O COME LET US

                   

                 LOVE 

   CHRIST THE SAVIOR IS BORN

              MERRY CHRISTMAS!

JESUS CHRIST

HIS NAME

  A Name that changes everything for all time.

                        "BC"

                       Some of us still use it.

                             

Advent Wisdom

Being Open To New Ideas

Sometimes as we age we think we've
heard it all. 

And then someone says something that 

opens our heart and mind to a new thought. . .

Quote:

"In the Christian liturgical calendar, we refer to the four weeks before Christmas as "Advent." For Christians, this is a time of expectation, of looking forward to the birth of Jesus. Perhaps surprisingly, I feel closest to my Jewish brothers and sisters during the Advent season. Christians, of course, believe Jesus to be the Messiah, but we also look forward to his second coming at the end of time. Traditionally, Jews expect the messiah to come as well, but when he does, it will be for the first time. When the Messiah finally comes, we'll ask him together whether it is his first or second coming, but for now, we will long for a world of justice and peace together."   

                                                    -Father James Heft, 

                                  President, Advanced Catholic Studies at USC

   

Thank you Father Heft.

Gaudete Sunday

"Sunday of Joy"
              -Pope Francis

Have you noticed the lights are up
in neighborhoods?
Don't they make you want to pause,
stop what you're doing and just
enjoy the beauty of this Season.
This Sunday we are called to:

             

              "Rejoice"
     "The Lord is near."

May some peace-filled quiet time

            by yours today!

Food In The Desert

John The Baptist

Today in the Gospel of Matthew we 

learn how John prepared for the coming

of Christ. He spent time in the desert.

His food was locusts and wild honey.

In 2016 we are more likely to be eating 

cinnamon rolls as we gather our

credit cards and head for the nearest 

shopping mall.

Maybe as we proceed through Advent

we can light the candle of hospitality,

opening our home to a friend who 

needs a cup of caring -- with honey. 

Blessings on the way. . . to Christmas.

Beaver Moon

      No time to waste. 

Some of us will not likely

See the next Beaver Moon.

        Think 2034!

There is still time. . . grab that camera.

Fall Is Absent in CA

Where is Fall?

Am I alone or do others here in CA miss  

the fog of Fall?

Stores are clearing front ends for Christmas and 

I need more of that season of mellow mist and 

healthy soups and marigolds.

Can anyone name this native?

Oh it will do whatever its name. 

         The election is over.

     Now let's pray for peace

  and kindness and the grace of

acceptance as we meet "the other"

        person on the way.

         God Bless America
  and those who will soon lead
         this hurting nation.

Mother Antonia & Heaven

This is the day the Lord has made . . .

Let us rejoice and be glad. 

Mother speaks and we listen. 

Thanks be to God for Mother's Life of Giving.

Madre Antonia Speaks at the 2014 Madre's Fiesta

Each Day

LOVE

One week before Mother Antonia's 

3rd anniversary into Heaven. . . 

15 Years Later

Re-living that day.
September 11, 2001

We find it hard to watch the programs
and yet we find ourselves drawn to them.

                     PEACE

                       

WHEN WE ARE HURTING

Do you cry when you are hurting?
Whether the pain is emotional, physical,
or spiritual we need to know that
someone is listening, ready to offer us
relief/consolation.

                 God is listening.
He knows our owie before we even pray.

I believe Our Loving Father frequently uses others
to send us a "cookie" and just as when we were
children, that treat takes our mind off of life's
cuts & bruises.

Today I received such a consolation and wish to
thank some heavenly messengers:

(Saint) Mother Teresa
Mother Antonia
Sister Mary Matilde

Look for the story here in November. . .

BOOK LOVERS

THIS IS YOUR DAY

“When a man writes from his own mind,

he writes very rapidly. The greatest

part of a writer's time is spent in reading,

in order to write; a man will turn over

half a library to make one book."   

                              - Samuel Johnson

One of my favorite quotes. . .

      But then, 

if you are a writer

you already know

        it's true! 

   (A small sample from my office/library)

     ENJOY YOUR BOOKS EVERY DAY!

   Special Birthday Wishes

                 to

              J. Gray

                             

                        

Serendipity

Do you agree the word itself seems to sing?
At one time or another serendipity shows
up in everyone's life.

Sometimes, we say, "it's a miracle."
And other times it just seems strange, right?

Today serendipity hit me right in my google
search. I began to type a mundane word,
and immediately "St Mary Euphrasia"
(Rose Virginie Pelletier) completed itself in my search.

                            Good Shepherd Nuns interned at Rangoon City Jail during WWII

Serendipity or miracle. . .as it happens
today is the 200th birthday of this saint
who founded the Order of the Sisters of
the Good Shepherd.  (An order of nuns
that first drew my thoughts to religious
life when I was sixteen years old.)

