December 5, 2021a thought for today, The shortest distance between two people is a smile. African Proverb

Here it is Sunday again. This was one had a few “stops” besides church. First I had bible study before church service, then immediately following bible study we had a quick choir rehearsal before the service began. Between the rehearsal and the service I had a very good friend ask if I could go to the office and make a copy of an important document for him. I didn’t want to miss the first parts of the service so I waited for a time that wouldn’t be disturbing to others as I walked quietly out, made the copy and rejoined in about ten minutes. Following church service there was a monthly meeting that I attend as a “sit-in”. My sister had asked that I pick up some medicine for her on my way home from church since I am close to the pharmacy, so that was my next stop. I made a quick stop at McDonald’s for a brunch for Bob and me. 

The photo challenge for December 4 was “this is Joy!”. Putting up a Christmas tree to honor this season is a joy, a bit of work, but work well worth it.

During the prelude at church,  I looked around the sanctuary to see if there were photos to meet my two challenges for today. I found one of them, I found the other on my way home at McDonalds. 

The rest of the day is going to be my normal Sunday of contemplation and mentally communing with questions of hope and faith. 

The word for to day is joy. When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Tecumseh. He who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sun rise. William Blake.  There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief. Aeschylus.  A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness. John Keats.  Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief. Marcus Tullius Cicero. Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough. Emily Dickinson. The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again. Charles Dickens. It is a fine seasoning for joy to think of those we love. Moliere. Things won are done, joy's soul lies in the doing. William Shakespeare. Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods. Plato.  

One of the photo themes for today is “light”. I have used this particular image for other entries. For me it is a definition of light that has more than just the meaning of a bulb in a socket. 

 Here’s a bit of information that may turn out to be useful at some point in life’s adventures. The article is about how leaf and lawn litter gives food and shelter to “various animals”. The article opens with an explanation of the sounds of leaf blowers particularly gas-powered ones and how annoying that sound is to many people. For further suggestions about the leaf blower’s affect on the life, and death, of vegetation it was stated that “about 470 million years ago” plants appeared on earth. Moving on in this missive, things started changing about 350 million years ago, “trees began their evolutionary ascent” and still later into deciduousness. Leaves began to fall and became a part of ecology and its miracle of further evolution. The decomposition of leaves enriched the soil with carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus thus attracting “myriad forms of animal life”. The smaller creatures such as worms and other “invertebrates” became food for birds and other animals. Fallen leaves and grass clippings are not only a food they are a home, a hiding place, a shelter of sorts. Even butterflies and moths take advantage of the natural existence of foliage. I learned from the article that there is even a moth called a “litter moth” who spends their whole lives “eggs, caterpillars, cocoons and adults” in these decaying materials. The moths become food for bats as well as act as pollinators of sorts. Birds are nourished by the caterpillar phase of the moth’s existence. So, according to the article when the leaf blowers move the fallen leaves and other debris to be hauled away they are contributing to the survival or lack thereof to other creatures. Other animals such as toads, squirrels, rabbits and the list goes on to  find a sanctuary in this matter of nature.

The second photo for today is titled “ a poem title”. My title for this image is “a love letter to nature” by Sue Monk Kidd.  It a gift form heaven, a home for creatures and an image for the human eye to behold and study and contemplate. 

I think it is going to be taco bell for dinner tonight. 

Joy

why?