I see trees of green
Red roses too
I see them bloom
For me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
I see skies of blue
And clouds of white
The bright blessed day
The dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
Saying, “How do you do?”
They’re really saying
“I love you”
I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more
Than I’ll never know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Oh yeah
The words of Louis Armstrong mean more than ever now. May our prayerful attitude be the key that opens those locked hearts roaming our world.
Stay well, and be brave, dear readers. Life is eternal – you know this. Remember the sheer vibrancy of life when you were very small. The immediacy of colours and textures. The power of sound and music. The smells of the kitchen, and the taste of ice cream. Well that same living vibrancy is still here for us, though beyond the deterioration of our senses. Isn’t that an encouraging thought?
So too does the intensity of the love that we knew as infants, before our earthly struggles made dim our embattled souls, still shine like the sun of all stars. All is well in the streets of paradise. When we commit every single day to working from our hearts wisdom; purely and compassionately, then we are already there. We never left.
Michael reflects on years spent behind the lens – and I, like Michael, feel that my best photos were taken when I was younger. Back then I had plenty mobility, plus time, and a heartfelt desire to take great pics. All around the world, in our private collections, we keep our personal favourites: those old photographs that flood our hearts with fondest feelings, and gentle blessings conveyed in memories reopened of good times gone by.
But never mind. After reading The Zen of Photography, I felt it was time for me to post my humble handful, starting with the above pic – a personal favourite. It was taken back in September 1981, from the balcony of my hotel room during a spectacular thunderstorm one night in Torquay, England. If memory serves, I used a 60 second exposure, with Kodachrome 25/ASA, while covering the lens intermittently to avoid over exposure.
Click on Pic for expanded view.
When I was a schoolboy, and from then all the way up to the digital age, I used SLR cameras to take transparencies, (or slides if you prefer.) Very sadly, I haven’t been able to digitalise more than a small handful from the thousands of slides that survive. And even sadder, the quality doesn’t hold up a torch to the colour, and depth of the originals. Nevertheless, I will be posting the best of the remaining handful of digitalised slides every now and then.
It was during the deceptive calm before that fast approaching storm that the next pic was taken. What the picture doesn’t show you, is the storm damage that was to be visited that night upon all the boats in the harbour seen here. Unfortunately, none of my pics of the aftermath have been digitalised.
The Harbour.
With that, and my sincerest thanks to Michael at Retireediary, https://retireediary.wordpress.com, I will wind this post up, and wish for you and everyone, happiness, and peace at all times. Amras out.
It has no fabric, only understanding.
It has no membership, save those who know they belong.
It has no rivals, because it is non-competitive.
It has no ambition for it seeks only to serve.
It knows no boundaries for nationalism’s are unloving.
It is not of itself because it seeks to enrich all groups and religions.
It acknowledges all great Teachers of all the ages who have shown the truth of Love.
Those who participate, practise the Truth of Love in all their beings.
There is no walk of life or nationality that is a barrier. Those who are, know.
It seeks not to teach but to be, and by being, enrich.
It recognises that the way we are may be the way of those around us because we are that way.
It recognises the whole planet as a Being of which we are a part.
It recognises that the time has come for the supreme transmutation, the ultimate alchemical act of conscious change of the ego into a voluntary return to the whole.
It does not proclaim itself with a loud voice but in the subtle realms of loving.
It salutes all those in the past who have blazoned the path but have paid the price.
It admits no hierarchy or structure, for no one is greater than another.
Each one will dedicate their life to the silent loving of their neighbour and environment and the planet, whilst carrying out their task however exalted or humble.
Its members shall know each other by their deeds, and being, and by their eyes, and by no other outward sign save the fraternal embrace.
It recognises the supremacy of the great idea which may only be accomplished if the human race practises the supremacy of Love.
It has no reward to offer either here or in the hereafter save that of the ineffable joy of being and loving.
Each shall seek to advance the cause of understanding, doing good by stealth and teaching only by example.
They shall heal their neighbour, their community and our Planet.
They shall know no fear and feel no shame and their witness shall prevail over all odds.
It has no secret, no arcanum, no initiation save that of true understanding of the power of Love and that, if we want it to be so, the world will change – but only if we change ourselves first.
All those who belong, belong. They belong to the church of Love.
[THE CATHAR PROPHECY OF 1244 AD concerning the RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INNER CHURCH OF LOVE].
After the rain, we can tiptoe together on a crimson carpet, through leaves of ruby-red on russet. Our garden hosts seven Japanese Maples; whose leaves fill every corner when November comes.
I find the colours breathtaking, and I enjoy sharing them. From flaming Acer leaves, to a golden butterfly perched on a ginkgo branch, and a violet hydrangea, whose petals turn blue when cold. These were all taken over the last three weeks. Please enjoy.
Indescribably wonderful is the gift of sight, and now is a very fine moment in which to give thanks for that gift, and to send much love to those who are forced to live without it.
May the light of love for this good earth shine forth brightly from the eyes of one and all, from this moment forwards, and then on forevermore.
Peace from Amras.
“When you learn to look with love in your eyes at all around you
These beautiful tropical fish, and koi carp live in England, in a village called Matlock Bath. I find it very relaxing to watch fish going about their affairs. There is an inner stillness felt when so absorbed. I used to do a little snorkeling in the mediterranean during my pre-disabled years, and was often astonished by some of the antics of sea creatures.
Once a group of tiddlers* swam hugging my left side. They followed me this way until a hapless solitary fish swam just a little too close to my right side. In the blink of an eye the hidden group were feasting on it. Clever little fellows.
Fish know nothing of Christmas, and do not anticipate a time of giving and receiving. Yet they are not sad. Perhaps that is one reason why they can be so relaxing to watch.
My thanks, as always, to all readers and followers. I hope you enjoy this post. I would like to take this opportunity to ask that we send our love on the winds now to all those who will be alone this Christmas. May the inner meaning of Christmas overtake the seedy exploitation we see ever more in all our hearts.
Until next time, and may it be soon. Peace from Amras.
“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love
For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not yet ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.”
Amras888 