#discovery

Celebrating life’s teachers

/ Joy Lenton / 2 Comments

“Education is not the filling of a pot but the lighting of a fire.” — W.B. Yeats


As my teacher son gears up for the hectic end of the academic term before he can finally rest and relax over the Christmas holiday period, I’m aware of how challenging his role, and that of most teachers, can be.

So it’s good to know that teachers have a designated day where they can be celebrated for their hard work and diligence, the way they impact and influence others. The next one will be on October 5th, 2025, but it’s good to be thankful at any time of the year.

My thoughts have also strayed toward life’s teachers. Several are unexpected or unwelcome sometimes, while others are a joy and delight. The School of Hard Knocks and the University of Life are where we cannot avoid graduating from. However, Tutoring Tower, the Place of Grace and Academy of Blessings are God’s gracious gifts to us.

Through the numerous ways they can come to us in different shapes and sizes, God sends life’s teachers in our direction just when we need them to assist us and teach us His will, wisdom and ways.

My teachers are

my teachers are—

the grass and flowers 
the varied times and tides
the mixed seasons of life
the interwovenness of things
the joys that make my heart sing 

my teachers are—

the sun, moon and stars
the hard grit and grind 
the eternal mind 
the steadfastness of trees
the ways of faith and peace

my teachers are—

the near and far
the world I live in
the dark, thick and thin
the light that ever shines 
the grace that’s yours and mine

my teachers are—

larger by the hour 
as wisdom wears her wings 
both brilliant and singed
and great learning takes place
for all the human race 
© joylenton

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” — Henry B. Adams


Which teachers, whether from life or an educational establishment, are you thankful for?

Are you able to celebrate life’s teachers that might feel like unwelcome irritations right now?

Answers on a postcard, please… 😉 Or you can simply leave a comment below. I’d love to know your thoughts. Xx 💜❤️

world: a voyage of holy discovery

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

“If you have been in the vicinity of the sacred – ever brushed against the holy – you retain it more in your bones than in your head; and if you haven’t, no description of the experience will ever be satisfactory.” ― Daniel Taylor, In Search of Sacred Places

A world within a world

Some can see a world 
in the labyrinthine 
whorls of a rose,

while others sense it
contained within
the smallness of a hazelnut.

Although it is too vast
and complex to be confined
inside one thing or one mind,

there remains a simplicity
bequeathed and revealed 
to the soul of you and me.

A sacred space opens up
to the fathomless,
the infinite, the large,

as our tiny hearts 
become receptacles 
enlarged by holy love.

A whole universe exists 
within each one of us,
ready to be explored.

All we need to offer 
is our openness,
our receptivity is the path

whereby universal truth
can inhabit our hearts,
to be accepted—or ignored.
(C) joylenton

“And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, ‘What may this be?’ And it was answered generally thus, ‘It is all that is made.’”

“I marvelled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God. In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it.” — Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich

My friend, you might be feeling alone and far from God right now or fear that He has forgotten you somehow, but that just isn’t true, because we can rely on the promises in His Word that keep us safe and secure.

God never leaves our side for a second, and He finds a million little ways in which to demonstrate His constant presence, tenderness and love to our fragile, hurting hearts.

May you rest in His unconditional love today as you ask Him to open your eyes to the voyage of holy discovery and joy He wants to take you on. With blessings, love, hugs and prayer from this fellow voyager. Xx 🙂 ❤