• Avian,  quotes,  reflections

    Love One Another

    November 4, 2024
    Male mallard at the ponds

    “Love one another.” If we took those simple words to heart, we’d already be the Buddhas Jesus wanted us to be.

    Kathleen Dowling Singh

    Even though the world is in much chaos, love is still a powerful force in life. Love seems to be a constant in my readings and conversations. It may be that I’m more attune to love at this stage of my life. It may be because I spend more time in nature at this stage of my life. It may be that I am reading more poetry at this stage of my life. Maybe it’s because I’m coming to understand what love truly is. Maybe I’m really experiencing what it means to love one another, taking these words to heart, and all of creation. Oh, that more of us would embrace the power of love!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  meditation,  natural areas,  poems,  quotes

    You are a light…

    October 30, 2024

    Let me honor you today with the respect you deserve.
    Let me acknowledge you as a person
    Who has worth and value.

    Our world would be diminished without you.
    Our journey would seem longer.
    You bless us with your presence.
    You make a difference in our lives.
    We need you.

    There are many who would stand to say this with me.
    You are loved.
    I know you well enough to understand
    That you do not expect
    Or even want to hear this kind of praise.
    But I believe the spirit intends every human heart
    To hear a simple truth: you are a light others can see.

    Steven Charleston

    Today would have been my mothers 93rd birthday. I miss your light!

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  sunsets

    The Real Questions

    October 29, 2024

    Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits…

    Henri Nouwen

    A few years ago I took up the practice of asking myself such questions. Even stopping during the day to ask them, especially if I was restless or irritable. It’s now become a regular part of my day. It requires me to be honest and thorough in this self-examination and maybe even bounce it off a close friend. It can turn the day around for me and others. I must confess I’m not as diligent with this practice as I would like to be. But, that’s why it’s called practice. It causes me to wonder what our world would look like if more people were to do such an inventory of themselves each day? I’ve come to believe these are the real questions everyone needs to ask.

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  • bicycling,  quotes,  trees

    Cluelessness

    October 26, 2024

    When it comes to learning something new, cluelessness turns out to be the perfect and only place to start.

    Margaret D. McGee

    One of the gifts with bicycling along the hard surface trails in Fort Collins has been the connection to nature. The trails separate me from the city noise but within the city. Unless I told you there were homes a short distance from this scene you wouldn’t know it, you’d be clueless! A brisk 31 degrees this morning but clear blue skies and sunshine now. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

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  • quotes,  shadows

    Everyday Miracles

    October 25, 2024
    My dad’s wood carving of Madonna and child

    The intimacy our souls long for can happen only when we take off whatever stands between ourselves and union with the One. Our hunger for new cars and clothes, our reliance on other people’s opinions of us, our preconceptions about what it means to be spiritual, our attachment to habitual states of misery. Take it off. Peel it off and fling it off. Find your own subversive spirit and reclaim even the most challenging parts of your life as holy ground. Then everyday miracles will spring from beneath your bare feet to astonish you.

    Mirabai Starr

    A rather cold morning here in Colorado with last night bringing a hard frost. The middle of next week will be cold with the possibility of our first snowfall of the season. That will curtail my bicycle rides to coffee. I am intrigued by Mirabai’s suggestion to find our own subversive spirit because I have been on that path for several years now, and enjoying it. I am learning to see those everyday miracles and sometimes capture an image of them. And, I like how Kathleen Dowling-Singh suggests it is a gift to pursue a spiritual path while still in the midst of life.

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  • fall season,  leaves,  quotes

    It is all a miracle!!!

    October 24, 2024

    The wind has blown hard today, gusting up to 30 mph. The blue sky is filled with an infinite number of yellow, gold, brown, red, pink, and multi-speckled leaves. And, all are being invited to dance and sing with the wind. Yet some hold on, not ready to let go, even though it’s an essential part of their journey. I must confess, I do love the music that they make together, this chorus after chorus of rustling leaves and wind. Their music is one of the primary reasons I enjoy this time of the year. This image is taken outside my front door where the wind swirls leaves into a delightful blanket of beauty just for me. It is all a miracle!!!

    A touch of pink

    Somewhere along the way, you realize that no one will teach you how to live your own life — not your parents or your idols, not the philosophers or the poets, not your liberal arts education or your twelve-step program, not church or therapy or Tolstoy. No matter how valuable any of that guidance, how pertinent any of that wisdom, in the end you discover that you make the path of life only by walking it with your own two feet under the overstory of your own consciousness — that singular miracle never repeated in all the history and future of the universe, never fully articulable to another.

    Maria Popova

    This quote by Maria Popova is from a wonderful blog post which you can read here.

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  • quotes,  shadows,  sunsets

    The Day’s Starburst

    October 19, 2024

    “What gift might I bring to this day?”

    Brother David Steindl-Rast

    This was taken earlier in the week. It is a very different scene today as we are overcast where gray clouds block the sun and it’s cold. When I left this morning for coffee around 8:45 it was 43 degrees. on my ride home an hour and a half later it had warmed to 46 degrees. The question in this quote would be a good way to start each/any/all day. The gift may be a poem, painting, photograph, giving someone a hug or compliment, just being present and awake, or the gift of who we truly are, not a shadow self or the persona self but the true essence of who we are. It could even be a good question to ask before going to bed. Stay warm and enjoy your weekend!

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