(My short essay on these Sisters was
accepted for publication some years ago.
And like many writers, I wait to see if it will
find its way into print.)

Now here comes the question: Why/How
did this happen today of all days?

Is there some young woman out there
who needs to read about this French nun--
maybe a religious vocation thought for someone?

Or. . .  perhaps I am just being given the opportunity
to say, Happy Birthday! Rose Virginie Pelletier.
Pray for us.
                          AMEN

FINDING INSPIRATION

Where did you find 

your inspiration today?

If you found something in nature
be grateful;
If you came across someone's
inspiring words be grateful.

Here is a link to a site that
brings me into areas of deep
recognition and inspiration.
I am grateful.

http://painterskeys.com/count-your-blessings/

CHOCOLATE

         All of you reading this,
          please help yourself
           to chocolate today!

                    Why?
Those of you who host a Blog know about
the "overview" button, which tracks the
number of visitors (hits) to your site.

This simple, non-commercial blog:
                (Discursion)
recorded almost 50 visits in one day.

Dear Visitor,
I don't know who you are or how you
found this space--but I am so happy to
have you visit anytime.
And please feel free to let me know
what you like or what you'd like to see.

                       Also. . .
Happy to report that you get to have chocolate again
tomorrow for "National Hot Fudge Sundae Day."

                     Enjoy!

May Sarton

May Sarton died on this day in 1995.
She brought light into so many lives
with her poetry and journals.

  I inhabit a marvelous world

  Where every sense is taught

    New ways of perceiving.

                      -May Sarton
                    "Inn at Kyoto"

Someone Has A Birthday

Do you know anyone who is celebrating
today as the day they were born?

Thought: We should all celebrate the day
we were born and the gift of life we are given.
Right?

            Happy Birthday
     to someone special who is
                   85!

Summertime

           

                     Nature can make us smile
                              with wisdom.

Happy Birthday MKO

AMERICA

Happy Independence Day!

We celebrate freedom in America today.

Many have fought for the freedom 

we enjoy--some with words and some

with their lives.

 

Each of us has the right to life, liberty 

and the pursuit of happiness.

ARE WE GRATEFUL?

Here's an old emotional rendition of

a song with truths we want to believe,

even today when all seems in question.

"That's America to Me"

Saints of July

This month we celebrate the lives
of some very special saints:

   

        July 1st  St. Junipero Serra.

     (Father of the California Missions)

     July 14th St Kateri Tekakwitha  

           (Lily of the Mohawks)

Maybe you will agree . . . 

We need some saints in America today.

With five months to go before we elect our

President, it seems no one likes anyone.

These are the times we need to pray for

guidance to make the right decision.

                     AMEN

                 

Dreamin

THAT SONG (We All Have One)

More and more it happens. . .
you're in a store and a song from your youth
begins playing. First you hum along and then
all the words come back and you sing it--trying
to keep it to yourself.
Now if we were happy little birds, we wouldn't
dream, would we. We'd peck at flowers and move
on to another happy taste.

Are you still at that Dreamin point in your life?

Good!

Now dream and work toward that dream.

And sing along if you'd like.

Dreamin' (Johnny Burnette) 1960 Stereo Remastered, WJGroup LLF files

Memorial Day 2016

The Gift--Remembering

     A gift was left on our porch.*

A beautiful reminder of the gift, the love, 

we celebrate today:

No one has greater love than this, 

to lay down one's life for one's friends.

                - John, Chapter 15

We thank God for all those men and women
who gave their life for us, in order that
we might enjoy the freedoms we have today.

And God bless all veterans
on this Memorial Day. . .
May they know we are grateful for their
brave service in keeping our country safe.


*Note: thank you, Sandee.

                                     

 

Mother's Day 2016

     who nurture Love in a child!

     mothers
     stepmothers
     aunts
     sisters
     teachers
     nuns/religious
     neighbors

     Anyone who creates a home for peace
     in the heart of a child, who shows by
     example the right road, who honors
     goodness as an example to be followed,
     who forgives ultimately with a hug.

     We think of these people today and give
     thanks that they have touched our lives.

     How about a text or email or phone call now?
     

Your Mind Working

"Like the circles that you find in the windmills
                         of your mind." *


For many of us on days when inspiration takes
hold. . . our minds race.
Thoughts and ideas come and we want
to work them.  Where to begin; how to begin?

That's what creativity is all about. We are
inspired by a piece of music, or we attend a
play or even something as simple as a walk
outside with an open mind.

We can't make notes fast enough. We think
about a poem or essay and then realize there
needs to a beginning and an end--and that is
the point where we stop.

However, the true artist pushes through and
does the work, draft after draft, no matter
what it takes, right?

Happy Birthday today:
Carol Burnett (actress) and Marilyn Nelson (poet).

Lucille Ball died this day in 1989. We all
know the laughter and joy of her work lives on.

May something we create live beyond our
brief stay here.

*Lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman and Michel Legrand

Peace, Love, and Mercy With a Kiss

Dear Friends,
Two years ago on this date I began posting
to this Blog: 218 posts and over 200 images.
I have heard from readers as far away as Alaska.
My thanks go out to each of you for taking time
to look/see what was on my mind.

How To Celebrate?

Some of you may recall my mentioning Mother

Antonia Brenner (The Prison Angel). Many of you

may know the facts of her life. If not I would

encourage you to read the book about her 

written by two Washington Post reporters.

This woman who gave up everything, always had a 

smile for those she met because she loved as

Jesus did. Unconditionally.

I was blessed to catch one of Mother's kisses with my

camera in 2008. It is not a perfect photo but the love

that she sent out on that day was for everyone!

And so to celebrate . . . 

if you would like a 5x7 copy of this image to
download, please email me and I will be happy to
answer with a high resolution of this photo for you. 

(kgunton@sbcglobal.net)

Mother Antonia always signed her notes/letters with

Peace, Love, and Mercy.

And so I close this day with Mother's words & my gratitude. 

EASTER 2016

LET US REJOICE & BE GLAD

And now you have time to reflect on your 

greatest Easter gift this year:

Peace?

Hope?

Joy?

Family?

Food? 

Maybe something you had given up for Lent?

Maybe a poem or a card someone sent?

Maybe a full church of happy people?

We all have our unique gratitude list.

So now on Easter Monday, when you have

time, look out the window and maybe

you will see even nature rejoicing.

             ALLELUIA !

March 7th 2016

Luther Burbank Born on this day in 1849

      (Horticulturist who developed hundreds of
    new varieties of flowers, fruits, and vegetables)

               

                

                 His home & gardens in Santa Rosa, CA 

                         are a photographer's delight.

   Artichoke Flower-- Who knew?

And by the way, the next time you bite

into an amazing Santa Rosa Plum you

might think about Luther Burbank.

               

March 6th 2016

Michelangelo

Just that one word and we think art.
Most would agree he was one of the
greatest artists in the world.
Born on this day in 1475. 

What was his most astounding creation?

For Lent we turn to the Pieta.

The dialogue in this You Tube will hopefully

become a contemplation.

Amen.

Michelangelo, Pietà, 1498-1500

March 2, 2016

Thomas Kennerly Wolfe, Jr.

           Born this day in 1931

Being a writer requires two people:

the person writing and the person reading;

or the person speaking and the person listening.

One night in the 1990's I met Tom Wolfe who had

come to speak at Chapman University. It was a

classy evening. Tom Wolfe paid tribute to the art 

of writing by the way he presented himself.

 

On such an evening you go home and write.

                    TOM WOLFE

                 In his six-button

                 cream colored vest

                 and his high forehead

                 hair falling part at the left

                 Tom Wolfe tailored facts

                 and fit them into a life

                 of their own. Smiling

                 he said, I am not the writer

                 who can't go home.

                     

                                      -Kathleen Gunton

         Happy Birthday! 

           to the writer who founded what

           we now call the New Journalism 

       Here's a quote on what he says he found--we

are richer for it. . . 

      "I found a great many pieces of puctuation and

typography lying around dormant when I came along--

and I must say I had a good time using them."

                                                    -Tom Wolfe

Monday, February 22, 2016

Edna St. Vincent Millay

  (February 22, 1892 -- Oct 19, 1950)

Edna's candle burned at both ends
of my journey into poetry. 

For many poets her words gave
a lovely light to the art of the written word.

In the late 1990's I journeyed to the woods 

around Steepletop. Though the House was closed

at the time, I was able to capture an image of

the autumn trees where I imagine the poet might have walked.

This picture appeared on the cover of my book,

Something Untamed. (The publisher changed the book

cover for the 2nd run.)

                                                                       

              

          Happy Day of Memories.

             Happy Day for poets.

February 14th 2016

LOVE ALWAYS

LOVE NEVER FAILS

This is the day the commercial world tells

us to celebrate love. We are sold over-priced

flowers and candy of every shape and density.

Many (husbands in particular) get fed-up with 

the idea and simply say, NO!

But LOVE does not allow us to be a "clashing cymbal"

of protest as regards what we are really called to do.

                        Examples

                       be patient

                       be kind

                       don't be jealous 

                       don't be pompous

                      don't be selfish

                      endure all things

        Difficult ways for humans to show love, right?

