Life beckons us as a flicker. A tendril. A corner of darkness. A bell. A spark of the soul. And curiosity propels us to follow.
ROSE ZONETTI
That is how most of my writing begins. Something is dropped into my consciousness and I set out to follow the path it creates, to discover what is being said.
At Last!!
Finally have notice that the printing has begun!! So excited and humbled and grateful to God and Richelle, the Editor at Crown Publishing!
The book should be available this week through Amazon. I am somewhat amazed. Tired, too.
I will update the post as soon as I know how you can gain access to it.
So all you need to do is go to Amazon and type in Molly Dutina and the title Treasures in Plain Sight should come up! Or use this link to the page …. Treasures in Plain Sight: Growing Closer to Jesus in Prayer https://a.co/d/aYPZnXj
There is print edition as well as a Kindle version for $9.99. The photo show it as less because in my personal Amazon account I have shipping credits right now. Though the book lists for $12.00, please know I earn less than half of that. Any profit will be used for the next book or other Kingdom work.
Thank you for your prayers and support through this process!
This morning pieces of this hymn were rolling about in my brain. I could not catch the title. I finally sat down to breakfast with a hymnal and began paging through it, trying to find the song. I suppose the Lord felt badly for me as eventually a phrase popped up. I put it into Duck Duck Go and the title came up. The hymnal I was looking in did not even have this song!! Grace and mercy, loving kindness extended to this old woman.
The lyrics here are slightly different than the hymnal I have. Text by Walter Chalmers Smith and traditional Welsh Hymn melody.
To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 1:17 RSVUE
The opening photo reminds me of “Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above, Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.”
Recently Bob ordered a book on the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux. He shared some of his favorite parts with me.
How great is the power of Prayer! One could call it a Queen who has at each instant free access to the King and who is able to obtain whatever she asks. To be heard it is not necessary to read from a book some beautiful formula composed for the occasion. If this were the case, alas, I would have to be pitied!
Interesting that she saw prayer as the Queen with instant free access to the King. I am uncertain that I agree with her idea that prayer is able to obtain anything she asks. I believe the answers can be: yes, maybe, no, or we will see about that.
Her idea of prayer as a Queen should hold each of us captive as we make our requests known to God.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
I have been working with a professional editor on a book about prayer as a means of growing closer to Jesus. She was traveling for a couple weeks. I got an email that she is back in the area. Yikes! More work to be done – always!!
I worked really hard from January through May with my friend Dana to get the book of poems ready for printing. Then we printed it, bound it and I have been giving out some paper copies and sending out electronic digital copies.
Now I am applying myself to this book about prayer which will be published through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. A first for me. I wonder if I should have done the poetry that way as a few folks are asking for print copies? It just cost too much and took too much time to make the copies we did print.
My posting might be spotty the next couple weeks. I only have so much energy to go around. My grandson is learning to crochet with lessons from me. The crochet group in Union Township would like me to attend more than bi-weekly. I am also a homemaker, wife, etc. Learning a new sewing machine. Trying to help one grandgirl with her sewing.
I occasionally run into the brick wall that tells me there is too much energy going out. I need one of those meters that tells me what level my energy is at. Throw in the chronic pain, the sinuses raging this spring, I can wind up a mess if I am not careful.
So here is a warning that I might not be posting five times a week for the next few weeks. Plus, we are going to be traveling to New Mexico to see our dear friends the Cookseys. I do not usually focus well while traveling. The airport brain fog seems to initiate a brain state unlike the home brain state. You likely understand what I am saying.
Please pray as I continue to work on this book about prayer. The enemy of our souls does not like anything that threatens his assumed authority. Our King has power over us lives. I trust the Risen King to keep me, but I also need all the help I can get!
If you are interested in having a digital coy of the poems I will need your email address.
It recently came to mind as spring leaf sprouts became true leaves. God is near at all times. The Almighty goes to incredible lengths to abide near us! David danced before God. Miriam danced before God. How about you?
