clairevorster

"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us." St. Augustine Somebody forgot her. Before that they had named her Nava - which means Beautiful - but they forgot her anyway. In the early days she was a tumble of wildflower hair, street smart and bright as a button. She learned how to survive by not giving up, that’s all. She kept her hope in her pocket and lit it at night like a little candle against the darkness. But all this not giving up left her tired and dirt

‘The frontier between hell and heaven is only the difference between two ways of looking at things.’ George Bernard Shaw When did you last search for something? I mean REALLY search, the kind of searching you have to do - because until you find the object of your search, life cannot go on. This weekend, I looked for a brick, I spent a good 10 minutes looking for a brick. Am I building a house? No. I was looking for a final ‘must have’ brick to stabilize our kids’ trampolin

"Life’s short and we never have enough time for the hearts of those who travel the way with us. O, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind." Henri-Frederic Amiel - a Swiss Philosopher and Poet who lost both parents at an early age You can’t stop gravity. It’s a fact. If you drop anything (apart from a helium balloon a bubble or a feather) it will fall to the ground. The only things that do not fall are those that are light enough to be unaffected by the relentless pull of

‘God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.’ C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity The farmer pours caramel smooth coffee from a bubbling pot on the stove as the early morning sun dances peace over the kitchen tiles. He pulls on beat up leather boots that fit like slippers and slings a canvas bag full of rich golden seed for the sowing over his broad shoulder. But this is no ordinary seed and this will be no ordinary

“Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day.” Aragon, The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King Imagine this. One night, all is dark and quiet. You are lying safe and warm in the comfort of your own bed. You hear the squealing of tyres, followed

To me, this sums up God : I am walking with my 6-year-old son up the road to school. He places his chubby , puppy warm hand in mine and talks to me about firemen and Lego emergency vehicles. He chuckles as he sees a friend up ahead and they swap stories about what they had for breakfast as if it was the most fun you could have in the world. My son has innocence, faith and hope on his side. Even when the world seems cruel to me - when I am full of pain, like a cornered ti

The World Turns and God Is Love An old lady cuts flowers for her friend, What if the pills make her worse? Dads walk their kids to school, Talking about play dates and spacemen, The world turns and God is love. Movie stars sip drinks, In a show of strength for poor people, There’s soldiers in Afghanistan, While their families strain for news, The world turns and God is love. People write books about God, God Does, God Does Not, A Well Known Church Man Falls, Someon

“The immense success of our life is, I think, that our treasure is hid away; or rather in such common things that nothing can touch it.” Virginia Woolf, Diaries, June 14, 1925 Where does your treasure lie? If we believe everything we watch on TV, or in the magazines that call to us at the Supermarket check-out, our treasure would lie in eternal youth. Shiny bright perfection, a job to die for, a bulging diary of fabulous people and events, always happiness. Whenever we can,

“God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only choice is how.” Henry Ward Beecher If we start at the beginning, our lives are the gift of others. We do not choose, we are a choice. And in the early years we depend on others for what we need to live. Love, shelter, guidance, nourishment and all that is good, or not so good. Like rain gives life to the river, and a river becomes the sea, so our lives begin elsewhere. The art

“Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one… Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin or your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable…” CS Lewis, The Four Loves To

Joseph wasn’t much good at letters. He couldn’t seem to find the words. They were like tiny fish that easily slipped through his fingers, try as he might to catch them. Even so, he had determined to put aside this evening for writing. He had bought thick, creamy paper and a new ink pen from Mrs Harbour’s shop that always smelled of the business of scribbling things down. Comforting, even though he didn’t really understand it all. There he sat at the little carved oak table

"Some day, in years to come, you will be wrestling with the great temptation, or trembling under the great sorrow of your life. But the real struggle is here, now, in these quiet weeks. Now it is being decided whether, in the day of your supreme sorrow or temptation, you shall miserably fail or gloriously conquer. Character cannot be made except by a steady, long continued process." Phillips Brooks, American Clergyman and Author Apparently, the easier something is to do the

“God would have us part with nothing for Him, but that which will damn us if we keep it. He has no design upon us, but to make us happy.” Thomas Watson, A Puritan Golden Treasury Last night I got to thinking about Mary. Mary, the Mother of the Son of God, what an accolade! She is one of the most famous women who ever lived, she got to see and speak to one of the most senior angels in Heaven, a star was created specially for her Son's birthday, shepherds came from the hills

"No matter how much I prove and prod, I cannot quite believe in God; But oh, I hope to God that He, Unswervingly believes in me." Attributed to E.Y. Harburg - an American songwriter who wrote Somewhere Over the Rainbow and all the other songs in The Wizard of Oz We can get God confused with the Wizard of Oz. We can get to the point where we think He is a white bearded magician, somewhere out of sight, who pulls switches and levers to make our lives either considerably better

"It is a great pity that, in the world of light, the gift of sight is used only as a mere convenience rather than as a means of adding fullness to life." Helen Keller How is you week going? What has happened to you and the people you love this week? What has happened to the circle of people who make up your daily life, at home, where you study, where you volunteer, where you shop or eat? This is a snapshot of the lives of some of the people in my circle just in this one wee

Deep under the earth’s surface, subject to intense heat and pressure, created as time unfolds and unfolds, a precious stone of great price is formed. The stone sleeps in the darkness of its secret underground world until the earth heaves and turns. Then water finds its way through fresh nooks and crannies forming streams and eventually a wild river. The water courses over the stone for time and time again, until the stone is loosed and washed into the torrent. Now the stone

“Even the lost find their way home when you leave the light on.” Amy Marie Walz Before we had all this man made light, there was other light. The humble flicker of a candle, or the soft glow of a well made fire. There was a bonfire to keep sailors away from the rocks, a torch made of pitch held high above the castle walls - to show soldiers weary from battle the way home. And from old time to our time, people have lit candles. For those they love. For those who are lost to

"I have come home at last! This is my real country. I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now…" CS Lewis, The Last Battle Someone I love is changing. We have walked through life together and now our paths are bending different ways. Mama Lyn is dying and I cannot go further than the edge of this life with her. I will stay and she will go ahead. When I am full of thinking about something, I have to write. Like a