sunrise paintings...

i love to photograph the sunrise...and sometimes i am moved to paint the photographs...here are three examples of the original photo with the resulting painting...

original photograph

sunrise 1 - 24" x 20" acrylic on canvas

original photograph

sunrise 2 - 24" x 20" acrylic on canvas

original photograph

sunrise 3 - 24" x 20" acrylic on canvas

prints of these paintings ($38) and fine art photographs ($18) are available for purchase...leave a comment if you are interested

One persons's rut is another persons's ritual...

i love my morning routine...the ritual of heading to the beach just minutes after i awake...to meditate, pray and be with my God in the place i love so dearly...on this day, my 58th birthday, i share with you my morning ritual and the images i see...

first i cross the dunes...

"One man's rut is another man's ritual. We need to honor and respect all the ruts, routines and rituals that people employ as they travel down the road of life. The ruts give them comfort, the routines keep them young and the rituals remind them that they are not alone." -Dwight Curry, How We Behave at the Feast

then i follow this path through the sea oats...
often i pause just on the other side of this path at the top of the dune to sit in prayerful meditation...

then i walk along the shore until the sun rises...and i stop and watch the new day open...giving thanks for the blessings i have and ask to earn my daily bread...

i love to watch the birds soar among the clouds...and dare to imagine how it would feel to spread feathered wings and ride the thermals...

i pray that you take the time to create a morning ritual and that we always allow one another the space to enjoy our morning routines...

Lord, help us find our way back...

My Sabbath Song today is about our world and the economic path we have taken the past few decades... and i pray...Lord, help us find our way back...

as i pursue my dreams i have often asked the Lord to guide me to my deeper purpose...and He has responded by leading, and sometimes dragging me kicking and screaming, into my deeper purpose...

"Most of the companies I admire in the world I think have a deeper purpose. I've met a lot of successful entrepreneurs. They all started their businesses not to maximize shareholder value but to pursue a dream." -John Mackey, CEO and founder of Whole Foods Market, Inc. in a Wall Street Journal interview

looking to increase shareholders gains seems to have enabled a few blinded by greed people to bring our economy and our very lifestyles to the brink of collapse...

"Over the past few years, there clearly has been an erosion in the country's financial values. This erosion has happened at a time when the country's cultural monitors were busy with other things. They were off fighting a cultural war about prayer in schools and the theory of evolution. They were arguing about sex and the separation of church and state, oblivious to the large erosion of economic values happening under their feet." -David Brooks, The New York Times

we can no longer do business as usual..nor should we look to the past to repair the present and the future...we must look for new ideas and new people to be the visionary leaders who will accompany us on our journey out of this darkness and despair...

"Select capable men from all the people...men/women who fear God, trustworthy men/women who hate dishonest gain." -Exodus 18:21

if we had not been trying so hard to negate and devalue our "one country under God" founding principle...perhaps we could have elected/followed/believed those capable, trustworthy individuals who hate dishonest gain and not have been led to this place we find ourselves in today...

yet i stand firm in belief that we will find those visionary leaders who are out there for everyone to see...

"My deepest vocation is to be a witness of the glimpses of God I have been allowed to catch." -Henri J.M. Nouwen

and we can catch a glimpse of them if we are open to the possibilities...

"There are people among us who are ethical, responsible and diligent. I hope your story encourages those who toil in obscurity to know that their reward is simple-- they will be ready when the test comes. We need to try to do the right thing every time, to perform our best because we never know what moment in our lives we'll be judged on." -US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger from a Wall Street Journal article by Jeffrey Zaslow

so i make a call to those of you who read my musings...to be open...and aware of those visionaries who touch your life and whose words resonate within your heart...

"In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teachings show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about you." -Titus 2:7-8

as i follow my path on this journey of my life i struggle to live by the words above...and of an old Irish prayer my Irish grandparents taught me...

"Three wishes I ask of the King when I part from my body: May I have nothing to confess, may I have no enemy, may I own nothing! Three wishes I ask this day of the King, ruler of suns: May I have no dignity or honours that lead me into torment! May I not work without reward before Christ! May God take my soul when it is most pure!"

all photography copyright rebecca e. parsons 2009

felted purses...

this is a felted purse made from thrift store sweaters...underneath are my painted purses (Doodle Bags)...click to enlarge and see the detail...i felt wool sweaters in the washing machine...line them with beautiful fabrics with pockets

the best party of the Universe: LIFE

my friend, Juan Reyes Florido, write this on facebook today...

We have been invited to the best party of the Universe: LIFE. Enjoy it and Help others to enjoy it...

you are my sunshine...somer thompson...

my heart is heavy this morning as i am lifting prayers for a beautiful 7-year old girl, Somer Renee Thompson, who was abducted walking home from school on monday afternoon...almost 48 hours later her body was found in a landfill in Folkston, Gerogia...some 60 miles from her home... get the full story with video here

she loved the song 'you are my sunshine'...as do i...this makes me think of my grandfather, who called me sunshine every morning and often sang the song to me...here johnny cash and bob dylan sing it...

i promised a post about the legend of the feather...and i think it is appropriate today...since i heard the story from my beloved grandfather who sang the song to me...

i found this little feather the day Somer went missing...

this morning i found this little dancing feather...

the legend of the feather

as told me by my grandfather

even as a child i always picked things up from the ground as i walked...you have seen some of them here and in my artwork...

i used to go to my grandfather's office to meet him in the afternoons...we would stroll home together...we would stop and buy a newspaper at the newsstand and he would always get me candy or my favorite a sticky bun at the bakery...while walking home with my grandfather one day, i picked up a feather...and he told me this story...

when you find a feather, it was placed there by your guardian angel...he or she was flying very close that day...so they are very special...and you should always stop and thank your guardian angel for protecting you and watching over you...

my grandfather was always finding subtle ways to share his spirituality with me...he went on to tell me that, if you found a big feather...it was usually St. Michael the Archangel or it could be one of the other Archangels-Raphael or Gabriel...and that the feather was really, really special...

yesterday i found this large feather...

other feathers that have been set before me in the recent past...

please pray for Somer's family...