Category: Nature

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Faith, Just do it, Memories, Nature, Thanks, Traveling, Yield

Too cold. Too hot.

Awoke with ceiling fan and floor fan on full blast. Legs and feet frozen. Temperature outside 62.

Same morning worked in yard and along entrance sidewalk for about 1-1/2 hours. Drenched. Every. Single. Stitch. I was wearing. August in Ohio. Was 76 degrees and humid when I came indoors. Bob says my thermostat is broken.

Here is my new favorite perennial.

Hibiscus or Mallow Shrub

Yes, they are like day lilies in that they drop their flowers every day, but what a delight!

This rabbit is certain if he sits tall and still I either will not see him or think he is a wrought iron statue. (two slots left of Mallow.) Then he turned and ate a pyracantha leaf. No wonder that shrub does not flourish!!

Yes, I know, not the best focus. So far he has not eaten the mallow shrub to the left!

This what I got from an entire package of nasturtium seeds. Lousy ground and lousy year for gardening! Perhaps the wood chips are to blame as I now hear they make terrible mulch for growing things. Ugh!

Yes, the leaves are supposed to be mottled.

Perhaps it is because we did not sow seeds until after May 19th when we returned from Maui? So sad the happenings in Maui. Each time we watch the news we are just stunned. Those poor people. Most of them got out with their lives, but now not only the clean up but questioning if it will be safe to live there with all the chemicals in the soil. Land grabbers trying to buy up the land. The spiritual center of Maui in ruins. Lord may those who lost their lives rest in peace. May those who are still missing loved ones have Your comfort. They say identification may take months or years as in most cases the pathologists are working with dust.

The opening photo was our dinner in Lahaina at Kimo’s restaurant. Totally gone now.

Online photo. Now I wish we had taken more photos of the street!

Scanning videos and photos on line, trying to decide what best to show you. This one photo certainly sums it up. Front street as it is now. And then I find myself overwhelmed with grief for the people there.

Never mind. I have nothing to complain about. We have been told the Red Cross is the best place to give donations. One of the airlines that I had accumulated miles on asked if I wanted to donate the miles to the cause. I responded absolutely! My friend who ministers in Nepal said this Hope Force International is also quite reputable. 

https://hopeforceinternational.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general-donation-form

Whatever you do , try to give to something to the rebuilding of Lahaina. Such terrible loss.

LORD, uplift and sustain the people of Lahaina and those who love her. Send the comfort of Your Spirit to them. Show each of the readers how to best support them in their losses. May Your will be done in our hearts and in our giving.

Posted on in Aging, Book quotes, Challenge, Collection of Quotes, Faith, Listen, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Worship, Yield

Verb?

Multiple times I have run across this idea that God is not a noun. God is a verb. Of course, I did not note the places where I first began to hear this. Trying to resource it on-line led to several authors. These are by no means exhaustive!

Perhaps the most commented upon is a book by Rabbi David A. Cooper entitled “God is a Verb.” He bases his book upon studies of the Kabbalah, a branch of mystical Judaism. He writes about God as a verb and our ‘co-partnering in God-ing.’

And as Jason Derr at Huffington Post writes,

God is not a force who acts on the world through coercion, violence or the suspension of physics and free will. God is a verb, an action we bring to the world to make love, justice, mercy, joy and goodness known.

Jason Derr, contributor at Huffington Post

This quote challenges the conventional understanding of God as a fixed entity or concept, suggesting that God should be perceived as an active and dynamic force or presence in the world.

https://www.rarequote.com/god-is-a-verb-not-a-noun-r-buckminster-fuller

When I was re-reading my notes from The Shack I was only mildly surprised to find this one from Page 204!

