December 24, 2018

Christmas Eve, 2018

(An explanation of the images is at the end of this post.)



    My Christmas Card for you, click here

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvzvr3R9Mqs


                 (Music Included)

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Nature has been creative for countless eons,

and in this Holy Season of New Life arriving again

with the flowering of the birth of The New,

along with our seeing again, for the first time,

wonder, and all that joy brings. 

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" ..... and I shall be

until the end of days.

There is no ending to my existence.

For the human soul is but a part

of a burning torch ...

which I separated from Myself

at Creation.

Thus My soul and your soul

are one .....

..... and we are one with God."

                                                                                                                Kahil Gibran

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A blessed Season of hope to all.

Peace,  Bill Lagerstrom

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   Timeline - The Season we are now in has been with us since the beginning, and continues with its vibrant colors this year.

    The single flower grew on one of our house plants just today. Photo taken 30 minutes ago. 

    The Christmas card is something I did with my photos 8-9 years ago.

     The image of the leaf is from a painting at the Colby College Museum of Art and is the artists rendition of a 

pre-historic group of leaves taken from fossils. The name of the artist escapes me but will be credited in the next post. 

December 17, 2018

December 17, 2018

Welcome

                         Two Images of Divine Generosity

   

  God can only be seen 

when the Moment we see arrives.

Then a multicolored vision of rare beauty appears.

The moment can never be repeated in the same way again,

as God, living in the Present Second only

loves to create each moment as a new experience,

always in a new way.

Proof?

Look at us.

What two of us are exactly alike?

Look as well to Nature

where everything created gives homage to God,

acknowledging the Gift of life so freely given

by the One who loves each blade of grass,

each mountain, each creature,

each woman and man, and child,

each everything.

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The Lights of the Spirit are best seen at dawn.

Do not sleep late lest the Divine Illumination dims,

becoming invisible in the days brightness.

When we sleep a journey to a distant island is made,

a brief time spent on the other side of this life;

a foretaste of what is to come after we are done here.

In your dreams look for a boat on the beach 

you are walking on,

get in, row to that island. 

If you reach landfall before waking,

know this, the trip will be one way only.

Once awake on this side of eternity

that far shore is held safely in our heart's heart,

where only God resides.

Memory holds our future safely while we are here.

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All images and text are mine unless noted otherwise.

To see any image full screen click on it.

    Peace and wonder be with you always,

               Bill Lagerstrom

October 24, 2018

October 24, 2018

   Winter begins Her birth in Fall, having been incubated 

  by Spring and Summer's gentle touch, nurtured and nudged into life each year. 

   Fall is here and all around as warmer attire is found in closets and draws where they have been resting these past months.

Nature presents Herself,

dresses as She pleases, saying,

"Here I am.

I came for your enjoyment today."

The invitation is to any who are awake and open.

"I offer my beauty at every moment you look -

if you can see past the world's constructions

wonders will be yours to embrace .....

and you will be embraced by me."

                          --------------------------------

   A song for remembering, click here and play -

        https://app.box.com/s/4k5o2x73ylr1n0bkfgpj


      Lakota Forever - Love Always Remains - by Brule

                                  ------------------------

  Peace,  Bill Lagerstrom



All text and poetry are mine unless otherwise noted.

All images are photography based an are mine.

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October 17, 2018

October 17, 2018

All images are mine and come from a photographic beginning.

Text and Poetry are mine unless otherwise noted. Click on any image to view full screen.


    Fall has arrived with its wondrous blaze of color and vibrancy here in 2018. It may seem odd to chose a photo that was taken in a graveyard, yet the rain a few days ago offered a light and color that is rarely seen. There is something poignant in the overarching glorious blanket of Fall's best clothing in juxtaposition with the monuments to the dead who can no longer enjoy these gifts. 

    Winter will soon be here.     

This is the Day the Lord has made!

We will be glad and rejoice in it!

No matter the pains of loss –

the trials of separation –

The embers of the fire in our core

are always ready to ignite,

offering light and warmth

in the dark and lonely places in our life.

Stir the ashes where the coals are still alive,

stand on Holy Ground and enjoy the ensuing fire.

This Day can hold all that life deposits in its hours.

This Day,

Our Day, no matter what it may bring

is a good Day !

The Day the Lord has made!

The Divine is in you, in me, in all.

The Light of God shines without ever dimming,

and it is in you, it is in me, it is in all.

All sorrow, all suffering,

when brought out into the Sacred Healing Light

will now or later be transformed by The Light.

.........................

   May colors and light of Fall be our guide this day,

   Bill Lagerstrom

October 15, 2018

October 15, 2018

All images and text are mine unless otherwise noted.

To see photos full screen click on any image.

   

Light

Perhaps light, or Light, is the vehicle of the Spirit,

a Light without a source that matters,
once we give up on compartmentalizing what we see 
into boxes far too small to hold what is really there. 

"And the Spirit of the lord came over Mary."

At that moment she was able to see her child

and she was seen by the child that was always with her,

always in her arms to be embraced and enjoyed.

We as well, have an inner child in our center,

one who waits to be seen -

waits to be embraced.

Holding our own child/self

the world's enticements fade to background.

We hold our self -

and we are held in return.

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A summer day, light, bright and welcoming,

asks us only to enjoy the moment

even though the "necessary"

distractions continue to arrive demanding attention.

Our responsibility once we accept the Gift offered

is to enjoy the moment and perhaps offer gratitude.

"Thank you for the food of this day, 

this precious moment."

