Sitting just inside the door of 2012, I am--of all places on earth--back at the shire, in our Lindisfarne woodsy home. But no, not ours, this and all we may ever call our own is the Lord’s, the One who purchased my life, all I am and all I have. I am sitting near my beloved, on my dear perfect-fit three-legged stool carved from a Kenyan tree, next to my treasured old out-of-tune piano—these also belong to the Lord, a fire glowing in the fireplace behind me, the hundred holiday lights in their holiday branches shining like quiet stars in triplicate reflection in the windows around me, with the reverent strains of Rachmaninoff wrapping us in the sacred mystery of awe and wonder. Here in this doorway of time, I pause in the present to gaze back on all that has come to us from the gracious hand of our God in the especially wonderful year 2011. Here, just inside the door, the sharp sense that the sand is passing through the hourglass at accelerating speed fades and recedes, giving way to the sweetness of eternity, the presence of the everlasting God in Whom we abide. And in this hour I know how very, very rich we are in Him, that His gracious hand holds us near, and that in His nearness is all our good both now and forever. And from the deepest depths of my heart, I give thanks.
PEGGY FITZPATRICK
From my early years, growing up in a home filled with a profound reverence and love for the Lord and the simple joy of living, an expansive place was prepared in my heart for responding to the nearness of God. I was drawn to goodness and light: the light of the Lord manifested in Christ and through Him in the human heart and countenance, and the light of His goodness manifested in the beauty of the earth. Rooted in a deep love for the beauty of the Scriptures and the illumination they bring to the face of our Father and to the human heart, I continue to be filled with awe at the ways heaven touches earth.
Even as a teenager I was often drawn to the quiet places where the heart is refreshed. Simultaneously, however, I loved the energy and vitality of the people around me. In time I arrived at the conviction that if God had to choose between New York City and the Rockies, that He would choose New York, because there is nothing in all creation nearer to His heart than humanity. I believe also, however, that we toil in futility and are less than alive until our hearts are awakened to the vastness of His love that surrounds us and the graces He pours freely into the world. And once we experience that awakening, we see His love in even the smallest details.
With that in mind, this blog is dedicated to those whose hearts also love the Majestic One and know His "upward call".
Even as a teenager I was often drawn to the quiet places where the heart is refreshed. Simultaneously, however, I loved the energy and vitality of the people around me. In time I arrived at the conviction that if God had to choose between New York City and the Rockies, that He would choose New York, because there is nothing in all creation nearer to His heart than humanity. I believe also, however, that we toil in futility and are less than alive until our hearts are awakened to the vastness of His love that surrounds us and the graces He pours freely into the world. And once we experience that awakening, we see His love in even the smallest details.
With that in mind, this blog is dedicated to those whose hearts also love the Majestic One and know His "upward call".
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