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.
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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. -
I Come Here for the Silence
I come for the silence heard in the ground of my being
mws
which brings awareness of the gift of life.
As this gift unfolds,
the sun rises over a cloudless horizon,
a fish quietly rises to the water’s surface
and a quiet prayer is heard in my soul.
This Book of Nature has opened its pages of this new day,
may we silently read each word.
I come here for the silence. -
The Morning After
I was awakened around 2:00 am with flashes of lightning bursting in my bedroom. I could hear and feel rumbles of thunder while the rain pounded on my bedroom window. Sounded like one of those storms my dad would call a toad-strangler. I layed there with a heart full of thanks, thankful for the comfort and protection of my condo and how rain is such a refreshing gift of nature. In my mind I envisioned a predawn eastern sky with scattered clouds above the horizon, perfect for a photo. ❤️ A couple hours later with that vision in my mind I headed out to Pineridge Natural Area. So, when I say morning after in the title I’m talking about the thunderstorm and not any overindulgence from the night before. Thankful those days no longer exist in my life. Hope you have a wonderful Thursday!
- Arapaho Bend Natural Area, landscape, natural areas, poems, poetry, quotes, sunrises, writing/reading
Whoever that may be
In the late summer season of life, I found
mws
authors, guides, and teachers who have made me
aware of the gift of my wandering soul and spirit
within my own inner landscape.
With no knowledge of an inner landscape
I went seeking in the enticing outer landscape
yet this wandering soul and spirit of mine
was never satisfied, never fulfilled, always lost
Now in my winter season of life
my soul and spirit wander my inner landscape
seeking the Unknowable,
that source of life,
Whatever and
Whoever that may be.I’ll end this with a thought from C.G. Jung, suggesting that our wandering has and is the thirst of our being for wholeness, expressed in medieval language: the union with God.
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Something so simple
cloudless predawn sky
mws
silhouetted needlegrass
something so simpleThis image is from Pineridge Natural Area a few days ago. I went for the predawn meditation, to empty my monkey mind and allow nature to fill me with that sense of awe. It’s always a great way to start my day. I was entertained by a half dozen bats demonstrating their aerial acrobatics, silhouetted against the sky. Then I noticed this solitary needlegrass silhouetted against the orange and blue horizon dancing in the light breeze. Grabbed my camera since I had it with me. Something so simple. Have a great Friday!
- Arapaho Bend Natural Area, clouds, landscape, natural areas, poems, poetry, reflections, sunrises, writing/reading
The Power of Practice
To live a life grounded in God
Meister Eckhart’s Book of Darkness & Light
you don’t need information;
you need to be informed by
the spark of divine presence
you always carry within you.
But you’ll have to practice
this, with concentration,
like you would if you were
learning a skill or art.To grow in this craft of photography requires practice. At the present moment I have over 90,000 images in my archives. A rough guess would be that less than 5% of them are good images. I’ll define good as images I’d want to print, frame or sell. And, I post many images on this blog that I would not define as good but want to share them anyway. There is something about them I like. Which means I have a large number of keepers that are lessons and teachers. The lessons they teach may not be something I understand while looking at the image on my computer. Some lessons may be unconscious and only known or understood until I’m in the field and something intuitive, that spark within me, tells me to change my composition or some technical aspect of my equipment. And, that is the lesson practice offers!
This morning’s clouds, predawn colors and reflections at Arapaho Bend Natural Area were a good way for me to start this day. My only hiccup was making an 8 ounce pour-over rather than a 12 ounce pour-over. 😂 I hope you also have a good day in whatever you do!