my painting from last year....

Joanne Rand Band, Flying Rattlesnake,OCF '13

The first good thing is the goodness of nature.
God is the same thing as nature.
The goodness in nature is God.
God feels great delight to be our Father.
God feels great delight to be our Mother.
We experience a wondrous mix of well and woe.
The mingling of both well and distress in us
is so astonishing
that we can hardly tell which state
we or our neighbor are in—
that’s how astonishing it is!
—Julian of Norwich

Alicia Keys, Brandi Carlile - A Beautiful Noise