recuerda mi corazon

postcards from paradise

 

laurie beth zuckerman  iconarte

 

“There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” 
― Albert Einstein

carly  peacefully chaotic

 

gayle  a vintage green life

 

“The heart is the inner face of your life. The human journey strives to make this inner face beautiful.

It is here that love gathers within you. Love is absolutely vital for a human life.

For love alone can awaken what is divine within you. In love, you grow and come home to your self.

When you learn to love and let yourself be loved, you come home to the hearth of your own spirit.

You are warm and sheltered.”

 ― John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

  noelle  the angels wear fins

 

alexa

 

moxie antiques

 

 

hettienne  path of  divine love

 

somepinkflowers

 

 

gemma  gemmashouse

 

 

"When I look back at that interior photo,

I see the cracks in the plaster and remember reading the words

painted in gold leaf on the ceiling along with the images of that faith.

Since they were in Latin,

I always tried to pronounce them and wondered what they meant.

Now, I know.

It must have rubbed off as I use it as my sign-off on every letter and post I write."

Pax Vobiscum

spadoman  round circle

donna  the woodwife chronicles

 

"I like to think of Mary as a cross-cultural icon of femininity and I've come to see her

in the face of every woman I meet.."

fran  sacred ordinary

 

A mother's love

Feels so soft, so strong.

No fear as she lifts me up.

peggy  peggy's mixed up art

stephanie  mango studio

 

 

miss robyn  avalon and an apple tree

 

 

"Each and every day I looked forward with such anticipation to visiting everyone's blogs,

and each day it was a gift of beauty to behold.

In words, in images, in so many art forms,

the Virgin made her presence made known to each of us.

I believe she has also been a matchmaker of sorts,

leading us into new friendships and camaraderie."

the rosary lady

 

annie   the best of my life

 

jean    blue birds living in the meadow

 

eb     be dream play 

"I'm grateful for coming to appreciate the beauty of 

simple in a complex world."

sue  finding my bliss

***

Mary my joy, come,

blaze in my soul’s empty space

with your fiery love.

magical mystical teacher

 

lenorita

 

carol   creative harbor

 

 

peggy   day lily

 

dawn  alter ego mexicana

 

 

lisa  priti studio

 

 

meri   playing along

 

 

molly     her speak

 

 

hettiene     her grace by devata

 

paula    molokai girl

 

 

 

 

deb  what's deb doing

 

 

rebecca    recuerda mi corazon


dear friends,

thank you for the grace and beauty that has filled each of our twelve days.

to begin and end each day together has been a bright blessing, a welcome pause

in a season that seems to grow busier each year.

there has been so much sharing of beauty, family, traditions, thoughtfulness,

motherlove

acceptance and grace.

long ago when i was a very small child 

i remember going to bed and falling quickly into a dream.

my "dream parents" were tucking me in.

the love and care that surrounded me was so comforting and when we shared our devotions,

our words were to Buddha.

i realized in that moment that i knew the love of Jesus

because i was born into a Christian family and my parents passed on the teachings they were raised with.

i realized that if i were born in India

i might have loving parents that would teach me the wisdom of Buddha

and we would be Buddhists.

more importantly i recognized

that loving parents around this great earth we all share,

teach their children what they know.

feeling the profound love of my "dream parents"

i saw quite clearly that i could just as easily been born

a Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Christian...any faith family...and i would know those teachings to be true.

in that very moment my heart flooded with the profound realization of divine love,

love that is inclusive of everyone.

regardless of country, traditions, beliefs, customs,

from that dream on i chose 

love for all.

i suspect when we all wake up from our separate dreams 

and see divine love in every single person

we will finally know peace.

thank you for the deep sharing that has been offered for the last twelve days,

for the stirring of hearts and the tending of grace.

for these gifts shared, today i honor each of you.

i am here every sunday with a meme called

postcards from paradise.

i hope you will join me there and continue this circle of care and inclusion.

truly you have brightened every day.

all my love and gratitude,

rebecca

 

a virgin a day, roses in the snow

i believe in miracles.

roses defying snow.  joy born from the

simplest moments.

a scattering of birds, stars, a single candle in the window of love.

i believe in looking into the heart of each

possibility and choosing

love

acceptance

compassion

humility

forgiving.

 

i am certain things are not always as they seem,

that there is more to the

story

of every single person we meet.

so i choose

peace, understanding, acceptance.

i choose to look into the eyes of each face and see

soul.

i choose

roses in the

snow.

virgin of guadalupe photographs 

generously shared by

rick underwood

 

 

today is the feast day of our lady of guadalupe.

each year i invite you to join this mary procession for the first twelve days of december.

may the friendship and reflection,

shared so generously

leading to her day of honor

swirl in our hearts forever a constellation of mother love.

together we have turned our intentions to

inclusion, beauty, tenderness and love.

i have cherished every step,

each salutation and offering have been heartfelt, generous and filled with promise and friendship.

i am so grateful for your place in my heart.

i am especially grateful for beginning, ending, and each step in between for peace.

come share this last day visiting each others blogs...leaving your light scattered like stars in our hearts forever!

thank you for this precious mary walk 

together we are roses in the snow.

 

a virgin a day, the comfort of mary

 

i had not expected 

such perfect grace to fill

all our moments.

i had not anticipated the deep comfort

twelve days of mary

would bring.

i never realized how something so simple

 could become, so extraordinary.

this gorgeous sharing, magnificent beauty;

filling each day together.

beginning and ending with the

offering of peace.

***

dear ones,
each morning we have thrown open the doors to our hearts.
we have called out glory, love, compassion.
day after day we have set out welcoming chairs in the 
house of belonging,
lifted the veil of sacred existence.
beveled off the edges of difference and distance
to see more deeply the
unbearable beauty of simply being
ONE.
for this and so much more i thank you.

may we always begin and end with love.

