment
excitement
of whole body, mind and soul
Love, so new
Does it hurt?
Does it feel good?
YES...
To you, to you
in time I travel..sometimes
all the time
in time to heal
from past, mistrust
hatred of you.
hated me too!
Let's just be here...now
smell..open arms...no past
Fly, Fly, fly, Freedom!
I feel now, so different...feel good
let freedom stay,
Breath, smell
Forgive, to stay
To you
To me...O, so new

~Trina Butler Gotschall