My very essence is a verb. I am more attuned to verbs than nouns. Verbs such as confessing, repenting, living, loving, responding, growing, reaping, changing, sowing, running, dancing, singing, and on and on. Humans, on the other hand, have a knack for taking a verb that is alive and full of grace and turning it into a dead noun or principle that reeks of rules: something growing and alive dies. Nouns exist because there is a created universe and physical reality, but if the universe is only a mass of nouns, it is dead. Unless ‘I am,’ there are no verbs, and verbs are what makes the universe alive.”

The Shack by William P. Young

Certainly this gives us each food for thought. I will likely never be able to not personalize my relationship with God. Call it anthropomorphism if you want. Just how I was raised and at 72 years old likely too late to undo the thinking. But all of this does make me think hard about the idea. How about you?

There was a statement not long ago saying, “Your God is too small.” Yes! What if our concept of God is not BIG enough? A creation that continues to expand, unfold? I am not certain about any of the arguments for or against this. I do know that the LORD shows me things I never knew before. I want to interact with the participating presence of the Holy One in whatever way I am asked to interact. Will you yield to that?

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Humor, Nature, Thanks

Bathtub Joke

Do you remember the childhood joke about the bathtub? “How do you know there is an elephant in your bathtub?” Answer, “You can smell the peanuts on his breath.”

On a recent trip to Rocky Fork Lake, Bob caught this shot of a heron wading in the bathtub of the Canada Geese.

How do you know there is a heron in your bathtub? The long legs and no splashing.

photo by r m dutina

Some things just make me laugh out loud!! Heron likely just wanted lunch. Maybe she was hoping the geese would stir up the fish?

We will never know for certain!!

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

Genesis 1:20-23 NIV

And He knew there would be a woman in Ohio in 2023 who would laugh!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

Like Breath of God

Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash

Thus am I, a feather on the breath of God.

Hildegard of Bingen

I heard this quote many years ago at a retreat. I was so inspired I actually collected feathers and made some note cards with the quote.

What does it mean? The breath of God is a powerful thing. Can you be as moveable as a loose feather? Can you be willing to go where He asks you to go?

This quote is from a blog, written by Jean Wise, (interesting name!) She was so succinct that I cannot improve on her writing!

God calls each of us to be His feather – responding to where He calls us. To be responsive to His nudges. To be open to His grace.

 I want to live as a feather. Not burdened down with the heavy concerns of my heart, but focused, surrendered, dependent entirely on God for every moment. Ah, to be a feather. What a lovely image this is.

https://healthyspirituality.org/a-feather-on-the-breath-of-god-hildegard/
Photo by Hari Singh Tanwar on Unsplash


I pray a gentle breath from God is all it takes to move me. I hope I can be a feather under His direction, doing His bidding.

Posted on in Memories, Nature, Traveling

Kauila and The Sea Turtles of Punalu’u

I have been wanting to look up this story and share it with since we returned from Hawaii. This is located at the black sand beach on the big island of Hawaii.

The mystical turtle, Kauila, makes her home in the Ka’ū district at Punalu’u Bay according to Hawaiian Mythology, Kauila was empowered with the ability to turn herself from a turtle into human form and would play with the children along the shoreline and keep watch over them. The people of Ka’ū loved Kauila as the guardian of their children and also for her spring that gave them pure drinking water.

Information from http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/hi?Parks.punal

The presence of Kauila can still be felt today by the sea turtles that inhabit this special place. The Hawaiian Honu (Green Sea Turtle) can be regularly seen in the bay feeding on limu (a type of seaweed) growing in the shallows. In addition the Honu’ea (Hawksbill Turtle) sometimes enters the bay at night to crawl ashore and deposit eggs in the black sand. Both species of sea turtles are fully protected under the U.S. endangered species act and wildlife laws of the State of Hawai’i. Enjoy watching these marvelous creatures but do not touch or disturb them

The above words can be found at Punalu’u Beach Park, inscribed on a borne plaque along with the beautiful image of a child sleeping on the back of a sea turtle.

Punalu’u Beach Park, in the district of Ka’ū, is a delightful stop, just moments off highway 11 between the towns of Nā’ālehu and Pāhala. The county park is open 24 hours a day and there is no park fee.

