Choosing Joy, Chasing Beauty: This Is Our Warfare - The November Beagle
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Choosing Joy, Chasing Beauty: This Is Our Warfare - The November Beagle
What Are Your Renewing Practices? 🕯️
“I do not think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains”
~ Anne Frank
“. . . whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
~ Phil 4:8
Hello dear friends and a warm welcome to everyone new here.
I hope you find this a quiet space, a little pocket of grace which inspires reflection, contemplation and filled with only good things. I so appreciate your time and attention and thank you for spending them with me.
Oh life, it seems there is no let-up in some seasons doesn’t it. In our home, the past month has been one of trips to the vet, work and financial pressures, a deep change to our home rhythms, visitors, relationship dynamics, new University starts, loss of a car, loneliness, colds and flu, helping others, starting book clubs, a broken phone, starting with my first Coaching clients, applying for part time work, dealing with window mould, decluttering, hormone swings . . . can you relate?
In the midst of all these things I’m ever striving to anchor myself and quiet my heart. I want to continue to provide a soft landing place for my beloveds, to be their heart’s quiet home. This can only be achieved by a mindfulness to preserve margin. It is within this margin that I lean into what I call renewing practices; those things which recharge the soul.
I wonder what your margin practices look like? For me they take the form of early morning time pre-work, short walks where I can, a pop to the shops or a quick coffee, a quiet tea time snatched in the afternoon, a soak in the tub of a night, a sneaky read if only a page, a glimpse of poetry, a favourite song, prayer, time with a friend or exchanging messages, making time to bake, a podcast while out and about or doing chores. The important thing is to find what it is that your soul loves and give it more of it. That’s going to look different for everyone.
These touchstones to remaining present help grasp invisible threads of beauty which in turn enable us to weave light in the broken places. If we consistently string enough together we can blanket our little corner of the world in light. I can usually tell when I’m in need of a top up; patience wanes, grace tapers off and humour dries, no one wants to be on the receiving end of that. I think of renewing practices as my way of putting on my oxygen mask first so I can then help others.
It’s so important to listen to what we’re saying to ourselves, how our body is communicating its needs. I think we can only tap into those cues in stillness. We really are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Did you know I link every book, film, recipe etc in the Beagle? Where you see words highlighted, simply click the link.
Still Life
These were part of my 2020 lockdown work as I was exploring and experimenting with the light and framing in an apple crate. I have such fond memories of these months because I was really breaking new ground for myself creatively and doing so quietly, tucked away in my bedroom. These were the days before the Beagle was thought of.
I’ve come to learn that limitation is a gift, that necessity is the mother of invention. I was quite resourceful in those months due to everything being closed. I would forage and repurpose, scour the local Facebook marketplace for doorstep collections of props. My subjects were often scavenged from hedgerow and byway.
Orchard Plums
Autumn Orchard Apples
Listening to
A little November playlist curated for you. I’m still really enjoying my Autumn Rhythms from last month and have added a couple of new tunes. I also have a revamped and re-curated playlist called Falling Asleep in an Armchair.
Reading
I’m about to finish my re-read of The Castle on the Hill. I’ve loved hearing from you as you read along. I’ll post details here next week of our Zoom book club to chat about all things Castle and Elizabeth Goudge.
I’m also close to finishing Falling Upward and have really enjoyed Richard Rohr’s insightful and challenging concepts regarding spirituality. I’ll share my thoughts next month and would love to hear yours.
The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté: Dr Maté has found that the common definition of 'normal' is false: virtually all disease is actually a natural reflection of life in an abnormal culture, as we grow further and further apart from our true selves. But he also shows us the pathway to reconnection and healing. I borrowed this from the library to get a preview of it before committing to buy and it’s now on my ‘to own’ list. Be warned, if you get the hardcover it’s the size of two house bricks!
Artist
Dwelling in His Presence
by Andrea Lebrato, based on Psalm 91
I asked Andrea if she would share with us what the painting meant to her, this is what she sad;
“My desire for this painting was to express how the Lord is present with us when we turn to him in prayer. His Spirit is within us, the Father’s loving arms surround us, what a friend we have in Jesus!
I then remembered Psalm 91 - that whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty - and - He will command His angels concerning us to guard us in all ways if we make the Lord our dwelling.