 

a virgin a day, to be with you

forever in this moment

while everything stands still

to be with you 

to say nothing,

merely to sing 

because ones heart is too full.

day ten of the twelve days of mary

 i hope when you write the words

recuerda mi corazon 

on your blog and link back so others may join this mary walk

you will hear her voice ring out forevermore

"remember my heart"

haiku my heart with a virgin a day

 

 

i am not sure how

blue became a neon prayer

paint...... exquisite stars

***

 

fridays at recuerda mi corazon

we court simplicity.

we bear our hearts in seventeen syllables

 practicing the art of quiet soulfulness.

please sign in with your haiku URL

and link back to 

recuerda mi corazon 

so more may join us.

as always please take the time to visit each others offerings

and leave a word of kindness along the way.

those who haiku may sign in here.....

 

 

 

today is also day nine for our mornings with mary.

together we are singing the praises of

her loving heart.

as always please take the time to visit each others offerings

and leave a word of kindness along the way.

i hope you will link back to

recuerda mi corazon

so more will join us.

for more flowering hearts please join the procession here...

a virgin a day, remember my heart

 

night claimed us.

my mother beside me on the stone hard bed.

i licked the soft rose petal,

 harbored in my hand all day from the sanctuary of juan diego,

and pressed it directly to my heart.

lying on my back towards the night sky

i wondered at each constellation of devotion imprinted

in the thick adobe ceiling above us,

layers of immeasurable prayers.

following them

like endless strands of rosary beads

i left all references of the temporal world.

somewhere in that dark night she came to me.

she walked,

no....glided from the far corner of the room towards

me.

there was no sound,

just a perfect awareness of light.

a beautiful calm and heart stirring light.

that is what reached me first,

 radiance.

glowing from every pore as if she had swallowed the moon,

 i was now moving towards her.

she beckoned me without words.

 pure light infused with immediate comfort

radiated from her eyes, heart, hands.

 we glided toward each other

seamlessly

our eyes reeling each other in

until our hands met.

 eclipsed

in her radiant light,

my hands in her hands,

we stood drinking each other in.

the deeper i fell into her eyes, peace grew.

compassion poured from her continence into mine.

we stood there filling the dark cell with so much perfect light,

i was sure we would wake my mother.

but there in the bed, was perfect sleeping,

a mother and daughter

side by side.

there were no words,

just perfect understanding.

she filled me, awakened me, cell by cell.

like a blooming,

each flush of love stirred and filled one cell then the next.

heated with a great love

that grew slowly into my hands, wrists, arms...

traveling with a resounding urgency to

flood my heart. 

in this healing

 she nurtured every particle of my being.

assured that she would fill my every need,

lift my every care, take me in,

all of me

the perfect, frail,

the whole and the broken,

the transcended and the trespassed.

i was transported to a place of complete and utter acceptance,

forgiveness, compassion, union.

 for this passing of time i was complete

and holy in her lovelight.

i did not know where her heart ended and mine began.

her love entered me so completely

 my hands, arms, the trail to my heart,

 darkened to the colour of mexico,

her people,

her warm nurturing earth brown skin.

hands holding hands, looking straight  

into the eyes of pure compassion

i listened to the virgin of guadalupe  utter

without speaking,

"recuerda mi corazon"...."remember my heart".

that, quite astoundingly,

is how this blog received its name.

***

day eight

remembering the heart of mary

a virgin a day, the fragrance of roses

years ago,

memories all mixed up in the 

fragrance of roses,

my mother and i traveled to mexico city

 to the basilica virgin de guadalupe.

fittingly the hotel was once a convent,  our room a nuns cell,

a single bed, penitence hard.

 by morning we were on a

 a local bus, 20 pesos to fulfill a dream.

chattering uniformed school children filled the isles,

mothers wrapped in rebozos cradling babies,

quiet husbands,

everyone curious with the two gringas

smiling radiantly on their familiar ride.

silently

crossing themselves

as we arrived;

one hundred hands folding origami  

peace doves in thin air. 

 we left the bus together,

a cluster of bright flowers thrown into a sea of devotees.

under the weight of 12 million worshipers a year,

Templo Expiatorio a Cristo Rey,

built between 1503 and 1709,

began to sink

...and in time a new basilica was erected.

as we wove our way silently inside the concrete walls,

my heart sank.

courting a vigil that bowed back

over five hundred years 

 i was not prepared for the carpeted,

ultra modern cavernous interior...

replete with moving sidewalk to glide each pilgrim

as if walking on water

beneath the most revered ancient textile in mexico.

yet, as we passed directly under the sacred cloth

there was a presence and peace that transcended all time.

yet it was when we walked the ancient cobblestones

around the enormous basilica to a small,

humble stone chapel that my heart flooded.

 here, juan diego lived out his entire life,

speaking of the virgin

to anyone who would lend an ear.

upon entering,

men and women paused

to carefully pluck one petal

from the enormous bounty of roses

spilling over a life size statue of juan diego.

they would hold the delicate cup of pink

to their lips while they prayed.

their breath,

a flame of devotion, filling the tiny vessel.

when their prayers were exhausted

 they took the infused petals

and rubbed them in utter adoration

over juan diego's marble

heart, mouth, eyes. 

imagine, being painted with prayer infused rose petals

for eternity.

i still have my small paper thin petal,

curled like a tiny fist holding tight

to peace. 

shrine from the series of

Serving Mary

vintage silver tray, glass, solder, paint, gold leaf, found objects

***

welcome to day seven.

may you carry the rose of compassion close to your heart.