When Blue Flowers Sing

There's just something about blue that makes me sigh with deep delight, especially when it's found in nature. Tiny wildflowers, so vivid they might have come from an artist's brush strokes, sing out to me in the early spring. They fill me with an overall sense of calmness and well-being. When I spy a patch of lovely blue sprouting up from the earth, I am awash with serenity. It's like nature has gently encompassed me with azure skies above and a blanket of sapphire flowers dancing about my feet. When Mother Nature arrays herself in shades of blue I am completely soothed.

Suddenly I find myself wanting to be surrounded by as much of this mystical color as possible. I mimic nature by dressing in more blue clothing. I find myself choosing gorgeous blue fibers to create with. This stunning handpainted sock yarn is my recent example. I love the way the colors fade in and out of vibrancy. 

Once again, I chose a crochet pattern by designer Kristin Omdahl. I'm a huge fan of her feminine touch in crochet design. You can find pattern details and see how the scarf lays while being worn, in this previous post. 

I am always totally captivated by a piece of crochet that has flowers worked into it. This scarf makes me particularly happy with its charming blossoms that flounce around when in motion. It's long enough to wrap in any way that suits the mood of the day. Being lightweight and on the somewhat narrow side, adds to its extreme femininity. 

Recreating a little fraction of nature is always very centering for me. I am deeply grounded by the beauty found in nature. So when I'm able to express any part of it in my artwork, whether it be crocheting, knitting, or writing, I am wholly satisfied. The sense of connectedness I derive from it is absolutely freeing. 

The next time you encounter a field of magical blue flowers, dancing beneath the brilliant sky, stop for a moment and stand very still. You just might hear them singing to you too. Or sit down amongst them and allow your soul to be set free.

"Blue has no dimensions, it is beyond dimensions."

                                        ~ Yves Klein

"Flowers are my music."

                                                              ~ Thomas Walker Arnold

Truth and Beauty

There's a Japanese Proverb that says...

"If man has no tea in him,

He is incapable of understanding truth and beauty."

I have to admit this hits home with me on so many levels.

For one thing, I have come to realize that a properly brewed pot of tea is as essential to my work day when I sit down to my knitting or crochet,
as are the tools of the trade such as needles, hooks, yarn and scissors.
I simply cannot concentrate on the texture of the fiber flowing through my fingers or the soothing flow of rhythm unless I have a steaming cup of tea within my reach.

When I think about it even further, I believe the tea helps my clarity of mind by relaxing me, therefore enhancing the overall experience of beauty,
both tactile and visual, that my fiber art provides for me. 

Yes...

Tea most definitely helps me to understand both truth and beauty.
"Our thirst for tea is never far from our craving for beauty."
James Norwood Pratt
Speaking of beauty, my granddaughter, Gabriella,
went on Pointe in ballet for the first time this week.

I have always loved ballet. Not only does it bring beauty into the life of the dancer but it has the potential to grab hold of every heart that experiences it and fill it with pure joy.
When I watch a ballet performance I am totally enraptured and lost to the world around me...
Lost in a magical fairyland where there is nothing but music, grace and beauty. We all need to be taken to a place like this once in awhile.
As we all know, it is inescapable that the world will always have its natural disasters, there will always be those who choose to tear down rather than build up; those who walk in the darkness instead of the light and do not know to seek truth and beauty. They don't even realize they exist. But they do.
Truth and Beauty are all around us at all times. They are in the things we do that give us great pleasure such as knit or dance or even enjoy that perfect cup of tea.
We also have only to look to the natural world
that God has so richly blessed us with.

Watching this dogwood tree change with the seasons gives me a deep sense of serenity. This photo has a somewhat overcast effect to it because it was raining when I took it but I like a good rainfall every now and then. We all need a cleansing rain to wash over us from time to time.
There are many kinds of beauty in nature.

I think God means for us to study nature and find the truth of ourselves within it. It is ever changing, bright with promise and constantly budding with possibility. This is the way He sees each of us I believe. Just as one who absorbs the beauty of a ballet from the audience, God not only has surrounded us in so much loveliness, He must be experiencing the same thrill the dancer gets from, not only His expression of beauty, but also our complete delight in it.
There will always be great sadness and suffering in the world. Please let me say here and now, in the face of so much that goes on, I am in no way ever turning a blind eye or deaf ear to any of it. Nor do I ever want to be perceived as doing so.
I take all of it to God in prayer...deep prayer.
What I am saying is this...
I believe that God wants us to always be seekers of His Truth and Beauty.
He wants us to have joy and peace in our hearts and our lives.
"A tranquil heart is life to the body..." Proverbs 14:30
In his book, The Greatest Thing in the World,
theologian Henry Drummond said this,
"No fever of unrest can disturb a soul which has
breathed the air or learned the ways of Christ."
When we do not seek truth and beauty
we are unable to walk in the light
and be the light that this world so desperately needs.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6
God has blessed us in so many ways. His fingerprints are absolutely everywhere.
Never stop looking, never stop seeking truth and beauty.
No matter how young, no matter how old...
We all have them within us and within our reach.
"The kingdom of God is within you..." {Luke 17:21}
All we need to do is open our eyes and our hearts.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable-
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-
think about such things."
Philippians 4:8

Sky Blue Pink

When I step outside at the very moment the sun is beginning to make its decline into sleep to end yet another day in my life, I am always immediately silenced and rendered motionless by the incomparable beauty of a pink sunset. I love all sunsets but there's just something more breathtaking to me about a soft blue sky that's painted with streaks of pale pink clouds. It makes me feel instantly serene.

My grandfather, Grandpa George, called such a sunset "sky blue pink". It was a favorite of his too. He used to point pink sunsets out to his only son, my father, when they worked the land together on their farm. I imagine my grandfather saw too many of these sunsets to even count in his eighty five years of life. He grew up on a farm and then raised his own family on yet another farm. He rode the kind of tractor that was open to the air with no enclosure around him. Just him sitting in the open air surrounded by God's creation all the days of his life. He was a quiet, kindhearted, peaceful, Godly man who was gentle in every way. Oftentimes when I see a pink sunset I think of him and the many ways he made my childhood happy, secure and wholesome. He and my grandmother took me to their little country church. It was the old fashioned type with polished wood floors and pews that shown and smelled of lemons. There was a lovely steeple at its top. I loved everything about that church but the best things about it were its Pastor and its people. Those days of my childhood Sunday School, when I could feel the presence of God coursing through His people around me, will be forever engrained in my memory.

I also feel God all around me when I look up and behold such a wondrous sight in the evening sky. If you ask me how I know there is a God I will tell you this ...

Look at the sunrise, the sunset, the ocean as it waves and all of the forces of nature with all of their power and beauty. Stand completely still. Look, feel and breathe it all in. God created it all. Nothing so miraculous could ever take place accidentally. It's all too well ordered. That may seem simple but I believe our faith is meant to be simple. After all, aren't we told to come to Jesus as little children? {Matthew 18:1-5}. I really think we're meant to keep our childlike wonder throughout our lifetime.

I honestly believe that God intended for nature to teach us so many things about Him and ourselves. God likes beauty, order and all things in their own time. It is we humans who try to run ahead of God, ourselves and everything under the sun so much of the time to do ... What? I'm not always sure actually. Yes, there is much to be done on any and every given day, to be sure. However, there is a lot to be said for living in the moment and letting tomorrow care for itself. {Matthew 6:25-34}. When we try to live past today and this moment we miss so much. Not only do we miss the beauty of everything that surrounds us, but we also risk feeling disconnected from our family and most certainly from God. In order to hear the voice of God, we must sometimes be very still and silent. These are things that can be terribly challenging in this fast paced world of today. That's why I love nature so much. No matter what hour, day, month year or century it is, nature keeps her own pace. The pace God set for her. I think God set a pace for each one of us too and we spend a lifetime trying to figure it out or even reset it. We all have different callings on our lives and our own path we are supposed to take but the One Thing that is the same for all of us is the constancy of God. He is there, everywhere, whether we know it or not. He may seem at times to change but He never truly does. He remains the same today as He was yesterday and as He will be tomorrow. {Hebrews 13:8}.  We just need to breathe Him in and learn to see Him in everything. God cannot be separated from anything. He is in every birdsong, every breeze, every sunset and He continually envelops us with so much beauty and evidence of His presence because He wants us to really live life to the fullest and enjoy the blessings in our lives. So while you're going about all the many things you have to do today and tomorrow remember to take moments here and there to stand still and look up at the sunrise or sunset, listen to the birds, feel the breeze against your skin and give thanks to The One who created such incredible things with You in mind.

"Look to the birds of the air, that they do not sow,
nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet their heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not worth much more than they?
And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?"
Matthew 6: 26,27

"... I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
Jesus,
John 10:10b

"Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
(1803-1882)