Hope - Our Upward Call

Western Red Cedar tree, dead and stripped of bark it remains reaching toward heaven, Woodward Bay Nature Preserve, Olympia, WA USA

Paul wrote these words while in prison.  In prison, yet full of hope.  Christian hope is not whimsical optimism; rather, it is a vision based on the understanding that the merciful and loving God of the universe will provide.  Our hope “forgets what lies behind but strains forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).  Christian hope has many facets.

In life, our hope is an understanding that by cooperating with God’s plan each of us can become the person, the saint, that God desires us to be.

In death, our hope is an understanding that if our faith, as demonstrated by our faith-filled actions, perseveres to the end we will rest in God’s peace forever.

For our planet and our communities, our hope is an understanding that in the end God will set all things right.  Love, mercy and justice will prevail.

May each of us pursue our upward calling in Christ Jesus.  Blessings for a hope-filled 2025.

God is Love

Olympia Washington sunset with modified image from the Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary, Lourdes France

The only proper response to love (agape - unconditional, self-giving love) is agape love.  The life of Jesus; his teachings, his parables, his passion, show us how to live in agape love.  Let us love God and each other as Jesus taught us.

Merry Christmas

Seeking Him

Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, WA USA

These words spoken by God through the prophet Jeremiah were to the people of Israel that had been displaced from their homeland and were in a foreign land (Babylon).  They ring of hope but they also ring of responsibility.  Hope that they will see God, responsibility that they must seek God.

As we prepare for Christmas, let us have an a heart that is calling, praying, listening and seeking God.

The King is Coming

Mule Deer Buck in snow, Pueblo West, CO USA

With faithful and hopeful anticipation, we wait…

We wait with longing in our hearts for that which pleasures, presents and power cannot fulfill.

We wait for what our hearts desire, our King, our Lord and our God.

We wait for Christmas, the marking of time, when God became man so that man might be fulfilled and live eternally with him.

We wait……

The Lord is Good

Black-tailed Deer eating apple, Olympia, WA

The sun was setting as the the deer anxiously ran through the knee high grass up to an apple tree and began eating the apples.  We should have such exuberance as we approach the Lord.

Psalms 34:1-8 - I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Thank you Lord

Fallen Maple Leaves, Olympia, WA USA

Seeing these leaves I could not help but think of our Lord’s passion and the wonderful love he has for us.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. - John 3:16

Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5: 7-8

Eyes on Jesus

Great Blue Heron, Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, WA

let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.  - Hebrews 12:1,2

Our Refuge

Pacific Beach, WA USA

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. - Psalms 46:1

Be Holy

Sunset, Pacific Beach, WA USA

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. 

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, 

Through Christ Our Lord, 

Amen

- an ancient prayer written partially as a song in the 800’s and later as a prayer in the 1200’s.

The Leaves Know

Aspen at Sunrise, Colorado creek drainage, Northwestern Colorado, USA

Leaves know that blessings received are meant to be given away.

They speak of the splendor of your majestic glory, tell of your wonderful deeds. (Psalms 145:5)

The rain falls, the sun shines, the leaves grow, only to turn to gold, saying, “Thanks be to God” before falling to the ground.

The leaves know.

Hearing the Cry

Fledgling Song Sparrow, Olympia, WA, USA

Oh, Little one,

let us hear your cry.

You who do not speak,

cry into our conscience.

Oh, Little One,

Teach us about dignity.

True dignity, found in who we are,

human beings, made in God’s image and likeness.

Oh, Little One,

Teach us about joy.   

True joy,  found in acts of love

for the most vulnerable among us.

Oh, Little Vulnerable one,

let us hear your cry,

so that one day we might hear your laughter,

and our joy will be made complete.

     - Folks at “A Nature Walk With God”

‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ - Matthew 25:40

Instrument of Peace

Diamond Mountain as viewed from Rabbit Ears Peak, Colorado, USA

Prayer for Peace

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

• St Francis of Assisi

Wisdom from Above

Sunrise, Colorado creek drainage, Northwestern Colorado, USA

Glorious Splendor

Lake Cushman as viewed from Dry Creek Trail, WA USA

Upward Call

Large Leaf Maple, Squaxin Park, Olympia, WA USA

The bible, the scriptural authors, are not interested in self-determination but in the process by which a person awakens to God’s call. - Bishop Robert Barron

The great adventure is listening to and then following God’s call. From Abraham, to Mary and Joseph, to Paul, to Mother Theresa, the servants of God listen and follow.   

My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. - John 10:27

Filled with the Spirit

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Calmed my Soul

Chapman Bay, WA USA

“Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)”. Jesus often found a quiet place where his body, mind and spirit could be alone with his heavenly father.  How do you quiet your soul before entering into prayer?

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A Light to My Path

Squaxin Park, Olympia, WA USA

We are truly blessed to have sacred scripture because “in the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them.” ~ CCC 103

This being said, the early Christians were largely illiterate and yet the word of God was fully alive in their hearts, minds and actions. How did Christianity spread so quickly to a vastly illiterate population, with differing languages and cultures, without having any power or wealth?  

To put it simply, they followed Jesus. They were not merely a spiritual people, they were the Church, the living body of Christ. They met weekly, sharing in communion, sharing in the precious body and blood of Christ, listening to the scriptures, and sharing testimony. Most of all; however, they saw Christ, the “Word” of God, living in each other, not just at their place of meeting, but in all aspects of their lives.  

At its center, “Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, a word which is "not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living.”(CCC - 108)”. Christianity is feed by divine scripture but it is practiced, through the power of the Holy Spirit, by the Word of God living within us.  

For an inspirational example of how the one man following Jesus in the time of the Gladiators changed the world visit our website at http://www.anaturewalkwithgod.com/learnmore and read Reflection #5 - Telemachus.

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Treasure in Heaven

Chipmunk carrying moss, Sequalitchew Creek Trail, DuPont, WA USA

What treasures can we store in heaven? Jesus in the twenty-fifth chapter of the gospel of Matthew tells us that acts of love, particularly love shared for those that are the most vulnerable, are the treasures we can store in heaven. Who are the most vulnerable God has put in your life? What is the best way you can help them?

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” ~ Matthew 25:35-36

It should be noted that Jesus asks us to give from the heart, for he not only cares for the vulnerable, but he also desires that our hearts are transformed to be more like his, full of love.

“For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” ~ Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34

Peace be with you.

Your friends at A Nature Walk with God

Fishers of Men

 Osprey holding fish, Willapa Hills State Park Trail, Chehalis, WA USA

Look close at this Osprey, also called the fisher hawk. While it rests on a tree next to the Newaukum River it holds a fish in its right talon while seemingly to be constantly searching the horizon for more fish….

Jesus asked two men, Peter and his brother Andrew, simple fishermen, not rabbis or scholars, to follow him, to become his disciples. Jesus would take these two men, and a few others, from small desert villages and transform them, and they would transform the world, not through might but through love.

The invitation that Jesus gave to Peter and Andrew is an invitation to all, to become fishers of men. What does it mean to be a fisher of men? St. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:12 that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” So a fisher of men is a person that invites people to become a new creation in Christ.

For more information on the hope that the Osprey represents to the ecology of the world visit our website at https://www.anaturewalkwithgod.com/learnmore and read “Reflection # 4 – Osprey and Ecological Hope”

Peace be with you.

Your friends at A Nature Walk with God.