The Last Sunflower of Autumn

 Oil on canvas

 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

King James Version of the Bible 

Isaiah 40:10

What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.

Mary Baker Eddy 

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

King James Version of the Bible 

Ecclesiastes 7:29

Love and success are intermingled, and are without simulation.  

–--Eva-Maria

Love and success are intermingled, and are without simulation.  

–--Eva-Maria

One thought—

Build on one thought at a time--

Think solid,

And then act.

EMH

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8).

    Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8).

Triumph and Disaster, 

those two imposters,

treat them just the same.

“If” by Kipling

Inward peace

Freedom from desire 

Leads to inward peace—

Lao Tzu

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved

Except by those who dared believe

That something inside them

Was superior to circumstance.

--Bruce Barton--

Message

 

Innocent—

Innocent … the life of a pure soul! And the real strength of living!

Let us learn…

Let us learn of the real and eternal, and prepare for the reign of Spirit, the kingdom of heaven, — the reign and rule of universal harmony, which cannot be lost nor remain forever unseen.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

by Mary Baker Eddy

Innocent … the life of a pure soul! And the real strength of  humane living!

Abide with me; fast breaks the morning light;

Our daystar arises, banishing all night;

Thou art our strength, O Truth that maketh all free.

We would unfailingly abide in Thee.

 I know no fear, with Thee at hand to bless,

Sin has no power and life no wretchedness;

Health, hope and love in all around I see

For those who trustingly abide in Thee.

I know Thy presence every passing hour;

I know Thy peace, for Thou alone art power;

O Love divine, abiding constantly,

I need not plead, Thou dost abide with me.

-- a hymn—a prayer—

Man upright—

Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

King James Version of the Bible 

Ecclesiastes 7:29

"There is so much discomfort in the world that is quite noiseless."

"The noblest work of God is man in the image of his Maker; the last infinity of evil is so-called man, swayed by the maelstrom of human passion, elbowing the concepts of his own creating, making place for himself and displacing his fellow." Mary Baker Eddy Library

At the end of the earth…

At the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

King James Version of the Bible 

Psalms 61:1, 2

I do not wont the peace which passeth understanding, I want the understanding which bringeth peace!

Hellen Keller

I find myself in the divine

I was thinking of the greatness of what was human,

and found myself in the divine.

Juan Ramon Jimenez

There is a path…

What goodness desires, even that is done,

For it performs the thing that is appointed for us:

And many such things are with us---

There is a path which no fowl knows, 

And which the vulture's eye hath not seen:

The lion's whelps have not trodden it,

And the fierce lion passed by,--

Goodness puts forth its hand upon the rock; 

And overturns the mountain by the roots.  

Goodness carves out a river among the rocks; 

And sees every precious thing. 

It binds the floods from overflowing;  

The thing that is hidden brings it forth to light. 

Poem by EMH

Halte dich rein…

"Halte dich nur im Stillen rein

Und lass es um dich wettern;

Je mehr du fuehlst ein Mensch zu sein

Desto aehnlicher bist du den Goettern."

(Goethe)

Autumn thoughts

What is silently held is sacred and secret --is so special we just let it radiate in ourselves, and let the joy of its presence flow....

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: . . . My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.

Christ Jesus

King James Version of the Bible 

John 10:27, 29, 30

Man is tributary to God, Spirit, and to nothing else. God's being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Like the archpriests of yore, man is free “to enter into the holiest,” — the realm of God.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

by Mary Baker Eddy 

 We are risen, and stand upright.

King James Version of the Bible 

Psalms 20:

Don’t put your trust in those who assume

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

King James Version of the Bible 

Proverbs 30:

Don’t put your trust in those who only assume and do not search for the Truth—-!

Lead me to the rock that higher than I

At the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

King James Version of the Bible 

Psalms 61:1, 2

Goethe 

Ich habe einen Menschen immer nur als ein fuer sich bestehendes Individuum angesehen, dass ich zu erforschen und dass ich in seiner Eigentuemlichkeit kennenzulernen trachtete, wovon ich aber durchaus keine weitere Sympathie verlangte. Dadurch habe ich es nun dahin gebracht, mit jedem  Menschen umgehen zu koennen, und dadurch allein entsteht die Kenntnes mannigfaltiger Charaktere, sowie die noetige Gewandheit im Leben.  Denn gerade bei widerstrebenden Naturen muss man sich zusammennehmen, um mit ihnen durchzukommen, und dadurch werden alle die verschiedenen Seiten in uns angeregt und zur Entwickelung und Ausbildung gebracht, so dass man sich denn bald jedem Vis-a-vis gewachsen fuehlt.

Goethe

I have looked at people always as individuals, so that I could study their uniqueness without making demands on their sympathies.  In that way I’ve learned to get along with different types of temperaments —specifically those with an opposing and argumentative nature.   I found that it strengthened many different sides in me and enabled me to feel confident in order to deal humanely vis-a-vis others.

Translation from the German by EMH

How did the great Master say it? “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures [i.e., noble and productive ideas] in heaven [harmony], where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.”

Should we not be grateful on our journey for the fellowship of all those who are willing to journey with us a certain distance or all the way, until we have reached our destination?  And it would not be their destination, too? 

All along on the journey neither to be burdened by a phony sense of responsibility but by a desire that in whatever manner we succeed, it has to be a blessing for others...

Mary Baker Eddy clarifies it thus: “Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionally to their occupancy of your thoughts.”

Then love and success are intermingled, and are without simulation.  

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

King James Version of the Bible 

Proverbs 30: