Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

Contemplating in the Yard

October 16, 2010 By Sandra Heska King

Looking is the beginning of seeing.

~Sister Corita Kent (from God in the Yard)

I don’t know if L.L. took a camera to the yard. So far I don’t see that she said I couldn’t.

I often take a tray to sit on wet grass or table. It holds my camera, binoculars, small Bible, God in the Yard, a steno pad, and a pencil.

And a cup of steaming tea.

And then I wait.

And watch.

And listen.

Contemplate.

L.L. writes about contemplation in chapter 3. There’s so much meat in those few pages. I’ve read them over and over.

She says that to “mark out a temple” is one meaning of the word.

And that brings to mind a favorite scripture, a life verse:

One thing I have asked from the Lord, that shall I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple. Psalm 27:4 (NASB)

And where better to seek, discover, contemplate, and behold His beauty than in His Word and in His creation?

For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made . . . Romans 1:20 (NASB)

I think I’ve always sensed this in some form, being drawn to the woods and the waters even as a child. But at times losing that sense of wonder in the swirl of busyness.

Contemplation also means “to put together.” And when I dare to pick through and reclaim the broken pieces from my darkness, I find renewal in the light. Maybe this is why I’m beginning to love sunrise so much.

From darkness to light where everything shimmers and sparkles. There’s a wholeness and a newness in that.

L.L. describes how “some monastics deemed contemplation to be more about control than drifting.” They undertook certain disciplines, attempted to control thoughts and feelings in order to be more capable of a closer relationship with God.

She describes her “brand” as “drift and doze.”

(I will say I haven’t I haven’t fallen asleep yet.)

Some caution against the “emptying” the mind, or maybe even drifting, and Paul describes the importance of “frisking” our thoughts in Philippians 4:8.

It seems to me, though, that the more I try to do all these things, the more it becomes more about me. But I have control in the going. In the rising from my bed and in placing my feet on holy ground in my backyard sanctuary. My temple. Where I can then invite Him to join me.

Where I can just let go.

And let Him reveal Himself in new ways.

In my yard.

Oh, and L.L. quotes Leonardo DaVinci. I love this.

Do not despise my opinion when I remind you that it should not be hard for you to stop sometimes and look into the stains of walls, or ashes or a fire, or clouds, or mud or like places, in which, if you consider them well, you may find really marvelous ideas . . . By indistinct things the mind is stimulated to new inventions.

Here are some of the things I would have missed had I stayed in bed this week.

Crows

The hawk that got away.

I thought the robins had gone

Guess not

Feeble attempt at a reflection picture for PhotoPlay.
Some awesome photos there.

Hey Jennifer, I see a cross left lower corner.!–

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: stories and reflections

Comments

  1. L.L. Barkat says

    October 16, 2010 at 3:47 pm

    The hawk that got away! Too funny. 🙂

    I suppose there’s not too much danger in us modern people emptying our minds. Otherwise, we are so “full up,” as the Teletubbies say, that we can’t let God get a word in edgewise. 🙂 I think of all the wilderness experiences of bible characters… in the silence and the openness, they encountered God.

    • Sandra says

      October 17, 2010 at 9:11 pm

      I’d forgotten all about the Teletubbies.

      You’re right, of course, about the wilderness times. Physical and spiritual. When we’re emptied of stuff and emptied of self, He’s there waiting to pour in Himself.

  2. Cassandra Frear says

    October 16, 2010 at 7:00 pm

    God has many ways of meeting us. I’ve noticed this over all the years of believing and seeking. Even in my own life, it changes. I have a wide range of experiences of his presence and truth. He is ever the giver of good things.

    He knows what we need before we ask.

    • Sandra says

      October 17, 2010 at 9:15 pm

      He who is the always the same is always changing us. We just need to present ourselves.

  3. S. Etole says

    October 16, 2010 at 7:30 pm

    I have come to believe God loves to surprise us … in the most delightful ways.

    • Sandra says

      October 17, 2010 at 9:13 pm

      I love delightful surprises!

  4. Jennifer@GDWJ says

    October 16, 2010 at 10:42 pm

    Oh Sandra … I was already right there with you — right beside you in your yard… And then I came to that cool surprise at the end of your beautiful post.

    (And yes, I saw the cross, you cross-eyed sister!)

    • Sandra says

      October 17, 2010 at 9:17 pm

      I didn’t see it when I took the picture.