Neighbors leave their porch lights on Every night of the year The maple leaves are finally large enough To cast shadows on the window shade
The spring wind blowing all night Showed fancy patterns at my side Each time I awoke the dance steps Lulled me back to sleep
Mystery of nature Here again you comfort me If I observe or not the dance continues Were the moves a fox trot or rumba
Another night the breeze Was gentle as a caress The dance was more like box step Slow waltz of lovers unaware of other dancers
One night the storms rolled through Tearing leaves from tender shoots The yard was littered next morning Debris of tango or jitterbug
LORD, let not our souls be busy inns that have no room for You or yours, but quiet homes of prayer and praise, where You may find fit company where the needful cares of life are wisely ordered and put away, and wide, sweet spaces kept for you; where holy thoughts pass up and down and fervent longings watch and wait your coming. - Julian of Norwich
Can you tell I am confused? My editor for the book about prayer has instructed me that it is not proper to capitalize the pronouns that refer to God. Oh golly. I have capitalized those pronouns for years as a sign of respect. So if you look back on the re-written prayer you can see my now inconsistent writing. Below is the Old English copy of the prayer. Which do you prefer?
Lord, let not our souls be busy inns that have no room for thee or thine, But quiet homes of prayer and praise, where thou mayest find fit company, Where the needful cares of life are wisely ordered and put away, And wide, sweet spaces kept for thee; where holy thoughts pass up and down And fervent longings watch and wait thy coming.
Julian was born in 1343 so obviously we have no photos of her!
My mind was racing and I was sleepless. I asked the Lord to help me through it and these verses came to me. I looked them up using key words or phrases on the iPad mini, saved them to the i Cloud Notes and was able to get back to sleep after reading a few pages on the novel I had been reading earlier. I thought the verses might be a good reminder to some of you, so here goes. The trouble starts when I think I need to have the answers to the questions that trouble me.
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Rev 7:11-12
Ponder that for a moment. Angels around the throne, around the elders, and the four living creatures – I wonder how many angels it takes to surround that great company of beings? And the words they sing! BLESSING and GLORY and WISDOM and THANKSGIVING and HONOR and POWER and MIGHT be to our GOD. I do not think we can declare this too many times! I need not fret. Wisdom belongs to God first.
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you. Psalm 32:8-9
Do these sound familiar? Yes, I have posted these before, but I need to be reminded of them often. I am learning to trust that the Lord will instruct me, teach me, and counsel me. That also means the Lord thinks of me as instruct-able, teachable, and able to receive counsel. He has great faith in me. Do we have great faith in the Almighty One?
And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21
Have I waited? Have I listened? Am I willing to follow the instruction I am given?
Years ago, when I was first beginning to tell relatives that I was writing Peggy, the wife of my Cousin Art, told me these verses. I was reminded in the night.
2 Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. 3 For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. 4 Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faithfulness. Habakkuk 2:2-4
So when it comes time to give away the printed copies of the poetry, I am trusting that those who do not get a printed copy will be able to use the electronic copy I can send to any email address. As long as they open it in Microsoft Word, it should appear just like the printed copy. The tablets of Habakkuk have taken on a new form!
And this picture also popped up that night seemingly out of no where.
Veteran in a New Field by Winslow Homer
The image shows a man cutting the harvest. One of the first art images the Lord used to speak to me was by Vincent van Gogh, entitled the Sower. There was more than one of these paintings. Here is the first I knew about.
From the sower to the harvest. Wow. Such blessings for us all.
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work: who lives and reign with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, on God, now and forever. Amen. BCP
There used to be a painting/print that hung on the wall in the Guest dining room at the Convent of the Transfiguration. It was a depiction of the meal Jesus shared with disciples after the walk to Emmaus. It was a simple depiction that I cannot find online. The portrait was like an icon to me. It has been replaced and put in storage somewhere. No one at the Convent knows exactly where it is.
I have scoured hundreds of online images trying to find a copy of that painting. I would buy it in a heartbeat if I could find it!
This past weekend the Associates retreat was lead by Father David Pfaff, Rector at Christ Church, Glendale. His topic was the icons written after the crucifixion through the Ascension. Yes, the Walk to Emmaus was also featured. He pointed out in the icons he had chosen that one of the people on the walk was a woman. Cleopas is named in verse 18 but the other disciple is not named. In the image he chose that disciple is depicted as a woman, unlike the pictures below. (See opening picture)
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:13-35 NIV
At first glance it would seem this retreat topic was stuffy and not contemporary. That is a mistaken idea! The icons are ‘drawn’ as an aide in prayer. They lead us to the Holy God. The images attempt to help us envision what the truth is about how God comes to humankind. How we can interact with the Almighty.