The word Punalu’u means diving (lu’u) spring (puna) and comes from the tradition of diving to the bottom of the bay with upside down containers and filling them with the fresh spring water seeping from the bay floor.

Here is the plaque below the memorial. Salt air does tears things up!

Now you know why the quotes are from on line information!
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Nature, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Worship

Randy Alcorn and Zoon

While writing the post about White tailed deer I came across this post and enjoyed reading parts of it. There is some fantastic art work full of imagination, none of which I chose to post. So with full credit to Randy Alcorn I bring you portions and the link.

Throughout Scripture we read that animals praise God. I don’t know exactly how animals praise God, but our inability to understand it shouldn’t keep us from believing it.

Consider the psalms. Psalm 148 commands all of creation to praise the Lord, including the animals: “Wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens” (vv. 10-13). If in some sense fallen animals, shadows of what they once were, can praise God on this fallen Earth, how much more should we expect them to do so on the New Earth? “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6). Since animals are said to have breath, they are included among those directed to praise God.

Passages in Revelation also indicate that the animals will praise their creator: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'” (Revelation 5:13). What are these “creatures” said to do? To sing praises to God in worship. If “every creature in heaven and on earth” includes animals, then animals praise God.

https://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Jan/18/are-animals-capable-praising-god/

I sometimes read “every creature” to mean human, but no, it means every creature, Molly! in heaven, on earth, under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them.”

The most striking example of animals praising God in Heaven is often overlooked because of word selection in our Bible translations. We’re told eight times in Revelation of “living creatures” in the intermediate Heaven: “Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’… The living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne” (Revelation 4:8-9).

The word translated “living creatures” is zoon. Throughout most of the New Testament the word is translated “animal” and is used to indicate animals sacrificed in the temple and wild, irrational animals (Hebrews 13:11; 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10). In the Old Testament, the Septuagint used zoon to translate the Hebrew words for animals, including the “living creatures” of the sea (Genesis 1:21; Ezekiel 47:9). In extra-biblical writings, zoon commonly referred to ordinary animals and was used of the Egyptians’ divine animals and the mythological bird called the Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2-3 1 Clement 25:2-3 ). In virtually every case inside and outside of Scripture, this word means not a person, not an angel, but an animal. The King James version translates zoon “beasts” in Revelation, but the negative connotations of that word led subsequent translators to settle on “living creatures.” The most natural translation would be simply “animals.” That word would likely have been chosen by translators if it didn’t sound so strange for readers to envision talking animals praising God around his throne!

https://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Jan/18/are-animals-capable-praising-god/

I love it! I just love this sort of Bible study where I learn something I never knew before. I was taught and believed that the ‘living creatures’ around the throne ‘look like a lion, ox, a man, and an eagle’ but Alcorn purports that they are more than just what they look like. They are animals. Now that gives us something to ponder!

“Talking animals praising God around his throne!” Sweet. In the Episcopal church years ago we had a casual Sunday evening service and we were so few in number that we would circle the altar table for communion. The information from Alcorn’s teaching and that Sunday evening experience let me envision praising God with talking animals in an intimate circle of communion.

Yes, the creatures described by Ezekiel come to mind, but as one commentary notes, “The description in the vision cannot be taken too literally, for the prophet constantly reminds his readers that the images used to describe the vision only approximate what he actually saw. The visionary combination of vague, evocative images with concrete but fantastic objects helps the prophet to describe the divine reality that he saw but that cannot ultimately be described.” Harper’s Study Bible

I praise God saying whatever the Zoon are, bring them on LORD. Come quickly I pray! Let’s get Your victory party started!!

Somehow we have failed to grasp that the “living creatures” who cry out “Holy, holy, holy,” are animals—living, breathing, intelligent and articulate animals who dwell in God’s presence, worshiping and praising him. They are greater than the animals we know, and they preexisted the animals we know. Perhaps they’re the prototype creatures of Heaven after whom God designed Earth’s animals. But even though they’re highly intelligent and expressive, they’re still animals; that’s what Scripture calls them.

