God’s Mercy

Have you ever felt guilty about a prayer uttered from your lips? I have.
I recently asked God to get me out of a jam I had gotten myself into.
On top of that, the prayer involved a moral dilemma of which I was ashamed.
I was the “bad” person in this situation, and yet I was asking God for help.
I simply threw my hands up with a petition that sounded more like a yelp or cry.
I was willing to face the consequences; let the chips fall where they may, even if those chips fell into a dark abyss.
But after several months I was miraculously delivered, and this was part of God’s response to me: I love you. I do not want you to suffer so. I understand the strange constraints you are under. Do not mistake this for approval — simply understanding.
God is merciful.

Photos © Sondra Sula.

Take a walk with me by reading my daily devotional book, Meditations on Mendocino by Sondra Sula. Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions.

If you’d prefer a daily river walk, Reflections on the Fox River and Beyond by Sondra Sula, might just be the book for you.

What Do You Do?

What do you do
when the weight of the world
feels too heavy to bear?
Cry out?
Dig in?
Shop
to distract yourself?
Drive away
to somewhere desolate,
beautiful,
lonely
or mysterious?
Stay in a motel for the night and lose yourself in the bedspread’s pattern?
Look for permanence through fossils,
ancient objects
or solid cement statuary that won’t easily disintegrate?
Amuse yourself with strange creatures
and odd juxtapositions?
When there’s no more room for anger,
let peace rain down softly from the trees. Peace and light.

Photos © Sondra Sula.

Take a walk with me by reading my daily devotional book, Meditations on Mendocino by Sondra Sula. Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions.

If you’d prefer a daily river walk, Reflections on the Fox River and Beyond by Sondra Sula, might just be the book for you.

Visual Delights: Minerals, Beads and Baubles

Each year there is a large mineral and fossil show in Tucson, Arizona that my husband goes to for business purposes — although he would happily attend for pleasure.
This year I went with him.
There were many mesmerizing minerals and fabulous fossils,
yet I found myself drawn to the beads
and baubles.
Maybe it’s a girl thing that’s part of my DNA
or maybe it’s because I imagine taking the strands apart to use the individual beads in my Little Souls —
assemblage art pieces I create like this one entitled: Evening Out.
Or maybe they inherently carry some celebratory Mardi Gras aspect to them  
that signifies plenty, prior to the leanness of Lent.
Whatever the draw, I enjoyed experiencing everything from seas of simulated pearls
to mysterious mahjong tiles
to lights made from sheets of stone.
And I realized I didn’t need to own any of these things to enjoy them. What visual delights are available to you, free of charge?

Photos © Sondra Sula.

Take a walk with me by reading my daily devotional book, Meditations on Mendocino by Sondra Sula. Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions.

If you’d prefer a daily river walk, Reflections on the Fox River and Beyond by Sondra Sula, might just be the book for you.