• landscape,  mountains,  natural areas,  quotes,  silence

    Art of Presence

    January 20, 2025

    Prayer is the art of presence. Where there is no wonder there is little depth of presence.

    John O’Donohue

    I stood in wonder this morning at the scene before me. A silence surrounded me. With almost no wind I became aware of the stillness, the beauty, and the penetrating cold. I felt alive. There was a voice inside reminding me that I was an integral part of this world. And, my presence in this world is to love all of creation, to be anchored in justice and compassion, to accept our interconnectedness with all things, to listen and observe our natural world as a teacher, and that living life, being present with all its ups and downs, is a spiritual experience. So, if prayer is the art of presence, then I wish to practice this art of presence until my heart beats for the final time! I guess you can say even that is a prayer.

    If you enlarge this image of the frigid morning at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area you can faintly see the setting of the waning gibbous moon just to the right of center. Stay warm, be safe and pray.

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  • Candid Portraits,  People/Portraits,  quotes

    Moving on…

    January 13, 2024

    “Whether we experience what happens to us as obstacle and enemy or as a teacher and friend depends entirely on our perception of reality. It depends on our relationship with ourselves.”

    Pema Chödrön

    Weather app says it’s −11° and feels like -24°. They are spot on. We also had a dusting of snow overnight. After quiet time I made myself a bhakti chai, wrapped a blanket around myself, settled in for some reading and journaling. After my phone call with Eric I drove to Starry Night because today is Stephen’s last day as my barista. He’s a very good barista and very personable, one of my favorites. No one who walks in will feel like a stranger when he is working. So, I wanted to say goodby on his last day. He has been working and studying to be an EMT and was just hired by the fire department in Johnstown. I enjoy watching as young people move on to new paths. I’ve seen that a lot with baristas, which means I have to train another barista. Good luck and have fun, Stephen! Its now 11:43 am and we’ve warmed up to −6°.

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  • Plants,  quotes

    Wonder

    April 30, 2022
    A bedraggled dandelion from the archives

    Wonder at reality demands the humility to sit at the foot of a dandelion. The proud are so full of themselves that there is little room to marvel at anything else.

    Thomas Dubay

    Our world is a mix of both, those who look with awe and wonder at the world and those who only look in their mirror. Hopefully, many of those looking in the mirror learn to turn away. I’m one of them. As a young man it was all about fishing, camping, anything outdoorsy. Then somewhere between the ages of 18-40 years the focus was on the American dream: the career, a family, a home, a car, the pursuit of money. Seemed to always be some carrot dangling out there. I spent a share of my life vainly looking at the mirror.

    I won’t list all the changes in my life which have allowed me to see life differently. But I do. I’ve heard it called finding a new pair of glasses. With these glasses I’ve discovered I know I don’t know it all, nor do I need to know it all, yet striving to become all that I can be. I’ve come to know it as humility. I become a teacher only by living as a student of life, knowing I will never know it all. Now I sit at the foot of dandelions and ants and sunrises… in wonder of it all!

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