Randy Alcorn
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Beagle, Challenge, Faith, Nature, Thanks

White Tailed Deer and Other Critters

Monday afternoon before I could grab my camera out of the corner of my eye I saw a large doe walking down our street with 2 fawns behind her. The fawns were larger than I usually see, but still had their spots. In one sense the sight was breath taking, in another scary.

If you are a regular reader you might remember I posted a week or so ago how deer came in the night and mowed down (ate) sunflower heads and roses and neighbors rare day lilies and all manner of garden flowers. I hoped this doe was not ‘casing the joint’ for tasty flowers. Last evening I went out and sprinkled repellent pellets on the flowers. They were all intact this morning. One neighbor feeds the deer on a platform feeder in her front yard. Not many of us are happy with her about that.

This one in our backyard, but you get the idea.

Deer trotting down the street in afternoon sunlight.

There are times I take Lucky out for her evening walk and the air is rank with the smell of skunk (which some peculiar people like m husband think smells good). There have been a few times when we have the bedroom windows open at night and I can smell skunk. My next door neighbor has a driveway camera. She told me the skunk is a little one but he travels all of the yards in the dark. We know from camping that you can smell skunk without them spraying. Like Pepé Le Pew they just radiate that stench! Please Lucky, do not get sprayed by that thing! That is one of my concerns when Lucky gets out and takes off.

Skunks roaming our property at night.

Did I mention the rabbits? The web says that cottontails only get about 2-3 pounds and 15-18-3/4 inches long. The ones in Sherry’s yard look huge. Like as big as large cats get! These things can move or just sit so perfectly still that unless they twitch an ear you might not see them. They are out grazing morning and evening. I wonder what their burrows are like. Instead of a drone I would love to get a tiny camera in their nest to watch what goes on. Maybe I can attach a GoPro to one and get the hopping action? A few visit the garden and likely eat the plants. One more reason not to try to garden next year. Otherwise the rabbits are lovely and peaceful.

Lucky has occasionally found toads or frogs along the sidewalk as we walk in the evening. I am guessing the drought conditions this spring led to the death of many tiny frogs. Lucky finds them dead along the edge of the grass or occasionally on the sidewalk. Like Grogu, Baby Yoda, she would like to eat them. She never forgets where she has found them either! I am kept on my toes trying to remember so I can warn her to “Drop it!” or “Leave it!” One day someone left a large dead crayfish on the edge of their driveway. That she did not like! Jumped in the air and backed up in fear.

Maybe the death of the baby frogs explains the huge population of crickets?

A few neighbors have seen snakes. I am afraid of snakes. A very primal, visceral fear that brooks no explanation. I know they eat mice and other things. Perhaps one would like to consume the chipmunk that taken up residence under the deck, runs tunnels through the gardens,etc? I just do not want to come upon it catching, eating or digesting! Or even resting.

We live in suburban Amelia, Ohio yet the wildlife are right here with us. Deer, skunks, frogs or toads, snakes, oh my! All manner of things reside here and we are in their midst. I have not seen a single coyote recently? No explanation for that. I hope the Canada geese stay gone. The sidewalk around the retention pond is much neater without their droppings. Only a few rabbit pellets lately.

Treasures in Plain Sight! What have you seen in your neighborhood recently? I praise Him for all of creation.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Challenge, Faith, Humor, Just do it, Listen, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Traveling, Yield

Hawaiian Chickens

and roosters, and chicks. They are every place you go. I even stopped at a grocery store Starbucks. When I came out the people on the porch sipping their beverages were amazed at the hen and chicks that were passing through looking for bakery crumbs.

We stopped at one overlook to take some photos. There at our feet was a rooster. Bob captured this portrait.

