Enjoying the now

After a silent retreat, one does not feel like writing long stories on the Internet.

After a silent retreat, the views are clearer - for a while, at least. No more fog!(N.B. The "fog photo" of my August blog entry was taken pretty much in the same spot as this one.)

"Feeling God's presence is simply a matter of awareness. Of enjoying the now. There are moments when it happens. Then life makes sense." Richard Rohr

Back to normalcy

After many weeks of storms and other confusion, the world is back to how it always used to be, and how it is supposed to be over here.

The views outside are back to normal, and so are the sounds. Walking in the snow sounds so... gentle. Great music indeed.

Light overcomes darkness!

And so it is in our lives, too............

If you look very close

... you may see some - if not much - slight change of colour in today's view from the backyard.

Those who have not experienced real Finnish winters would already call it snow!

Solitude and community

Today is Epiphany, the last day of Christmas.

My Christmas was an rich combination of solitude and community. I need both to remain balanced. Both belong!

On the left, I'm sitting on the balcony, listening to the broadcast Announcement of Christmas Peace from Turku (the deepest of Finnish traditions!) at noon of Christmas Eve - unhurried, with some nostalgic stance to it. What could be more conventional?

The community bits came from celebrating Christmas Eve at my sisters', Boxing Day at Arja's, and New Year's in Morbacka, with over 15 others. And meeting my home prayer group, of course. As a bonus, three new friends from the Netherlands ended up staying here. What joy and enrichment!