(The book being read in the above image is:

" Rise of the Necrofauna The Science, Ethics and Risks of DeExtinction" )

  Peace and happiness this day,

     Bill Lagerstrom

September 23, 2019

September 23, 2018

 All images and text are mine unless otherwise noted.

  To see photos full screen click on any image.

There are cracks and holes in everything,

that's how the Light gets out

All that was created is infused with Light -

Our job is only to see,

to be aware, and to enjoy

God's ever present offerings

Ocean is a metaphor for God.

If on the shore you see a splash of water within reach,

Quickly! Swim out, it is not a fish.

It's Insight, Grace, Gift, rising to the surface.

The Ocean is in us, in every weather,

sense the ripples of God's Presence, and go!

Gifts from Love's seas are yours to have

Freely given - freely received -

No need to look for attached strings,

there are none.

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   A word to ponder: Investigate

   Peace,   Bill Lagerstrom

September 10, 2018

September 10, 2018

   All images are mine unless otherwise noted.

   To see full screen right click on any photo.

    This post is about some good news and a bittersweet event which is the death of my brother a few weeks ago. Bittersweet as his passing is both sad and good news as he is missed, and a return to our Creator is always a blessing. 

    But first, a word from Lucy, a wise dog belonging to Denise who was camping on Campobello Island, New Brunswick a few days ago while we were there. Lucy was more than willing to share about important things that are happening in the world and a possible solution to these issues. 

     - Lucy-

    "I, personally, need to get a good night's sleep or the following day I become extremely grouchy." (Translated to me by Denise of course as I don't speak Canadian Dog.)

   The moral of this short tale is, get a good night's sleep or, be grouchy the next day.

    Could this be a major part of  a solution to all of our problems in these tumultuous times?  Worth a try. 

    (This is a true event. That night Lucy put herself to bed by going into the tent as an evening fire was lit. She awoke to find out why her caregiver was not sleeping as well. She was grouchy but got over it and did get a good night's sleep after all. A wise dog indeed.)

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   I want to offer a few thoughts about the death of my brother Bob on August 16th. He finally passed through the Final Veil and was reunited with his Creator and began the next stage of life I believe we will all enter as well. 

    He was the last person who knew me for the entire course of my life to date. Bob was four years older than I am. 

   I will only add a few lines to the photos I took last week on Campobello Island. Bob had a long love for Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine and spent a great deal of time there, alone at first, and then with his partner Cliff for more times than I know about. They were together for fifty years before Bob succumbed to late stage Parkinson's disease. Since we have looked out at the same ocean over the years the images express for me the view Bob had on Monhegan.

   

At death the Call from God comes to return

to the Ocean that is the Source of our lives.

Ocean, the metaphor for God's visible and Real Presence.

There on the shore we see the boat that will take us

across the last barrier to reunion with our True Home.

Lee and I stood on this shore and offered our goodbyes 

with words of hope and joy 

that my brother now resides in the Presence of God.

Lee painted Bob's name on two rocks and they 

were thrown into the outgoing tide -

a goodbye to a long life.

It is said that nothing comes into life

unless something dies.

Look to new life reaching to the Sun

and offer gratitude for the life that died and offered

 birth to the new, a flower, a baby, you and I.

In the twilight of this existence 

all that is needed to give hope is to look at the sky,

the setting sun speaks of the beauty created

for our enjoyment even at the last breath we may take.

With gratitude for the life of Bob Lagerstrom.

God has returned his being to our only True Home

from where he and all of us were sent 

in our birth into this world.

   Peace and joy to all,

     Bill Lagerstrom

August 10, 2018

August 10, 2018

- The Grandeur of  Things Small and Large -

      

 - Flight Time -

Beyond the borders of the Turning,

In the pivot point of here and There,

Lies the Truth We Seek, our True Desire.

Go to that Center, draw a line though its axis,

Then unfold the wings of your soul and spirit,

And soar to the Presence of the One Who Calls Us.

The home of departure to the Heavens,

Lies midway between our soul and self.

All lines of flight lead to Love’s Embrace,

There, in the center of the heart, 

in the core of the soul.

                                    Bill Lagerstrom

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The living poetry of Bryce Canyon,

spoken without words, without explanation.

How can rocks and sandstone speak?

When standing in awe of Nature's artistic creations,

how can their voices not be heard by opened ears -

the open ears of the heart and one's very soul.

The felt sense of wonder that takes breath away

is what God hoped for when Creation makes its way

past our intellect, past data and information,

and we, are imprinted to our core with Beauty.

All we are asked to do when in Beauty's Presence

is to enjoy the Gift we have been given.

I, for one, accept the Gift gladly !

                                Bill Lagerstrom

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 All images, text  and poetry are mine unless otherwise noted. All images are the result of photographic processes.


   Click on any image to see full screen.

July 29, 2018

- Looking for Beauty -

Your courage will arise

if you call it by name, just as love

will find its way into your heart, in time.

My child, I cannot shoulder your mistakes

in order to keep you free from pain,

but I can open your eyes to beauty,

if you will only take the time.

                                                     Nancy Wood

Look closely at the eagle,

She is your eyes, looking for beauty.

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While looking for a tiger in the wilds of Manhattan,

I found none who lived there recently.

While looking for a tiger in Freedom Maine,

I found one who, tired of roaring and bellowing

turned herself into a stunning flower.

Now, free from fear filled eyes,

she stops all who cross her path

as they admire her beauty.

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   All images, poetry and text are by from Bill Lagerstrom unless otherwise noted.

   All images are based in a photographic process. To see full screen click on any image.