Sabbath Keeping

~ Thistle Cove Farm ~

"She is not afraid of snow for her household."

~ Proverbs 31:21 ~

"With a new awareness, both painful and humorous, I begin to understand why the saints were rarely married women. I am convinced it has nothing inherently to do, as I once supposed, with chastity or children. It has to do primarily with distractions. The bearing, rearing, feeding and educating of children; the running of a house with its thousand details; human relationships with their myriad pulls-woman's normal occupation in general run counter to creative life, or contemplative life, or saintly life. The problem is not merely one of Woman and Career, Woman and the Home, Woman and Independence. It is more basically: how to remain whole in the midst of the distractions of life; how to remain balanced, no matter what centrifugal forces tend to pull one off center; how to remain strong, no matter what shocks come in at the periphery and tend to crack the hub of the wheel...
But how? Total retirement is not possible. I cannot shed my responsibilities...I cannot be a nun in the midst of family life. I would not want to be. The solution for me, surely, is neither in total renunciation of the world, nor in total acceptance of it. I must find a balance somewhere, or an alternating rhythm between these two extremes; a swinging of the pendulum between solitude and communion, between retreat and return...
It is a difficult lesson to learn today-to leave one's friends and family and deliberately practice the art of solitude for an hour or a day or a week...For me, the break is the most difficult....And yet, once it is done, I find there is a quality to being alone that is incredibly precious. Life rushes back into the void, richer, more vivid, fuller than before." ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea ~ 

"Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

And only {she} who sees, takes off {her} shoe;

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning ~

"For believe me, the more one is, the richer is all one experiences. And whoever wants to have deep love in {her} life must collect and save for it and gather honey." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~

"Wonder is the promise of restoration:

as deeply as you dive, so may you rise."

~ Christina Baldwin ~

"WonderFUL!" ~ Sandra ~

"One should know the value of Life better than to pout any part of it away." 
~ Hester-Lynch Piozzi ~
"We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come." ~ Helen Keller ~

"There is a time, when passing through a light,

that you will walk in your own shadow."

~ Keri Hulmee ~

"Wild and distant places speak to many who find in them opportunities to engage in the spiritual practices of wonder and gratitude." ~ Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat ~

"Well-being is not a state of mind,

or even of body.

It is a state of grace."

~ Sally Brampton ~

"You look as if you lived on duty and it hadn't agreed with you." ~ Ellen Glasgow ~
"Let go of the people who cause constant pain; let go of the negativity that colors a room more darkly than any coat of paint. Keep close the people you love, the ones who stay engaged and open to life, who bring joy and peace to the house and garden. ~ Dominique Browning ~

"Let your tears come. Let them water your soul." ~ Eileen Mayhew ~

"Part of getting over it is knowing you'll never get over it." ~ Anne Finger ~

"Self-nurture is not about being selfish.

It is about self-care."

~ Alice D. Domar ~

"Accustom yourself to continually make

Many acts of love for they enkindle and melt the soul."

~ Saint Teresa of Avila ~

"It is the loving, not the loved, woman who feels lovable." ~ Jessamyn West ~

"We need to practice awe-aerobics." ~ Sandra ~

"Since her childhood it had seemed to her that the movement of all laws, even natural ones, was either suspended or accelerated on the Sabbath." ~ Ellen Glasgow ~

"Wait is a verb." ~ Sandra ~

"God, I can push the grass apart

And lay my finger on Thy heart."

~ Edna St. Vincent Millay, Renascence ~

"Thousand upon thousand of human plans are not equal to one of Heaven's." ~ proverb ~

"Grace grows best in winter."

~ Samuel Rytherford ~

"Your job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine.

Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom,

into healthy faith, love, and endurance. 

Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither

gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. 

By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their

husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, 

be good wives.

We don't want anyone looking down on God's Message because of

their behavior. Also, guide the young men to live disciplined lives."

~ Titus 2:3-5 ~

If you'd like a name added to the prayer list, please let me know. Names are kept for one week; around the world, people are praying.

Prayer Keeping ~ unspoken requests ~