      Then it *was* you. I thought I saw your shadow. 🙂

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana in the background until I downloaded the photos. That, I believe, is the one that got caught in one of the openings in the neighbor's chain link fence. We tried in several (safe) ways to dislodge it without luck and could think of no other option but to leave it. Somehow it apparently dislodged itself. We also believe this is the pair that was getting into another neighbor's garden. We haven't seen either one since the last cold snap, so we are wondering if they survived. 
🌱
Thinking some may have tumbled from their perches last night. Pretty sure it will be raining iguanas tonight since we are under a frost advisory. It's cold. And windy.
Just sing... sing a song... Singing our way into Just sing... sing a song... 

Singing our way into the weekend.
"We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramse "We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramsey in Rembrandt is in the Wind
Now you see me... now you don't. Now you see me... now you don't.
"I started looking and listening. I realized that "I started looking and listening. I realized that work, like life, is shot through with poetry. It was everywhere. I was so taken with what I discovered that I wrote a book about it." @gyoung9751 
🌱
Whether you work in an office, a retail store, a restaurant, or at home... Whether you work on roads or on power lines, or on high buildings...Whether you collect trash or preach sermons, or care for your kiddos. Whether you do art, or weave words, or take photos of a common gallinule AKA moorhen AKA swamp chicken--it's all shot through with poetry.
🌱
So pay attention. Find a poem.
🌱
Read more at https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2023/01/10/its-poetry-at-work-day-2023/
Rising… Rising…
Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe a beauty routine. And breakfast. Especially breakfast. I wonder if it consists of a few fire ants. I hope so. (Well, not mine. I'm having oatmeal with chia seeds. What are you having this morning?)
🌱
P.S. Happy Friday!
"Though your destination is not yet clear You can "Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life's desire." ~John O'Donohue 
🌿
A blessing for a new beginning in a new year. I'm sure he wrote it especially for me. At least I'm claiming it. Maybe it will speak to you, too.
🌿
Also, I'd really like this skirt --> 
🌿
Read the whole poem--> -->
🌿
Well, bummer... The whole page didn't print. Read it in the comments below.
"What precocity, a bird half the size Of an Anjou "What precocity, a bird half the size
Of an Anjou pear." ~ Stephen Kuusisto in "The Mockingbird on Central" (Find it in The Poets Guide to the Birds edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser)
🌱
"The morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery." ~ Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. 
🌱
I've been in a long creative drought, so I started morning pages--again. This time I've got a bit of an accountability group through @refineretreat's Refinery--which I finally also joined this year. I'll turn 74 this month. I'm not ready to grow old while I age--though everything does seem to take longer while time goes by faster.
🌱
#aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still kinda amazed that out of all the places we could have ended up after moving from a place I said I’d never move from), here we are—planted right next to the northern Everglades. Six-plus years, and I still shake my head in wonder.
"So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This "So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This World." #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsa Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Gazing into 2023 like… Let’s take it step by Gazing into 2023 like… 
Let’s take it step by step with hope and courage. Also I hope to be posting again more often.
🎉
Happy New Year!
The morning before the last morning of 2022. 🌴 The morning before the last morning of 2022. 
🌴
71 degrees. Heading to 83. I can live with that.
From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point in Georgia at 4784 feet.
Winding roads… Winding roads…
Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay. Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay.
Don’t mind me. Just storking by. Don’t mind me. Just storking by.
I’ve gotten several messages asking if things we I’ve gotten several messages asking if things were okay. Yes. I’ve recovered after 3 weeks in Covid jail. Also, I’ve been a bit scarce on social cuz we’ve been finishing up house renovations, and there is SO much that now needs to be cleaned and stuff put away. Also, we’ve had the second oldest grand with us for two weeks. I “should have” at least shared some stories about our adventures, but we’ve relished the time and kept busy. One can’t leave South Florida without a gator encounter, though, right? Tomorrow the two of us fly back to Michigan, and then I will spend a week with my sister where I expect I will be put to work in the chicken house and the gardens and become a glad(iola) roadside proprietor for a day at the Four Star in while she and my BIL attend a family reunion. I’ll also get to see my dad in the nursing home and spend a couple nights with my daughter. D will hold down the fort here. Then maybe by the first of next month, I’ll be able to finish putting things in order, breathe, find some writing space and get back to normal. Whatever that is.
I tossed and turned all night. And then the storm I tossed and turned all night. And then the storm started. I finally got up about 5ish and sat outside to watch. Until a couple mosquitoes found me. Also, the jasmine hadn’t gone to bed yet and smelled heavenly.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in