“The angel said, ‘Do not be afraid.'” Matthew chapter 1
“Joseph was told not to be afraid, not because God was going to take away all the fearful things but because the Messiah was coming into the world…into his family.” JE Lillie
“At some point in the Christmas story everyone lifts up their head.” Barry Risto
“The real gifts of Christmas are love, joy and peace.” Barry Risto
Christmas will always be in the hearts of God’s children everywhere as they extend a helping hand to a friend in need … as they go about reflecting God’s goodness in the little quiet and unheralded expressions of a loving heart … as they share the light of the world with those who live in darkness .
Jane Hillsmen
Cee is having us build: FENCES today
Robert Frost said “Good fences make good neighbors.”
What do you think? Go and let Cee know at
http://ceenphotography.com/cees-black-white-challenge/
Here are some of my fencing thoughts:
This is the fence outside of Parliament in Dublin.
The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out.
Both of these fences are found in the Koog Zaandyke neighborhood just outside of Zaandam in North Holland.
Love your neighbor as yourself; but don’t take down the fence.
There is a balance to these things called fences and we must forever seek to maintain it.
Christmas is a Son away from home.
Norma Alloway
Ailsa has challenged us to show how our travels have taught us about :FREEDOM
You can see how others have approached the topic at:
http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/12/12/travel-theme-freedom/
Here are my thoughts:
“Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre
I have found some of the greatest freedom of expression among those who have had the hardest of lives. JE Lillie
Here lies the evening sky over Galway Bay
“Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don’t care, I’m still free
You can’t take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain’t comin’ back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can’t take the sky from me
There’s no place I can be
Since I found Serenity
But you can’t take the sky from me…”
― Mutant Enemy/Joss Whedon
The crucifix in the chapel at Kylemore Abbey
“He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.” John 8:36
“I have always thought of Christmastime, when it has come round…as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Remember at this season… every one of us is in a battle. So give each other grace.
“This Christmas mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love, and then speak it again.”
― Howard W. Hunter
” Jesus found no room in the inn yet He said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so I would have told you…I go to prepare a place for you that where I am you may also be.” John 14:2
“When you make room in your heart for other people you experience Christ more fully.” Barry Risto
“Jesus was born for the purpose of pursuing and destroying the root of all evil, Satan.” Barry Risto
“Never judge the end of a thing by its beginning.” Barry Risto
“The Incarnation proves God does some of His most powerful works in insignificant places” Rev. Barry Risto
The twinkling waters of Galway Bay
“Don’t judge by appearance because God hid His greatest gift in the most humble package.” Rev. Barry Risto
” Jesus endured a human, earthly birth so that everyone who believes in Him and receives Hum can undergo a heavenly and spiritual birth.” Rev. Barry Risto
This week Black & White Sunday has challenged us with the theme FLOW
Here is my thought on the matter
“May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke
Check out some other flow photos at:
https://bopaula.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/black-white-sunday-flow/
Lillie-Put 