Spiritual Art Blog - *Ed P

Gateway

In this rough draft of the picture, Gateway, I’ve reintroduced the couple from Mountain to Heaven. They will help continue the story. At this point they have made it up to the top of the mountain. So what happens next?

Make the moment special, enjoy it now

Thought for the Week

Let's take a moment to enjoy the moment. There are lots of enjoyable moments in our lives which we can easily miss.
We need to take time to appreciate the beauty around us. These moments can be simple things like sunshine, a smile, a happy coincidence or event. If there is love in the moment there will be beauty to be enjoyed there.

Beauty in people
We can observe the beauty in people as they share moments in their lives. These little moments in life can be times such as:
A chat and a smile together, 
A kiss and a cuddle,
A greeting or a goodbye,
Time listening to each other, 
When we sympathise and be compassionate together.
Just observing how we interact and share our love can be a sweet moment in life. 

A sunshine moment
In cloudier climates or places going through winter, it is a blessing to see the sun shine. It brightens our day and our mood. It can be a reviving experience to just spend some time drinking in the sunshine, enjoying this moment in life, feeling the sun shine on our skin. If we can take the time to absorb the warning rays of sunshine and be grateful for this little gift of brightness, we will brighten our own life and those around us.

Enjoy the flavours
If we eat and drink with gratitude for the nutrition we are receiving, for the help it gives to our health, we can make mealtime a sweet moment. We can enjoy the flavours of the food we eat with the knowledge that the nutrition will help build health and vitality into our bodies. Eating can be one of life’s delicious moments.

A cool fresh breeze
In warmer climates a cool breeze can be a real blessing. It can calm our brow, relieve the pressure of the heat and bring us to a calmer place within ourselves. We should take time to make the most of the cooling and calming places we find in life’s moments.

A smile from a friend
A smile can warm the heart and bring joy and love into our lives. It is something we can keep in our memory and recall it to bring back the warmth and love. This kind of moment in life has the potential to multiply its joy over and over as we remember the event. 

The musical sounds of nature
Wind in the trees, the sound of water in a stream, birds singing, rain dancing on the ground and in the puddles. These are all musical sounds of nature and if we take the time we can hear, nature orchestrate its instruments to play its melody for us as we become aware of its beauty. These are natures musical moments..

A special event
Have you ever wondered at the coincidences that happen in some moments of our lives. Events that would be impossible to organise if we tried, but Life steps in and brings the elements together to create a miracle for us. These miracles can be things like:
Meeting an old friend unexpectedly, 
Being presented with the right food or medicine that suits our health at a particular time of need, 
Events coming together to preserve us from harm.
The list can go on and on, but we’ve all had these ‘coincidences’ occur to us. We should take the time to note them, possible jot them down in a journal and enjoy them. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing we are going with the flow of Life.

Enjoy the life’s moments
We will come across these moments every day, if we look for them, but we need to do more than just observe them. We need to take time out of our busy, rushy, bumpy lives to catch the peace, beauty and love in these moments. A good time is at night before we go to sleep or even early in the morning as we reflect on yesterdays moments. As we sit in traffic or on public transport and we can spend the time remembering and looking for the special moments of the day. As we recall them we’ll begin to see all the blessing there are in our lives. 

Let’s take time to enjoy the life’s moments. We could start now. Let’s just relax and go over the last day or so and pick out the moments where even a little joy or love was present.

Make the moment special, enjoy it now.

*Ed Parkinson

Inspirational Moments in Life Quotes

“Each day is a special gift from God, and while life may not always be fair, you must never allow the pains, hurdles, and handicaps of the moment to poison your attitude and plans for yourself and your future. You can never win when you wear the ugly cloak of self-pity, and the sour sound of whining will certainly frighten away any opportunity for success.”
 Og Mandino

“Life is a movable feast. It depends neither upon a set day or season, but upon your love for living.”
 Harold Klemp

“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.”
 Henry Drummond 

“Life is uncharted territory. It reveals its story one moment at a time.”
 Leo F. Buscaglia

“To improve the golden moment of opportunity, and catch the good that is within our reach, is the great art of life.”
 Samuel Johnson 

“Just as in earthly life, lovers long for the moment when they are able to breathe forth their love for each other, to let their souls blend in a soft whisper, so the mystic longs for the moment when in prayer he can, as it were, creep into God.”
 Soren Kierkegaard 

“We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen. Every day, God gives us the sun and also one moment in which we have the ability to change everything that makes us unhappy.”
 Paulo Coelho

