Tag: thankfulness

Remember, Remember

On By Charis PsalloIn Art5 Comments

burning bush leaves crop

 

“I was not pleased, during my childhood, to have been born in November, as there wasn’t much inspiration for birthday party motifs. February children got hearts, May ones flowers, but what was there for me? A cake surrounded by withered leaves?”
— Margaret Atwood

Sometimes I agree with Margaret. November is not my favourite month. In the fading light of autumn it seems like a constant reminder that life is short. I keep warning myself not to compare but as the dullness of winter approaches my mind goes back to more pleasant sunny days. Maybe that’s why the theme of remembrance keeps showing up this time of year –Remembrance Day here, the chants of “Remember, remember the fifth of November” in the UK and Thanksgiving in the US. Thanksgiving is really the healthiest way to handle November I think.

We can choose to remember with bitterness or with thanks, but I’ve noticed that if we fail to re-cap the memories of the goodness of God and thank him, those strengthening moments eventually are lost to us under piles of bitterness and complaints. Without re-calling the good times we project disappointment for ourselves and others. Some elderly people in the November of their lives are a delight to visit; some are not. The ones who remember the good times and are appreciative give away a sense of hope. The ones who rehearse their disappointment give away a sense of impending doom.

I’ve been realizing how much negativity has robbed me not only of my past, but of my future. I need to change. I can compare my life to those who seem to have been granted hearts and flowers from birth and focus on my dead leaves, or I can recall memories of God’s faithfulness — even in those leaves, and glory in their colour, saying, “Thank you, Lord! You are good, and You have a wonderful plan for my life.”

And mean it.

Ascent

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Photography, Water4 Comments

IMG_6654 Camore river

I managed a visit to my father before the snow fell. This is a couple of blocks from his place.

 

IMG_6647 Bow river Canmore

Dad was a prairie boy, but he was always in love with the mountains.

 

 

IMG_6622 canmore bow river ch

Our house in Calgary was built on a hill facing the Rockies on the horizon and every clear morning he would stand by the window checking out the view.

IMG_6665 bow river branch canmore

Every Saturday or holiday we could get away we drove the hour or so to Canmore, or Kananaskis, or Banff, not to ski or climb or golf or canoe, but to walk along the trails or sit under the trees and breathe.

Dad’s memories are fading, but now he lives beside the river he loved. He doesn’t work anymore or write anymore, and it’s hard for him to tell even one of his thousands of stories. He’s not even sure of who the people are who come to visit him. Life has been distilled to its essence. He looks to the mountains and breathes and he is thankful.

 

“The moment we become grateful, we actually begin to ascend spiritually into the presence of God. The psalmist wrote,
‘Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. . . . Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.’ (Psalm 100:2, 4-5).”
-Francis Frangipane

Listen Carefully

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography, Trees and forests, Water2 Comments

IMG_7173 coleman creek ch

Monday afternoon, Thanksgiving Day, 2014. A stream in the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta.

Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.
– George Washington Carver

Thanksgiving Joy

On By Charis PsalloIn Animals, Trees and forests, Water2 Comments

 

 

IMG_5749 idlewild bridge oct ch

There is always, always something to be thankful for.

This weekend is the time Canadians make an effort to be thankful together.

When we go beyond mutual disgruntlements, push past disappointment, drown out the voice of despair with the song of hope – then we find the gold.

It’s right there. You’re surrounded by it. You’re soaking in it. Can you see it?

IMG_5777 ducks golden pond

 

Thank You.

Thank You, Lord.

Thank You.

Every Cloud’s a Flag

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography, SkyLeave a comment

IMG_5059 sunset red streaks

I’m thanking you, God, out in the streets,
singing your praises in town and country.
The deeper your love,
the higher it goes;
every cloud’s a flag to your faithfulness.
Soar high in the skies, O God!
Cover the whole earth with your glory!
(Psalm 108 The Message)

For Every Drop Of Rain that Falls

On By Charis PsalloIn Water1 Comment

IMG_1867 raindrop 2 ch

It’s fire season in the mountains, and we have been in a prolonged heat wave. Yesterday, as I was walking in the woods I felt a drop of rain on my head. Rain!

I am learning that thankfulness attracts God’s favour.

Soon the forest leaves dripped with beautiful rain.

For every drop of kindness, I thank you, Lord.

Let my teaching fall on you like raindrops;
let what I say collect like the dew,
Like rain sprinkling the grass,
like showers on the green plants.
I will proclaim the name of the Eternal;
I will utter greatness to our God.
(Deut 32:2,3)

Willow

On By Charis PsalloIn Art, Trees and forests2 Comments

willow birdhouse watercolour

The place where my family vacationed when I was a child is the place where I now live. I remember being amazed by the mountains and tall fir and pine tress with their wonderful scent, but I had seen those before. This is the first place where I remember seeing a weeping willow tree. They don’t grow on the prairies in Canada.

One hot July day, many years ago, while Mom fried potatoes and bacon on the little green Coleman camp stove, and Dad set up the tent, I cooled my feet in the brook that runs through the campground in the center of town. I watched the breeze play with the long trailing branches of the willow trees. They dripped down to the earth like luxuriant overflowing green fountains. On a hot day their shade was satisfying to my soul. I remember declaring out loud, “Someday I am going to live here.”

And now I do.

And I still love weeping willow trees. They remind me of the goodness of God.

 

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
They will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the watercourses.

(Isaiah 44:3,4)

Oh, Canada!

On By Charis PsalloIn PhotographyLeave a comment

IMG_3914

What can I say? I am just so utterly grateful that I was born here. I thank my grandparents who broke with everything in the old country to break the soil in a new country. I thank my other great great great… grandparents for enduring criticism and threats to become Loyalists. I thank God for such beauty in this place.

Happy Birthday, Canada!

Continue reading “Oh, Canada!” →

Outside the fence

On By Charis PsalloIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Facts: It’s -20, still snowing and I spent yet another night exercising my abs with a cough that refuses to submit to mind-fogging cough suppressants.
Reality: Spring is coming and poppies will bloom again. God is good and I choose to remember His benefits by re-blogging a photo of these glorious flowers.

Charis Psallo's avatarCharis: Subject to Change

Poppies in the Back Alley Poppies in the Back Alley

photo: Poppies growing behind the fence

Sometimes the organizations we form to celebrate connections end up separating us.

I realized this in the first grade, the day our friend Diana showed up at school after lunch with her short pixie cut hair full of bobby pins trying desperately to hold tiny braids together. It looked ridiculous. Earlier that day four or five of us were walking arm in arm in arm as little girls do, in a kind of six year-old chorus line. We were members of the French braid club. We had all worn braids that day and formed a band of sisters on that basis. I hadn’t noticed until Diana returned from lunch, that our basis for commonality excluded a sweet girl we all loved.

I think denominations are like that. At first we are excited about finding we share common beliefs with…

View original post 125 more words