Chickens have been on the islands for decades. Storms caused many of their coops to be destroyed. After their escape they have found life on the islands rather easy. There are no natural predators in residence! Talk about free range chickens!

We even walked the jungle trail to Honolua Bay on Maui where the snorkeling is said to be tremendous. Guess what?

You can easily see 7 chickens here! There were many more around our feet!

I often wondered if I caught a chicken and took it to a restaurant would they kill, clean and cook it for me for lunch? Does any one harvest the eggs?

Some of our neighbors here in Ohio keep chickens. The crowing of the rooster always makes me smile. The by-laws of our subdivision prohibits the keeping of chickens on our property. I wonder how these residents would view free range chickens!

I wonder if Jesus told every church leader in the greater Cincinnati area that Christians were to keep chickens, how that would go over? His words in the New Testament are

 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”

Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34

Jesus longs to gather us to Himself. Just as in Isaiah 30:15 there is that haunting phrase, “But you would not.” Are you resistant to Jesus’ call to come to Him?

All four Gospels refer to the crowing of the rooster when Jesus is speaking to Peter about denying Him. Can you imagine how Peter felt when He heard that crowing?

So the next time you hear a rooster I want you to ask yourself if that is Jesus calling you to His side like the hen gathers her chicks or is it a reminder that each of us has the propensity to deny knowing the Lord Jesus? Either way I urge you to be willing to go to His side. He will lead you in paths of righteousness. Do not be a free range chicken. We, unlike the chickens in Hawaii, do have an evil predator seeking to destroy us and our faith.

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Faith, Family, Memories, Nature, Thanks, Traveling

The Place in Hawaii Where I Cried

Most of my life my mother worked at a florist in Norwood, Ohio called Dorl & Fern. I met Mr. Dorl a few times. For years my mother told my sister and I how much she wanted to visit the Hawaiian islands in order to see the flowers. (Also, her only sister lived there.) Many times the arrangement designers in the shop would use flowers shipped from Hawaii. She was delighted with those arrangements. She especially like the idea of orchids growing along tree trunks. There was much delight as she worked with the local California florist to design my wedding bouquet. Sadly, she died before she was able to go to Hawaii.

Our wedding 1970

When we were planning our visit to Hawaii (the Big Island) and Maui we told our friends Dan and Betty that we definitely wanted to see the flowers. They directed us to the Botanical Garden just north of Hilo, officially called the Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden.

The folder they gave us when we paid our admission describes the place as “a garden in a valley on the ocean.” The land is ‘held in reserve for future conservation, protecting the beautiful Onomea Bay forever.’

I was not disappointed. The beginning of the trail was a downhill boardwalk among fascinating plants, many of which we had never seen before. We were also entertained by tiny colorful geckos along the way.

Anthurium I have seen in floral shops in Ohio but never in lavender!
Geckos often lose their tail when fighting, but can grow them back!
“Pink Maracas”

Bob and I were amazed later when we compared our photos. Some were duplicates and some were things the other had not noticed. My photos of the orchids were the most abundant of all the photos I took. If you are familiar with house plants you may see some growing in the photos. So here is photo album of my still shots. By the time I would learn to make a video from still shots I could likely write 3 blog entries. Hard to teach old dogs new tricks!

If you paste the link below into your browser you can see slides from the garden posted on the Bioreserve website. Sadly, they do not identify the plants.

https://bigislandguide.com/hawaii-tropical-botanical-garden

And then there were the orchids! You have most likely seen orchids in grocery store floral departments or big box discount stores. They are nothing like these orchids!!

See photo to right
Orchid rooted on tree
What we know as house plant called Peace Lily.
Anthurium rooted on tree truck
Bob’s favorite orchid on tree
I do not know all the names
rooted some place on that tree!
delicate colors
Splatter painted?
Splotched white area unlike below
My thumb is to show you how tiny this one is!
Not identical to white ones above.

