Sanctuary And Silence - Paradise, Montana

"Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence within us...Not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are. 
We are all hungry for this other silence. 
It is hard to find. In its presence we can remember something beyond the moment, a strength on which to build a life. 
Silence is a place of great power and healing. 
Silence is God’s lap.”"

- Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., from My Grandfather’s Blessings

Morning At Camp Bighorn - Paradise, Montana

Having a great time at big girl camp!
The people at Camp Bighorn are amazing - they provide hot showers - a good thing with a group of 40 women! And you can watch the train running just across the river.
Oh, and coffee is available 24/7. 
Go to the light...!

(& I'm sure it can't hurt to be just down the road from Paradise!)

Super-Size Me - Missoula, Montana

"Last month at church, she had embarrassed herself half to death. 
The correct quote was, "I am a vessel for God's love, " but she had read out loud in front of the entire congregation, " I am a weasel for God's love." 
Earle had said that no one had noticed, but of course, they had." 

- Fannie Flagg, in The All-Girl's Filling Station's Last Reunion

 

Truth be told, I've been hoarding this quote for about a year, awaiting just the right "vessel" photo pairing.  Finally, I decided these tanker cars are a fitting match; not just because I'm tired of waiting and I love the train lines from this overpass view, but also because it's entirely fitting to aspire to be an industrial-sized transporter of God's love.(Right?!)

Perhaps a little stretch - "I'm a tanker car for Jesus" evokes a slightly different charm than "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam"... but it works - particularly for Thomas the Train fans!  
Just keep it on the rails and away from incendiary situations.

Mission Mountain Windbreak - St. Ignatius, Montana

"...Where strong land winds are of frequent occurrence, a windbreak is clearly advisable..."

- from The Canadian Horticulturist, Volume 23, February 1900

Easter Light - Missoula, Montana

"And on the day that You arose,

darkness ran for cover..."

- from lyrics to "Worthy Of Your Name" written by Brenton Brown, Brett Younker, Sean Curran


Happy Easter. 

Join us for church here in East Missoula via livestream (or come back later to jump in at your leisure!)

Good Friday Lily - Missoula, Montana

"...Beyond the pain, beyond the broken clay,

A glimmering country lies

Where life is being wise,

All of the beauty seen by truthful eyes

Are lilies there, growing beside the way...

- from Good Friday, A Dramatic Poem, by John Masefield (1878-1967), published in Good Friday and Other Poems 

If you're looking for a Good Friday service, click here for River of Life's online Good Friday gathering - right now, right where you are!

Mission Mountain Layers - St. Ignatius, Montana

"He unrolled the Bartram and held it to the yellow light and riffled through the pages until his eyes fell on a passage that caught his attention. It was this: 

    The mountainous wilderness which I had lately traversed appeared regularly undulated as the great ocean aftee a tempest; the undulations gradually depressing, yet perfectly regular, as the squama of fish, or imbrications of tile on a roof: the nearest ground to me of a perfect full green; next more glaucous; and lastly almost blue as the ether with which the most distant curve of the horizon seemed to be blended. My imagination thus wholly engaged in the contemplation of this magnificent landscape, infinitely varied, and without bound, I was almost insensible or regardless of the charming objects more within my reach.

A picture of the land Bartram detailed leapt dimensional into Inman's mind. Mountains and valleys on and on forever."  

- From Cold Mountain, P 276, by Charles Frazier

April Snow - East Missoula, Montana

April showers on the valley floor brought a dusting of snow on the mountain tops.