Read the whole Psalm 91 and see if you find yourself in the painting. I pray it speaks to your heart.”
I've been friends with Andrea and her family for many years, we harken back to Home Ed days when our kids were knee deep in Hama Beads. We’ve started a bit of a tradition where four of us gather for afternoon tea and a catch up each year. It was so lovely to walk into Andrea’s home last month and see this stunning piece she’d been working on. I love seeing women flourish in all their creativity, we are beauty makers!
Andrea embodies the love and service of Jesus. She and her hubby have three children as well as being foster parents to several children over the years. I’m so honoured to know her and be in her world. I’ll be sharing some pictures from our annual teatimes and other beautiful things for my paid subscribers later next week here on Substack.
Towards the end of our afternoon tea, after hours of reconnecting and sharing hearts we sealed our sacred conversations in prayer. I also feel to share some words, actually a hymn, which my husband and I had included in our vows 26 years ago, this was before we knew the Lord. I wanted to share them today as I feel they beautifully encompass the circle of our human experience.
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain, rocky and steep,
Never a river, turbid and deep.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
- God Hath Not Promised, Annie Johnson Flint
Watching
To fuel my need to cosy up in the shorter days, autumn through winter usually finds me turning to comfort reads and viewing. I’m currently rewatching Downton Abbey after having abandoned it many years ago following the unforgivable story line creator Julian Fellowes gave the character of Anna. I was upset with him for along time! I’d genuinely forgotten the moments of shock this show dishes up but I find myself more forgiving and instead delighting in the costumes, scenery and delicious sarcasm of Grandmama. Maggie Smith is a national treasure.
Other dear favourites are: Larkrise To Candleford, The Paradise, Anne Of Green Gables, Pride & Prejudice (BBC wet white shirt version) and Poldark.
One to watch for later this week is the series adaptation of the beautiful book All The Light We Cannot See on Netflix. Please be good, please be good, please be good!
[Occasionally my recommendations may not be for everyone. My choice of films, books etc are based on my particular tastes and tolerances. Just a note for my G-rated friends]
Poetry
from THE PRECISION OF PAIN AND THE BLURRINESS OF JOY: THE TOUCH OF LONGING IS EVERYWHERE
20
The precision of pain and the blurriness of joy. I'm thinking
how precise people are when they describe their pain in a doctor's
office.
Even those who haven't learned to read and write are precise:
"This one's a throbbing pain, that one's a wrenching pain,
this one gnaws, that one burns, this is a sharp pain
and that- -a dull one. Right here.
Precisely here, yes, yes." Joy blurs everything. I've heard people say
after nights of love and feasting, "It was great,
I was in seventh heaven." Even the spaceman who floated
in outer space, tethered to a spaceship, could say only, "Great,
wonderful, I have no words."
The blurriness of joy and the precision of pain-
I want to describe, with a sharp pain's precision, happiness
and blurry joy. I learned to speak among the pains.
YEHUDA AMICHAI
(TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW BY CHANA BLOCH AND CHANA KRONFELD)
This poem was taken from Joy: 100 Poems, which you might also enjoy.
“Listen to me,” cried Syme with extraordinary emphasis. “Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? It is that we have only known the back of the world. We see everything from behind, and it looks brutal. That is not a tree, but the back of a tree. That is not a cloud, but the back of a cloud. Cannot you see that everything is stooping and hiding a face? If we could only get round the front — "
~ G.K. Chesterton
Recipe
Spaghetti al Pomodoro - so fresh, so simple and oh so delicious! Inspired by a chef Francesco Mattana, I wish I had some of that Italian sunshine right now.
For Fun
Fine Art Giveaway Winners
Congratulations to the following subscribers. Please message me with your postal details and I will get these beauties to you soon.
Vanessa Miles, Elaine Lloyd, Anita Solomon.
Signing off
Blessings to you all today friends, God bless you and keep you.
Jacqui X
“To believe the truth that beauty tells: this is our great struggle
from the depths of our grief.
To trust the hope it teaches us to hunger toward: this is our fierce battle.
To craft the world it helps us to imagine: this is our creative, death-defying work.”
Sarah Clarkson - This Beautiful Truth.