“At such moments, you realize that you and the other are, in fact, one. It's a big realization. Survival is the second law of life. The first is that we are all one.”
 Joseph Campbell

“Each moment of a happy lover's hour is worth an age of dull and common life”
 Aphra Behn

“Death is one moment, and life is so many of them”
 Tennessee Williams

“Life isn't a matter of milestones but of moments”
 Rose F. Kennedy

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away”
 Anon

Gateway

This picture, Gateway, has gone back to its original starting point where we can see something that resembles a gateway which is leading somewhere. The challenge is in trying to illustrate that ‘somewhere’ in an understandable picture. In fact, it is impossible. There is no way I’m going to be able to bring a picture, of the Gateway to Heaven, into this world. The best I can do is give visual hints and hope that from them you can find your way there.

Our Tree of Life

Thought for the Week

What is life all about? Why are we here?

We are like a seed planted in the earth of this world. Our roots burrow into the earth, our branches reach for the sunlight. Our physical and outer life is like the roots in the earth. Our mind, emotions and feelings are like branches searching for sunlight. We are learning from our experiences as we grow and search for love in the worlds within ourselves. We are learning from our tree of life.

Getting over the rocks
In this world we grow our roots then we sprout into the air and reach for the sky. As our roots dig into the earth we hit stones and rocks and find our way around them, we learn from our experiences. We go through our tough times, the rocks, but still our roots continue the search for food in the soil. In time we are able to absorb minerals and nutrients from the rocks. 

We can see our hard times have given us knowledge, we know how to get around the tough times. After getting over the rocks a number of times we begin to gain a little wisdom and are better prepared for the other challenges ahead. We get the insight that the more experiences we have the better we will understand life and the stronger we will become. Our roots will be deeper in the earth giving us a solid grip on reality and a good understanding of life.

Explore the wide open atmosphere
At the same time we send shoots up into the air to explore the wide open atmosphere. We begin to feel things out with our mind and emotions. A leaf sprouts here and there. We make small advances at first, tenderly exploring the places and people around us. Once our roots get a grip we can be more confident in sending a branch out in a direction which will expose us to the sunlight. We are searching for love and kindness.

As we explore this atmosphere we encounter a number of unexpected conditions. Strong winds and storms may blow and bend us. We may loose our precious leaves or worse again our branches may be snapped off. There may be many dark days of wind, wet and coldness. 

Seeing the light and love
As we begin to explore our emotions and mind we are excited by the endless possibilities of the universe above us and the beauty of the light. However the emotional storms and the dark nights can stunt our growth. If we find ourselves in a dark place, it can be difficult to find our way back into the sunlight. If we can see that there is light and love in the world around us, we can then begin to attract the light to us. By seeing the light and love in the forest of people around us, it begins to reflect in ourselves. We begin to grow through the love we see in others.

We grow a branch, sprout a leaf, stretch ourselves and explore the world around us. Each effort we make brings us to a different place. As we grow we gain a higher view point and by going deeper and exploring within ourselves we grow stronger. We grow from a seed into a sprout, then a sapling, then a tree until we reach into the heavens to enjoy the warmth of the sunlight. 

Let us learn from our tree of life, from our experiences so we can grow in wisdom and live in love.

*Ed Parkinson

Inspirational Tree of Life Quotes

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.”
 Albert Einstein

“If you want to be happy for a year, plant a garden; If you want to be happy for life, plant a tree.”
 English Proverb

“All theory, dear friend, is grey, but the golden tree of life springs ever green.”
 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“It boggles my mind that someone can see life breathed into a baby, watch the grass die and then come to life again, see leaves fall and watch the rebirth of a tree, or gaze on any of the majestic splendor that is this earth and not be overpowered by the presence of an Almighty God!”
 Bill McCartney

“Our lives are like islands in the sea, or like trees in the forest, which co-mingle their roots in the darkness underground.”
 William James

“We should worship lord Shiva so that we are freed from our worldly attachments just like a fruit falls from a tree after ripening. Once we are successful in doing this we are liberated from these vicious cycles of life and death.”
 Yajur Veda

“Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life. 
Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall. 
Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone. 
Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring.”
  William Alexander

“A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible.” 
 Welsh Proverb

“For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.”
 Martin Luther

“There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.”
 Minnie Aumonier

“The tree is more than first a seed, then a stem, then a living trunk, and then dead timber. The tree is a slow, enduring force straining to win the sky.”
 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.”
 Chinese Proverb

“Earth allows several levels for Soul to gain experience in life, including the mineral, plant, fish, animal and human stages.”
 Harold Klemp

“It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.”  
 Robert Louis Stevenson