Silent Sunday
Category: In My World
Acting More Like Children
Eli’s family celebrated his day of baptism on Sunday. Besides being a day to share food and conversation with my children, grandchildren, and the extended family, I felt a deep meaning to the ceremony at the church, where Eli’s special day began.
It’s been a while since I went to church. I used to go there quite often when my children were little, yet over the years, as my family left school and started lives of their own, the need to visit church for their benefit came to an end.
The church where Eli was christened on Sunday is the same church where my two youngest children were christened, and where all of my children had their first Holy Communion and Confirmation.
I enjoyed visiting the church again, even though I didn’t know the priest. He was quite an elderley man and when he read the passages from the bible his voice took on a singing tone, which at first I found prevented me from understanding his words. It only took a few minutes though for me to get used to his sing-song tone and I relaxed into absorbing his message.
It hadn’t been pre-planned, but he involved the other children in the service as well. Braxton and Aurora held the book for him to read from, and he draped a sash over their outheld arms to carry to Eli. Braxy seemed quite shy at first, but after Aurora grasped the idea that they had been given special responsibilities, they took their role very seriously.
For me, it was meaningful to see the next generation of my family taking part in a church service, just as my own children once had. It surprised me when I realised I felt that way too. I’m not Catholic, yet I found everything about the service for Eli’s baptism to be extremely meaningful.
The message the priest delivered calmed me in a way that I haven’t felt in a long time. He suggested that adults might like to consider being more like children. To clarify, he explained that he wasn’t suggesting adults should act in an immature way, but suggested they might like to try viewing the world through the innocent eyes of children.
The priest’s message made so much sense to me and I believe it is the reason why I felt so calm, listening to him deliver his message. Adult minds are far too cluttered with conflict and problems, especially these days. If you remove the noise of the world from your mind, you are able to view the world as a place of beauty, which is the same way that children see the world.
The priest’s words acted as a poignant reminder for adults to clear their minds, yet it wasn’t in any way a religious message, nor did the priest insist his message be heard. He asked the assembled adults to take from his message what they wished to take, if anything.
What a beautiful way for Eli to begin his spiritual journey. ❤
Sky Show
When the sun tries to overpower the drizzly rain, the combat between the elements can certainly leave a beautiful sky show. The overwhelming expanse of layered clouds dwarfed the magnificent mountain with a maze of powerful white swirls and grey cotton balls.
The contrast in cloud layers provided no clues in predicting tomorrow’s weather. The low, yellowish clouds suggest rain, but the higher, ribbed clouds tell me it must have been blowing a gale in the upper atmosphere. It looks like there’s a high-flying ‘plane in the upper, righthand corner of the photo too.
A few minutes later, the setting sun added another dimension of interest to the clouds, with a yellow glow attempting to pierce the thick cottonwool layers.
After getting through my end-of-week work related chores on the computer this morning, I spent most of the afternoon beginning an update on my blog. I now have a new domain name, provided by WordPress – homelifeonlineblog.com. I also updated my “About” page. Does anyone else ever think to update the details on their blog? I find that over the years, things change – my thoughts mainly – so I need to rewrite the synopsis of my blog. If anyone cares to read the new page, it can be found here.
When I took the dogs out for a walk in the garden at around sunset, besides the magical sky show, I discovered that the plants I recued from a pile of rubble outside our yard last weekend all seem to have taken well to their new homes. I didn’t hold out much hope for the petunia, so planted it straight into the ground in a sheltered area under a frangipani tree, and even it looks happy.
I think Eliza identified this plant as a type of periwinkle. I hope it continues to thrive in its new location. 🙂
Something to Sing About.
When the day began – again – with rain and mist, I expected another day of nothing interesting to take a photo of. It’s a wonder the poor kookaburra could even find its way to my garden this morning through the thick mist that hung about in the valley until around 9am.
By midday though, the valley had cleared and the sun was shining. I rushed outside to take a photo while I had the opportunity to get a beautiful clear photo of the mountain.
By mid-afternoon, the change in weather seemed to have infected the birds with happiness! Mr. and Mrs. Pee Wee splashed around the birdbath in my front garden, although I couldn’t get close enough to quietly take a photo of them. Meanwhile, a baby Butcher Bird chortled away in the Tibouchina tree just outside my front door.
Even when I snuck outside the door to say hello, the sweet little thing didn’t miss a note. This little beauty is welcome to sing outside my front door any time he likes. 🙂
Just when I thought the day couldn’t look any more beautiful, the sky put on a pretty burnt yellow sunset show, nothing eye-popping, just a subtle show of laid-back beauty. 🙂
Back to Basics … AKA “In My World”
On a day when far too many people expressed far too many biased opinions on (political) matters which were once regarded as a personal matter, on a biased public forum (social media) which I have considered leaving many times during recent weeks, I will share some photos of realities. This is what is happening In My World.
A drastic change in the weather provided a reprieve from the heat of the last two days. Mount Warning, however, remained in hiding all day. (Perhaps I should have done the same.)
In the distance, I spotted a tree containing many beautiful song birds. When I magnified the photo, I was able to identify the birds as both male and female Figbirds.
I had a visit from four-month-old Eli, who has worked out how to roll over onto his tummy. He was mesmerised by Brontë, and it seemed the feeling was mutual. Brontë was completely besotted with Eli.
When you take away all of the B.S. in the world, isn’t love and caring the most important thing?
In My World 