        WHO CAN CLAIM THAT SORT OF LOVE?

                   

                GOD IS LOVE

Today maybe we should thank God for always
             responding to us with LOVE!

February 12th 2016

 Lincoln-Darwin

  Campion-Day

We (should) all know:
Abraham Lincoln was born on this day in 1809
& Charles Darwin was also born this day in 1809.

 NOW . . .

Because it is very cold on the East Coast;
because the day we celebrate love is near;
and because I enjoy a bit of wine--a poem by
Thomas Campion (physician, composer, and poet).

NOW WINTER NIGHTS ENLARGE

Now winter nights enlarge
This number of their hours;
And clouds their storms discharge
Upon the airy towers.
Let now the chimneys blaze
And cups o'erflow with wine,
Let well-tuned words amaze
With harmony divine.
Now yellow waxen lights
Shall wait on honey love
While youthful revels, masques, and courtly sights
Sleep's leaden spells remove.

This time doth well dispense
With lovers' long discourse;
Much speech hath some defense,
Though beauty no remorse.
All do not all things well:
Some measures comely tread,
Some knotted riddles tell,
Some poems smoothly read.
The summer hath his joys,
And winter his delights;
Though love and all his pleasures are but toys
They shorten tedious nights. 

                                   -Thomas Campion

                                   B: Feb 12, 1567

                                  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREETINGS ALSO

                  ORMAN P. DAY !

  A writer born this day in 1946.
  Look for his travel essays and
  give yourself a delightful read.

         Good wishes to all
who are in celebration mood.

February 1st 2016

Wistawa Szymborska

was one of Poland's gifts to the literary world.
Ms. Szymborska won the Nobel Prize in
Literature in 1996. She died on this day in 2012.

Read her work and you may recognize yourself--your

simple and complicated ponderings about life and  

humankind. Her poems are witty and wonderful and profound.

       Some poets honor other poets with a poem:

                     CONSIDERING THIS PICTURE

                                         (for W. SZYMBORSKA)

                      Lovely ageless woman

                      you are holding thin

                      fire in your hand,                                       

                      muted by the partial

                      light of seventy-eight years.

                      Smoke rises above

                      a violet turned gray.

                      In that small room,

                      which Leonardo said

                      disciplines the mind,

                      an open window.

                      You smile.                                     

                      And we on the journey know.

                                   

                                             -Kathleen Gunton

                                              © 2001 FREE LUNCH                                

Thursday, January 28th 2016

DEATH

Most people are not comfortable with the word.
Though people of faith look at death differently.
Faith tells us that as our physical life comes to
an end our new (forever) life begins. It is a
profound consolation as we mourn.

On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up,
taking the lives of its seven crew members.
We watched the disaster on television screens in our home.
Today we mourn again those brave souls who gave us
both a dream and the reality of the unknown.
God Bless them and the families they left behind.

On January 28, 1985 a quiet widow died. She had no children
but I was blessed to be her niece. I smile now as I recall
our last visit and what she told me.

January 23, 2016

Handwriting 

(Cursive writing)

Today in memory of John Hancock's birthdate (1737).

A call went out a few years ago to celebrate handwriting.

Have you ever received a hand-written note that could

be identified by the way someone always dropped their

words on paper? with pen or pencil?

Here is an image of something Thomas Wolfe wrote.

Visible proof on a vestibule desk that some ghost of memories

remains in that rooming house in NC.

Writers can't help but respond

to such a real presence?

So my poem handwritten. . . 

When research says that hand writing things down

can helps generate ideas believe them!

Maybe you will write to someone today, not by

text, not by email, rather with a little pressure on

a sheet of paper signed with your own John Hancock.

Know that that physical moment will be treasured

now and maybe for many years to come--emoticons

have their day and are gone but real words from an

aged hand will never be erased.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Remembering

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born
on this day in 1929.
Many recall his "I Have A Dream" speech.
This coming Monday (as a nation) we will
celebrate his extraordinary life.

Do you have a favorite quote that gets you through difficult moments?

Thank you Dr. King. 

January 13th 2016

 Your Talent As An Offering

  In today's very commercial, money-driven world 

  how many artists do you know who offer their talent 

  for love of what they do or in thanks for the gift they

  were given?

   

                                  THE OFFERING

On this day at the age of 37, Stephen Foster died in NYC.

He gave us many songs that have been handed down

and enjoyed. He is known as the Father of American Music.

The Irish Tenors - Beautiful Dreamer w. Lyrics

January 1st 2016

A New Year Begins

"My Lord God, 

I have no idea where I am going,
I do not see the road ahead of me, 

I cannot know
for certain where it will end."

                               -Thomas Merton

                        Thoughts in Solitude

Wishing you many blessings in 2016.