Winter Solstice and Yuletide 2023

To mark the Winter Solstice, I visited the Chalice Well Gardens in Glastonbury today and picked up a leaflet by Wellesley Tudor Pole called 'God is Love' and was immediately drawn to a particular phrase:

'The more love we reflect and share with one another, the greater will be the supply available to us: a supply that is infinite, boundless, never failing and eternal.'

From God is Love by Wellesley Tudor Pole.

Love

 No cup can contain Love, it will always overfill any vessel.

All shall be well

 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.'

Revelations of Divine Love
Julian of Norwich

Love

This image is from an online Advent calendar I made on Instagram, using paper collage. It was a reworking of a calendar I first made in 2011 and it symbolises Love. It still makes me smile; I hope it lifts your heart too.

 

The Winter Rose

Let love bloom in your heart

A winter rose

By spring it will be a bouquet

By summer it will be a glory

By autumn it will set seed

And then you can show others

How to grow a winter rose

I am human and I am here

The other day I heard someone say their faith described everyone as broken. What a terrible burden of worthlessness to be laid on every shoulder. And I felt moved at the thought of this to try and find an understanding of what we are.

What  am I?

I am a part of everything, everything is interconnected and I house a great sense of belonging to all things and being of all things. So I am reminded at all times of how we are all here, together, here and now on this planet and while all things pass, nothing is ever lost. It is simply part of the ebb and flow of the universe pouring through all of us, this precious gift of life. 

And with this gift we have a way to find hope, nurture love, practise kindness and keep the divine in our hearts as best we can. We are not broken. We are human. Don't waste time waiting for a miracle, be the miracle that your life is.

The Loving Soul

Foster tenderness and kindness towards all.

The View

Silver running

And cobalt blue

St Catherine

St Julian

And St Joan

All the thrones

Turning the sky

My thirsty soul

Turns to the view

And drinks deep

Rinsed in light

Silver running

And cobalt blue

This rock

This throne

This sky

This stone

St Catherine

St Julien

And St Joan

This land

Bathed in light
Love calls home

From Your Valentine

A letter sent from a prison cell

Where even hope darkness quells

Such a bright, divine light, this love

As swift and sweet as any dove

Emperors, dictators and warlords fall

While Love, that universal call

Burns on, despite brutality and fear

And we remember every year

Not the hatred

Nor the pain

Not the tyrant

But the name

Signed and sealed, the heart's final line

With love, from your Valentine

Unconditional Love

Bless everything or bless nothing.

Living Prayer

We are given a life

The best gift we will be given

And with it the gift of love and hope

A living prayer

Let go of despair

Let go of hatred

Let go of violence

Unwrap your heart from fear

And embrace life

A living prayer

The Window

More than ever now

My life

A stained glass window

Of interconnecting facets

All I have seen

All I have felt

All I have known

How can I make sense of this kaleidoscope

Of light and shade

Am I the sum of all these parts

A patchwork cemented in time and place

Yet, when examined, it seems

I am no more than

The play of light through a window

The Call

The breeze lifts on the lake
And the leaves do not hesitate
To echo the call
Trembling breath

I am on the mountain
And the flags are praying
And the breeze is saying
Find this love
Open your heart
And I lift my life to the sky
And catch the light of the world in my eyes
The key is always in me
With all my love
With all my love

If you have forgotten, I will find
If you are uncertain, I will reassure
If you are sad, I will comfort
With all my love
With all my love

The breeze lifts on the lake
And the leaves do not hesitate
To echo the call
Trembling breath

I looked for love everywhere

I looked for love everywhere
In houses of stone and prayer
And when I thought it was lost for good
It seems it should
Return here
To the trees and the grass
To the flowers and the fruit
In the rain, in the sun
And I am at one
Here, in this garden is where I have begun
To find out what love is

love

~

the heart is a vaulted cathedral where angels sing


~

balance, growth, hope, love

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Balance:~
Harmony in our natural and manmade environments and in our relationships with each other.

Growth:~
Internal (spirtual) and external (hobbies, work, family) growth and progression. An open mind is the door to the future.

Hope:~
A positive mental attitude. The belief that change can come from within us and that we can be involved in our envornment and society.

Love:~
A love of life (joie de vivre). If we cannot love our life, we are living it the wrong the way.

ripplestone

~

What we learn from
What we nurture and grow
What stand we take
These three things define us
And shape our world

~