Each of the four talks brought me to a place of stillness and enlightenment. There is so much more to discover about our God. Lord, help our hearts burn within us as You speak with us.
Never stop looking for those treasures in plain sight, even if it requires you go to a religious bookstore or, as one man mentioned, shopping on Etsy for an icon! Yep! I tried there for that painting. No such luck!
Ben Palpant in his book Letters From the Mountain quotes Rainer Maria Rilke from the book Letters to a Young Poet saying,
Things aren’t all so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us believe; most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered, and more unsayable than all other things are works of art, those mysterious existences, whose life endures beside our own small, transitory life.
In a recent group Bible study at church the term ineffable came up. God is often considered ineffable. The word means too great or intense to be expressed in words, unutterable. Too sacred to be uttered. Indescribable; indefinable.
My life challenge has been for me to try to put into words my relationship with the Almighty. My goal is to speak about and express the unsayable, the things not readily spoken or expressed in regards to my faith. Oh Lord, I can only do this with Your help!
I agree with Rilke that “most experiences are unsayable.” So how does this happen to be my calling? My first response is, “Truly, I do not know!” Maybe something was handed down in the genes from Grandpa Snapp the Preacher or Grandma Snapp the teacher at God’s Bible School? I just know that from an early age I wanted to write about God. I have papers from 1966 and a few years prior to that when I started to want words around my experiences.
“Most experiences are unsayable,” wrote Rilke. My friend, Dana, is about to print my book of poems with over 100 selections. Perhaps someone will discover this God I adore through reading these poems? I pray the efforts to express my love and relationship with God will pull others into the space where words rarely enter. The space of mysterious existence. Christ in me, Christ in us, the hope of Glory.
25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:25-27 NIV
Some days I wonder do my dreams and worries inform my first thoughts upon waking up or is it all under control of the Holy Spirit?
For a few days I have recurrent thoughts about the cardiac surgery they say I will need sooner rather than later. Part of me wonders what if I do not have the surgery? All of that runs underneath the day to day thoughts.
My daughter’s mother-in-law died yesterday. Evidently she was sitting on the side of her bed, getting dressed. It appears she had a stroke? She fell backwards and just lay down on the bed. She was a catholic woman who lost her husband and her mother. While hospitalized a few years ago she was tested and doctors decided she had lost some of her executive reasoning abilities. She had to move into a retirement community. She did not like it very much, but there were so many things she did not like very much! May she rest in peace.
My husband, Bob, had recently taken her to Frisch’s for lunch, always her first choice. She had just seen her family for a celebration Easter weekend.
What does all this have to do with me? Margie was ten years older than I am. My death became a poignant fact with the aneurysm diagnosis last January. No one know when the Lord will call us home. Only God knows the day and the hour.
This morning when I awoke some of the lines from this song were rolling through my brain. Took me a while to wake up and capture it. This is a Catholic hymn based on several Scriptures. I chose to share this version because it provides the lyrics.
I have listened to the song several times this morning. I would be lying if I said that took care of any disquiet I have from the aneurysm I carry with me. NOT. The next scan will be a CT scan in August to determine if the thing has grown. Cardiologist will determine when to refer me to cardiac surgeon. Until then, as I do daily, I must trust in the Lord and walk in obedience to all I am asked to do for the Holy Trinity.
Bob jokes around about cremation which we both have chosen instead of burial. The funeral home down the street has been busy for the last year building a huge garage looking thing on the adjoining lot which they purchased. I called them this morning and yes, indeed, it is going to be a crematorium. The dictionary is so uncouth.
Crematorium: A furnace or establishment for the incineration of corpses.
He cracks a joke every single time we drive past, which is practically daily! I wonder if he thinks the same things while he is alone in the car? I told him he needs to stop or I will have weird flashbacks if he dies first. Yep, at our age these discussions occur with some regularity!
I chose cremation because I do not want any chance that I will get this body back in the afterlife. God knows the wishes of my soul. I told the funeral director I want the box the casket comes in, not some expensive casket.
I write all this as my daughter and her family go to the funeral home today to make arrangements. I have no idea if Margie had pre-planned her funeral. I hope so. No one wants to make all of those decisions while grappling with grief. Again, may she rest in peace.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 