Mondays with Mary - 24 March

Mondays with Mary

a weekly blog post where the Mystery of Life is explored

as Divine;  where Love is the Muse
and her divine touch opens the heart and

brings breathtaking creatures forth!

Here, the Divine Mary, Mother of All,
creatrix, eternal nurturer, bringer of new life
and also witness to suffering and death, is my muse.

You may dip your quill into the glowing ink

and play along with your own musings or you
may ponder with me on the many stories
of Mary and her many names
through the length of time
and who is she today?
in our ordinary lives.

May these weekly posts bring some of the
lustre to your day that they bring to me
and my take on life!

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

 by any other name would smell as sweet." - William Shakespeare

I leave this post up for the week and

will announce the lucky winner of the week's

giveaway on the weekend - in time for the

next Mondays with Mary.

See below for this week's giveaway!

The Fourth Teaching

(extract from The teaching for one world : wisdom from Mother Mary by Gina Lake)

Accept Life as it is

It is impossible to love or feel at peace

unless you accept life as it is.

Non-acceptance closes the hart, which is the

doorway to love and peace.  There is no

other way but acceptance to open that door.

When you accept it, peace comes and

love flow once again.

This is a hard truth for the mind to swallow.

because the mind is designed to reject,

resist and desire something other

than the way life is.  This resistance is natural

and how you were built to respond to life.

Nevertheless, there is another way.

The mind's rejection of the way life is does

not have to be your internal experience - your experience of life.

There is another possibility.

Is the mind wise enough to know what is best for it?

Like a child, the mind does not know, but it thinks it knows.

Fortunately, you are inherently wise.

Something else within you knows the truth.

Look to that which is wise within you to determine

your stance toward life.  Your internal experience

is governed either by your or your mind.

Peace and love can be how you feel about life.

Find that which is within you that loves and is at

peace with life just as it is. 

That has always been awake and aware within you.

All the photographs were taken in my studio

with my new mannequin - and as you can see

I am ever so in love with it!!

This week's giveaway is a pouch of 

Mother Mary blessing seeds.

You can read more about them here

Please leave a comment if you sign up to participate

with love

Hettienne

Day Eight of Twelve Days with Mary

Pictures taken today in the Mary shrine in the garden of my studio

Today is 8 December and the

Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

I found this very interesting conversation on the Internet

by Eric Bugyis published in the Commonweal Magaize online

I share a small extract, but here is the link

https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/philosophical-reflections-immaculate-conception

Philosophical Reflections on the Immaculate Conception

This past week, I had lunch with one of my Philosophy professors, Karsten Harries, who does not self-identify as a Christian, but given his specialization in nineteenth and twentieth century German thought, is quite familiar with the tradition. Our conversation veered onto the topic of the Immaculate Conception, and he suggested that this Marian doctrine represented a curious celebration of the divinity of nature, more generally, and an elevation of the feminine, in particular, that challenged the patriarchal theology of the Church. By insisting on Mary's sinless state, he suggested, the Church recognized a Trinitarian divinization of Mary as the Mother, Daughter, and Bride of the Godhead, thereby placing Mary, a human, above one of the divine persons and on an equal footing with the other two. Indeed, he pointed out, there were icons of the Virgin that portrayed her as housing all three members of the Trinity in her womb in churches throughout Bavaria, an area whose church architecture Harries has written on extensively. (This is an image that is also repeated in the writings of female mystics like Frauenlob). 

The theological dissonance between the doctrine we affirm this December 8 and the ecclesial practice currently barring women who may be called, like Mary, to (re)conceive and give new birth to the Word of God made flesh among us should be both felt and mourned as we remember and give thanks for that first woman who said, "Yes."

Here is the link for the

Twelve Days of Mary Pilgrimage

hosted by Rebecca

http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/