Okay, so by then I was weeping. Truly weeping over the beauty my mother missed. Weeping over the beauty of God’s creation and how He arranged for us to have the privilege to see it. I swear at one point it was as if the man who walked away from me in the garden resembled Ted Dorl. I cried because in some way this has been a deep link with my memory of my mother. And now, I had completed it. We sat on a bench while I tried to compose myself. Two women walking past surely looked bewildered by my tears. Bob gladly indulged me while I walked among the orchids again, then I found more plants and started taking photos all over again.

My Christmas tree wish
Look closely!
There she is, tucked away!
At first glance looks like a pansy to me!

You know how people print photos on mugs and phone cases and all sorts of things? I think I want this printed like that!

The flight over the volcano was stunning along with flying over the coast and the waterfalls, but this is my best memory. It was hard for me to leave. It was getting very hot and humid. I was wrung out from the emotional experience. Rarely have I felt so close to my mom since she passed. Our daughter turns 48 this week. That means mom died 48 years and two weeks ago. May she be surrounded by Jesus and flowers in all of heaven!

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
    the world, and those who live in it,
 for he has founded it on the seas
    and established it on the rivers.

Psalm 24:1-2 NRSV
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Art, Challenge, Faith, Journal, Just do it, Listen, Memories, Nature, Special Event, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Thanks, Yield

Nautilus or Ammonite?

I mentioned I would get back to the shell on my soul collage.

“The nautilus and the ammonite are similar organisms. Both are aquatic molluscs with spiral shells. Ammonites, however, have been extinct since the K-T event that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago while the nautilus still roams the seas. There are numerous other differences between the two creatures, most of which are minor.”

https://sciencing.com/differences-between-nautilus-ammonite-8687704.html

Since childhood I have been fascinated by shells. Grandma Rush used to bring them to me from her bus trips to Florida. I likely found some on an eastern seaboard beach with my Dad before age 10. Even the land snails I found along the banks of the stream in Kuhner’s field fascinated me with their shells.

The nautilus creature makes a larger shell as it grows. Then it closes off the old chamber where it lived. Once when we were traveling the east coast we found a nautilus shell that had been cut open in a shop. Bob let me get it. For years it was hanging in my office. It was very fragile and got broken on the edges when not packed soundly for moving. From another vacation I now have a small cut open nautilus in a stained glass piece. In Hot Springs, Arkansas we found an ammonite in a rock shop that had been cut open. Again, Bob said, “Get it!”

Ancient to Arkansas to Ohio
Inner ancient chambers

Why are these special to me? When I was learning about the Center down silence, the nautilus showed me a way to do that. Instead of growing outward, to enter meditation and silence I need to travel from the largest chamber to the smallest, dropping things that hinder my listening to God along the way. Also note, the smaller the chamber, the fewer things it will hold.

During the retreat when I finally was able to come to stillness, a stop, I sensed the Lord saying that I had not been going to that quiet place enough with the Spirit for about 6 weeks or so. That is why I was so tired and drained. It was a gentle enlightenment and I immediately knew the wisdom of the statement. I forgot to drink from the Living Water, daily. I failed to enter the center down silence. Before retreat I was so hungry for silence. No wonder! I had not been there consistently for a long time. Yes I checked off boxes, did devotional readings, even read Scripture and Christian books. But no concentrated peeling away of distracting layers and just listening.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:1,4,6 NIV

How could I skip going to the Living Water God offers me? The Word says the heart is deceitful above all else! I am so easily deluded. Help me, Jesus my Redeemer, to rest in Your holy place daily.

Much more important than showing you the photos is to ask you to try entering that center down silence for yourselves. Even Monica Brown understands! Look at the CD cover of hers I found in my favorite colors!

Will you try this for 21 days? Just listening for that still, small voice. It makes all the difference in the world! Give yourself to listening. Quiet your thoughts and heart. Sit still. Be quiet.

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
    in quietness and trust is your strength,
    but you would have none of it.”

Isaiah 30:15 NIV