Sunday, December 30, 2012

The Monastery And Arabia Mountain

 
 
 
We went to the Monastery and Arabia Mountain today. . (They are only a few miles apart and only a few miles from us.)  I wish you the peace that we feel when we are in the balcony of the church of the Monastery. When we are bathed in the blue light and with the monks chanting, the same chants that have gone on for centuries, the timelessness and holiness is beautiful.  This is truly a special place.
 
Arabia Mountain is just as special to us, and I hope you can understand me when I tell you that I also consider it to be holy ground.
 
 
 
 
Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries...
 
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

34 comments:

  1. Kay~Oh~ how beautiful and awesome it must be to be there-bathed in that pure blue light. Gorgeous pictures. Love the poetry by Browning, too. She is one of my favorites-xo Diana

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    1. Thanks, Diana, it is beautiful! Glad you like my taste in poetry! xx

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  2. Bathed in the blue light indeed. Wonderful shots Kay. I bet that must be almost unreal in person as it is inspiring from your images.

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    1. It is truly inspiring. The building itself is CONCRETE, if you can believe it, and the blue stained glass, was to help dispel the bright Georgia sun, what a wonderful idea!

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  3. That blue light is gorgeous, and just the thought of the monks chanting gives me chills. I consider many natural spaces Holy Ground. I get exactly what you mean! Thanks for this lovely post, Kay.

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    1. You would love to hear the monks! And the sound inside this church is unlike ANYTHING in this area, I promise you, it is so still and quiet.
      So glad you understand what I am trying to say here!
      Thank you for your comment!

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  4. Listening to the monks in that beautiful church - it sounds wonderful, Kay. Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy and peaceful New Year.

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    1. It is so wonderful. I wish the very same for you too!

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    1. Thanks! And the very same to you too!
      LOVED your snowflake swap, thanks for letting me in at the last minute. xx

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  6. May the New Year see you living in His peace.

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  7. Beautiful photos, Kay! It all looks so peaceful. I wish you all a peaceful, joyful and healthy 2013! May the New Year be filled with blessings.

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    1. Dear Martha,
      Thank you! You KNOW who took these photos! :-)
      And I wish you many blessings for this new year and for always!
      Love,
      KAY & Richard!

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  8. Happy New Year to you and your lovely family, dear Kay!

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    1. Dear Meike,
      And a very happy new year to you and your dear family also. Hope you are enjoying your new job and still dancing!! xx

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  9. What a special place! I would love to sit and listen to the chanting of the monks. It's wonderful to have a place so spiritual to visit. Have a Happy New Year!

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    1. Oh, you would love it just as much as we do. It's funny, people come here from all over the USA and yet, people who live close to it, the locals, many of them have never visited it! Funny, isn't it? We take things for granted, things that are close to us...
      Happy new year to you too!

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  10. Lovely pictures, I loved the greenery crosses on the doors and the photo of you at the lake. Very pretty.
    Happy New Year,
    Dorothy

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    1. Thanks, Dorothy! Those doors are huge, so the crosses are very big also!
      And Richard took that photo of me, without me knowing, thank goodness, he was far away, that's best for me!LOL

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  11. When I looked at the photos before I read your words, I was thinking how peaceful the monastery looks.
    I've felt the sacredness of undeveloped areas.

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    1. When you first arrive at the Monastery, you can feel the difference, it just feels so serene.
      And our mountains! They are not mountains like the Rockies, but they are high enough to climb that they feel like it!

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  12. Oh, how I miss the monastery and Arabia Mountain! I went to the monastery very frequently during my years in Conyers and it always made me feel so good to go there. It's a sublime little track of Earth. And Kay, you have become a WONDERFUL photographer! Your photos have magically transported me right back to these places, and I am so grateful to you for that!!

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    1. Hey David!
      Of course, you would love the Monastery and Arabia!
      Now, I must tell you...RICHARD is the one who takes most of the photos here on my blog. I take SOME of them, but when I am choosing photos for a post, I only try to choose the BEST for my sweet readers, and Richard takes SUCH good photos. But you know him, DAvid, he is good at anything he does. And what do I do best? Reader, I married him!

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    1. OH yes, David, and I just remembered that I forgot to answer my comments on my post from Christmas Eve!
      So thank you for your comment from that one too!
      Please visit me again!

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  14. Happy New Year to you and all your loved ones, Kay. What a beautiful post this is, filling my heart with happiness! Thank you!

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    1. Oh, thank you so much. This is why like to blog, to get comments like yours! Happy new year to you and yours!

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  15. I like the cross-shaped wreaths and what a beautiful Holy Family carving!

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    1. Thanks, Debra! Aren't they lovely? And Joseph was holding a staff in his left hand, and it was broken. I hope that no one damaged it, we have had some high winds so Richard thinks it might have gotten knocked over. Richard always thinks the best of people and I always think the worst!

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  16. I'm going through your posts; it seems so long since I've visited. This one caught my attention right away. How wonderful to have a Monastery close by....and such a beautiful place as Arabia mountain.

    Earth's crammed with heaven . . . yes indeed!

    Happy New Year to you, Kay.

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    1. Oh yes, Sara, we are very lucky to have them so close by.
      Happy new year to you too and thanks for your visit.

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