Everything you see has its roots
Rumi
In the unseen world.
The forms may change
Yet the essence remains the same.
Every wondrous site will vanish,
Every sweet word will fade,
But do not be disheartened,
The Source they come from is Eternal,
Growing, branching out,
Giving new life and new joy.
Why do you weep?
That source is within you
And this whole world
Is springing up from it.
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… and never looks away
I stand in the midst of creation’s wheel
Steven Charleston
And watch in wonder the quiet majesty of its turning.
We are in the care of a love without limit or definition
Under the protection of a love that never looks away.It is Monday morning and we have fresh snow on the ground, clear blue skies and sunshine. I am grateful to be a witness to this beautiful winter wonderland. Today I am missing my mother who would have been 92 today. I also can say I miss her with a love that is without limits. Not sure I would have said that as a teenager which makes me grateful for my growing maturity. I’m also grateful for the belief that there is a caring love (and I speak of love as an action word, not a noun) that never looks away. I have experienced such love in family, friends and nature. So, I pray today for the gift of sharing with a love I’ve experienced which is without limits and never looks away.
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The Miracle of a Kiss
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
Mary Oliver
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.This past weekend I shot some senior portraits in Red Feather Lakes. While I was there I made another trip on Elf Lane. As I got out and walked among all the elfs and assorted other characters I suddenly, but not unexpectedly, experienced joy. Thought this little frog and princess needed to have their photo taken.
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A Cloudless Sky
What is it about
mws
a cloudless sky that
holds my attention?
Maybe it’s the blue
that melts from dark
to baby blue.
Maybe it’s the mystery
surrounding me,
holding me present.
Maybe it’s the sacredness
of nature unfolding
its beauty before me. -
Darkness & Light
When people ask me what they should do,
Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness & Light
I tell them this: Love others as much as
you love yourself. If you find
that you don’t love some people as
much as you love yourself, then this
is because you’ve not yet learned
to love yourself fully.
For what you do not love in others
you’ve not yet learned to love in yourself;
work on this and you’ll begin to discover
what it means to love as God loves.I’m enjoying this third book by Jon M. Sweeney and Mark S Burrows, Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness & Light. I use it in much the same way I used their first two books, where I read a poem at a time and sit with it. I almost always find one word or a short line that resonates with me. I may write one of the poems or line or two in my journal because it helps me to retain it in my old memory banks. And, hopefully somehow these words will take seed and therefore potentially change the world, or at least change how I react to it. I would add to make a comment about he last line of this poem. I’ve read somewhere that if the God you know only loves the people you love, then maybe that God is too small. Because that group of people we can love is most likely a rather small group in relation to the population of this world.
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Conversation in My Heart
Another morning and I wake with thirst
Mary Oliver
for the goodness I do not have. I walk
out to the pond and all the way God has
given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord,
I was never a quick scholar but sulked
and hunched over my books past the hour
and the bell; grant me, in your mercy,
a little more time. Love for the earth
and love for you are having such a long
conversation in my heart. Who knows what
will finally happen or where I will be sent,
yet already I have given a great many things
away, expecting to be told to pack nothing,
except the prayers which, with this thirst,
I am slowly learning. -
The great Way
The great Way is easy,
Tao Te Ching – Verse 53
yet people prefer the side paths.
Be aware when things are out of balance.
Stay centered within the Tao.
When rich speculators prosper
While farmers lose their land;
when government officials spend money
on weapons instead of cures;
when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible
while the poor have nowhere to turn-
all this is robbery and chaos.
It is not in keeping with the Tao. -
It’s a gift…
I believe poetry is very old.
Mary Oliver
It’s very sacred.
It wishes for a community.
It’s a community ritual, certainly.
And that’s why, when you write a poem,
you write it for anybody and everybody…
It’s a gift to yourself,
but it’s a gift to anybody who has a hunger for it.