Pour Toi - Toujours

Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism - 22

After a longish hiatus, and the nudging of the Spirit and the encouragement of a cousin, 1-2-3, re-plunge into this densely wonderful book...

pp. 102-106

Green Lion - My centering prayer mentor once said she woke up each morning a beginner. The Green Lion image so aptly embodies that principle.

Red Dragon - A dragon helped Harry, Ron and Hermione escape from Gringott's but I otherwise have had a negative image of dragons, e.g., the one devouring the child in Revelation 12:4: "His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born."

Sulphur - Salt - Mercury - Love this metaphor. The interdependent human chemistry of heart, mind, body and soul make fascinating, if uncomfortable bath salts in which to mystically soak.

*NOT* magic - So much of the wrong sort of evangelical Christianity is ill-disguised hocus pocus invoking the name of Jesus.

Purgation - Illumination - Union - See "wake up a beginner every morning," above.

Psalm 19 - August 12, 2012

Psalm 19

1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament* proclaims his handiwork.

2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.

3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;

4 yet their voice* goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

Throughout the night--and a good hour or so into the next day--my cousins and I sat in our lawn chairs, gathered in family love, in shared faith in the God Who knows every intimate detail of the hairs on Creation's head. This night it was the stray rocks of the solar system chafing against the Earth's atmosphere at supersonic speed. Whether it was the first one, or even after the twentieth time, we couldn't help but say, "Oooh!" Such a pretty streak of light across a sky bigger than our wildest imaginings! And yet, the beauty of the cosmic light show is quite a mundane part of speech in a universe designed by the Word for the not so mundane purpose of speaking God's love. It is a night that will speak to my life and beyond, until I join the dance of the stars myself.