May 31, 2020

PENTECOST  2020

Gone Holy Spirit ….

It seems like the in and out

of breath has left our lungs –

and we are speechless –

has fled our sails –and

we are stuck on this side

of the lake – has  been locked

and hidden in our upper rooms –

with plywood panels boarding

up our windows ….

Come Holy Spirit ….

Wind - Holy Breath of God –

Fresh Air – wherever you are -

breathe into us – Genesis us –

RUAH  us – rush into us -

fill us - so that  we

can shout out new words ….

Fill our sails so we can head

for new shores  …. Open our windows

so we can look out at blue skies beyond us.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

May  31,  2020

Thought  for  Today

“I  got  the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade.  It’s amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor.”

D.H. Lawrence

May 30, 2020

WANTING  SIGNS

“Okay”, said God, "here are a few….”

A really fast dog….

A kid gets a kite flying on a windy day ….

Leaves with resting rain water drops ….

The scent of raisin cinnamon toast ….

A magnolia tree in May ….

Three little girls playing jump rope ….

A kid moving from the high chair to the main table ….

Big sucker  chocolate chip cookies ….

Putting in the last piece of a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle ….

An old man with a cane getting to the top step ….

Bowling for the first time and getting a strike ….

Watching a camp fire with the family – 9 at night …. 

Riding in a red convertible – open top ….

Seeing the ocean for the first time ….

Taps at the grave – at a military funeral ….

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

May  30,  2020

Thought   for   Today

“Some  days you tame the tiger.  And   some  days  the tiger has  you for lunch.” 

Tug McGraw

May  29,   2020

STEP  BACK

Sometimes we forget 

that we can step back – 

especially when we 

are not that sure we 

really want to step up 

or speak out when asked. 

We don’t have to vote 

or make a comment –  

or give an answer.  We  

can step back and simply 

be silent - sitting all alone 

- on the three back steps 

in the back of the house -
and calmly figure things out.  

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2020

May  29,   2020

Thought   for  Today

“Be like the bird that, passing on her flight  on branches too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings,  knowing that she has wings.”

Victor Hugo

May   28,  2020

Thought   for   Today

THE LEGEND OF THE  DEAD  DOG 

There was a crowd of people around a dead dog in a village in Galilee.

One said,  “Look at his ragged ears; he was a fighter.”

Another said, “Look at the bit of rope around his neck, he was a runaway.”

Another said, “Look! How dirty he is!”

Then from the edge of the crowd there came a voice, “Pearls are not whiter than his teeth.”

The crowd turned round.  “This” others  said, “must be Jesus of Nazareth, for only he could find something good to say about a dead dog.”

William Barclay

In Marching On,

pages 219-220

Painting: Dead
Stray Dog, 
Museum Boijmans
Van Beunigen