Thomas Ray Lumen

Catching Dreams in the Land of Enchantment

2009-08-03T09:05:00.001-07:00

We make our dream catchers BIG out here in New Mexico.

(yes, I know it's just an abandoned billboard, but I can dream can't I?)

It's believed by members of the Ojibwe Tribe and other Native American People that a dream catcher changes a person's dreams by allowing only good dreams to filter through during the night, while keeping bad dreams in the net, to have them disappear with the light of day.

It's a beautiful thing.

Cherish your visions and your dreams
as they are the children of your soul
the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.

~ Napoleon Hill

Nothing happens unless first we dream.

~ Carl Sandburg

When you achieve your dream
pursue another dream.
That's how to live a life of adventure.
~ Unknown

Sweet dreams everyone.

Spiritual Px...

2009-07-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

A Gallery of Photos Evoking the Quality of Spirit.

“Photography is a small voice
but sometimes
one photograph
or a group of them
can change our sense of awareness.”

~ W. Eugene Smith

"Photography
is a way of feeling
of touching
of loving."

~ Aaron Siskind

Emerlinda's Cross

2009-07-28T06:33:00.000-07:00

Lemitar, New Mexico

We must bear our crosses; self is the greatest of them all. If we die in part every day of our lives, we shall have but little to do on the last. How utterly these little daily deaths destroy the power of the final dying!

~ Francois de Salignac Fenelon

To deny one's self, to take up the cross, denotes something immeasurably grander than self-imposed penance or rigid conformity to a divine statute. It is the surrender of self to an ennobling work, an absolute subordination of personal advantages and of personal pleasures for the sake of truth and the welfare of others and a willing acceptance of every disability which their interests may entail.

~George Horace Lorimer

The Magic Journey...

2009-07-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

to higher ground.

"For a small reward
a man will hurry away on a long journey,
while for eternal life
many will hardly take a single step."
~ Thomas A. Kempis

“On a long journey of human life,
faith is the best of companions;
it is the best refreshment on the journey;
and it is the greatest property.”
~ Buddha

"We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”
~ Stephen R. Covey

“You must enshrine in your hearts
the spiritual urge towards light
and love, Wisdom and Bliss!”
~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Happy trails ...to all of you on your paths.

(photo location: Fidel Center, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM)

The Spiritual Everywhere

2009-07-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

... everywhere Spiritual.

There is no place without God.

"God is breath
the breath of the wind that is shared by ALL
goes everywhere, nothing shuts it in
nothing holds it prisoner."

Maximus the ConfesssorSo breathe in God deeply.

"What more pleasant sensation than sunshine on skin
Spirit and flesh drinking in the light Of God
and energy itself."
~ Emme Woodhull-Bäche

So drink in God deeply.

The World is a gift from God. One can grow mightily in perception and love of God the gift giver ... through the gift.

Everything is a gift of the invisible, a palpable mystery.

"For since the creation of the world
God's invisible qualities
his eternal power and divine nature
has been clearly seen
being understood from what God has created
so that men are without excuse."

Romans 1:20

"... I am the light that is over all things.
I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained.
Split a piece of wood; I am there.
Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."

"...the kingdom of the father
is spread out over the earth,
and people do not see it."

Secret Teaching of Jesus
Gospel of Thomas

Power of Photography

2009-07-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Michigan man brings happiness to local hospital.

Photographs that Help Heal

"People appreciate local shots that have some meaning to them," said Tysman. "Next time they go there, they see it or seek it out and appreciate it when they drive by."

"They need a break from the tension that might be there from illness," said Tysman. "I see them walking down the hallway looking at them and it offers a bit of a break from the routine that they are going through."

More Flower Power

2009-07-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Because the world can always use a little more flower power.

Each flower is a soul opening out to nature.
~ Gerald De Nerval

The Healing Power of Flowers
by Keith Riewe

Light therapists say light is a nutrient to the body, just as food is, and that humans need light in different intensities and color ranges to regulate their biological clocks. The pineal gland acts as the body's light meter, processing spectral differences it then passes on to the brain. Various systems in the body respond positively to different colors.

For instance...

Yellow - conveys warmth, sunshine, happiness and energy. Yellow stimulates mental activity and the motor nerves, which generates energy for muscles. The best color to send to cheer up someone.

Purple - combines the stability of blue with the energy of red, suggesting spirituality, sophistication, luxury and authority. Nearly 75 percent of pre-adolescent children prefer purple to all other colors. One of the most universally preferred colors by all ages.

If you pass by the color purple in a field
and don't notice it,
God gets real pissed off.
~ Alice Walker

Please, don't piss God off!!!

"The Artist's Quest...

2009-07-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

(and the viewers)

... is to succeed in combining and balancing
all compositional attributes and physical elements
into those that are purely spiritual.

That is the secret of art."
~Edward J. Fraughton

It's a never ending quest.

Discover Your World...

2009-07-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

and give all your heart to it.

“Some photographers take reality...
and impose the domination of their own thought and spirit.
Others come before reality more tenderly
and a photograph to them is an instrument of love
and revelation.”
Ansel Adams

The Path...

2009-07-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he sees that his life will be over altogether too soon.

~ Carlos Castaneda ~ from A Separate Reality.

Beauty, Beauty Everywhere

2009-07-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

If you're open to finding beauty... beauty will find you.

There are window blinds that try to keep the light out of the building where I work. Normally, I saw little beauty in them.

The goal is not to change your subjects,
but for the subject to change the photographer.
~Author Unknown

Chances are that if the photographer ends up changed, the viewer will be too.

See The Light...

2009-07-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

Feel the light.

Be the light.

A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways - by a change from light to darkness or from darkness to light; and he will recognize that the same thing happens to the soul.

~Plato

Flower Power

2009-07-14T11:11:00.001-07:00

...is alive and well.

Flowers have spoken to me
more than I can tell in written words.
They are the hieroglyphics of angels,
loved by all men for the beauty of their character,
though few can decipher
even fragments of their meaning.
~Lydia M. Child