Today's poem is The Visitation by Elizabeth Jennings, which you can read here.

The image is of the statue of the visitation which stands outside the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem in Israel (read more here)

And here's the prayer...

God of secrets and surprises,

Of bewildering contradictions -

Pain disguised as joy,

Life wrought through death,

And the ordinary made extraordinary,

Help us, like Mary and Elizabeth,

To find moments undisturbed -

By men* or by miracles -

And to be at one with you

Amen

* Whilst I would intuitively use 'humans' or 'people' in a context like this, 'men' matches the poem ... and I am also intrigued by this most feminine encounter where to be uninterrupted by 'male' humans' is significant.  If you are a man reading this, then maybe think of a male-male encounter hallowed by the absence of women.

Inconsequential, just a small length of tinsel, cut from a reel, sparkling in the light. A reminder, perhaps, that small things can bring joy. Mine is now wrapped around a candle, and adds a little bit of sparkle to its otherwise plainness.

Today's poem returned to the theme of the annunciation, with a poem called Annunciation by Gwyneth Lewis, which I posed some years back here

The image is part of the Jesus Mafa series, which I came across more than a decade ago.  This African art seems to express the progression described in the poem.

The prayer...

God of uncomplicated simplicity, and intricate beauty,

Glimpsed in the everyday scenes of domesticity

As much, if not more, than in high renaissance art,

Open our hearts and our minds to fresh insights,

New wisdom and renewed wonder

As, once again, we ponder the old, familiar story.

Amen

I received a message from someone who has discovered this blog asking if it was possible to 'follow'.  I did reply, but, due to an incomplete or mistyped email address, it bounced.

The short answer is, I don't know how to set that up, or even if it's possible on this platform - but thank you for your message and I hope you continue to enjoy this blog.

Today's item was a tiny tube of bubble solution... the one in the bag had somehow got damaged and was empty, a moment of disappointment.  Because I had a couple of back-up bags 'just in case' I had another chance - and spent a happy few minutes blowing bubbles.

What I could not have anticipated is how much the cats would love the bubbles.  Let's just say that Santa Paws has been asked for a bubble machine...!

That's about the level of this week's gifts - just a bit of fun!