Thursday, December 31, 2015

What have we learned


As we embark on this, the year's last day,
what will we celebrate?
What have we learned from this year past;
what darkness will we gladly leave behind;
what losses ache, and what bright new hope
will we be carrying into tomorrow's dawn?

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

A lesson from your pupils



Observe this: how your pupils, in a darkened room,
Will open wide, and wider still,
In their struggle to find light.
Let your heart follow their example:
When everything seems too dark to bear,
Let it open wide, and wider still,
Until, at last, it encompasses the light.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Seeking a peaceful night


As we come to the end of a stressful year
and face into the challenges of the year to come,
help us all to trust that things are happening as they should;
and to sleep in peace, understanding 
that rest will solve more problems
than worrying ever could.

Monday, December 28, 2015

Softening the barriers


Somewhere above, below, beyond -- or perhaps 
within -- the harried pace of daily life
there exists a centered calmness, a quiet peace.
Breathe, my friend; breathe deep:
find that serenity, and let it spread 
and soften all the barriers you thought stood firm
between what is and what could be.

Sunday, December 27, 2015

What can we share?


And now, today, when we who had so much already
have just a little more, what can we share,
and what can we give away?

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Honoring our inner gifts


And now we've welcomed the manger's light
as warmly as we're able,
Let's learn to love those other ones
who populate our inner stable:
the ox, the lamb, the mom, the dad,
the shepherd and the king.
Each has come to honor the light;
each has a gift to bring.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas!


There's a manger, deep within us,
Glowing with the promise of 
a new beginning; gentle echo
Of the star that shines above.
May that spirit of peace and kindness
Grow to fill the world with love.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Clouds of wonder


As dark descends, the moon is on the rise,
and in the chill night air we wait,
our breath soft clouds of wonder
as we contemplate the joys in store
for all the world to share...

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Follow the path of light


Whatever dreams your future may hold,
the fact is: now is now.
Take off your shoes,
feel the sand beneath your feet,
and follow the path of light that lies before you.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Light has returned!


The sun sets slowly,
with a corresponding splash 
of brightness on the rocks,
and now we know that when it sets again,
it will be later in the day. Light has returned:
let all the world rejoice!

Monday, December 21, 2015

Solstice

 
And now it has arrived, this darkest night --
and the rain, which cuts the sky and faces
like a knife designed to part the short day from the sun
(what ends from what's begun, my life from yours) --
and all the endings of the world run screaming
across the horizon trailing ragged flags
in all the bitter colors loss assumes
until, to save us, in that blackest, bleakest moment -- 3 am,
when all those worries gather in your throat,
silent sentries, standing helpless
as the multitudes of fear surge forth in waves --
sleep finally arrives to hold us in her arms
and rock us gently toward a newer, brighter day.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

The sacred darkness


Wait patiently. These long dark nights are sacred space
where something old is dying, and something new
is struggling to be born.
Other eyes than yours are gazing tenderly upon you,
holding you, and breathing 
your inner flame back into light.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Surely we can find a way


Though differently constructed,
we drift in the same universe.
Surely we can find a way
to learn from one another...


Friday, December 18, 2015

... and still we wait


... and still we wait: for peace, for hope,
for an end to the cries of grief and pain
that echo in the night.
Tethered to our stories,
we're longing to break free...

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Each an angel


How glorious life would be, if we remembered -- or believed --
that each person we meet is an angel (and so are we):
that whether dressed in white or black, each carries deep within 
that divine light that ignites us all; each offers us some truth
that rounds out our understanding of the world...

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

The season of waiting


It has begun: the season of waiting,
that deep sense of anticipation 
for what life has yet to bring:
for light, for love, or for some perfect gift
as yet unknown, some unspeakable generosity
to fill our hearts and all our hours with joy...

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Part of a larger whole


As technology continues to propel us
toward an ever more integrated world,
it seems only natural that our egos would resist.
If we are to survive this fundamental shift,
we must come to accept that we are part of a larger whole
in which our individual differences are invaluable:
a resource to be cherished, not defended or attacked.

Monday, December 14, 2015

The peace between


Come, my love: let's travel 
to that wide flat plain that lies between
the hunger and the fear.
Together we can build a cabin there,
and live and breathe the peace between...

Sunday, December 13, 2015

The flutter and the flurry


How do we stop these constant fluctuations;
the aggravating bounce of thoughts
from pleasure to pain, from praise to blame,
from loss to gain, from disgrace to fame?
The hope of one vies with the fear of the other
to send us soaring up or plummeting down.
Breathe now: sink deep into the center of your soul
and find the still calm peace that lies 
beneath the ebb and flow, the flutter and the flurry.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Divine Alchemy


With each breath, we can participate in some Divine Alchemy:
whatever suffering touches us, whatever pain or anger, 
fear or loss can be gently held, 
and then transformed from darkness into light, 
to finally spill out again as love.

Friday, December 11, 2015

The path that leads us back


You breathe us into being,
filling us with the sweet scent of growth,
then breathe through us
as we seek, or find, or travel down
the path that leads us back to that first breath.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

A multitude of colors


When will we realize
a multitude of colors
makes the world a brighter place?

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Be wary of assumptions


We are so quick, when we see one cloud,
to imagine others soon to come,
and lightning not far behind.
Best to accept the cloud that's here, and now,
and not to assume it's a harbinger of doom.
Yes, we might be wary,
but we need not sink into gloom.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

So many opportunities


Rain, rain, and still more rain:
water spilling over every gutter, ditch and stream --
like the thoughts that flood my mind
when I'm trying to be quiet --
so many opportunities for reflections!

Monday, December 7, 2015

What lies beyond?


This web of preconceptions through which we view the world,
colored by genetics and experience,
has a way of tinting everything we see. When will we
thrust aside this curtain and step forth into the blue beyond?
What will it take to cut through to the truth that lies beneath?

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Divine innocence


Honor your own sweet incandescent star,
that spark of divine innocence within
that longs, that seeks, that strives to bring
some brightness into being;
that hopes, that loves, that dreams
of a better world.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

What falls will rise again


Weep not, to learn the end of days is near:
what falls will feed the earth, and rise again.

Friday, December 4, 2015

A little white space


Time, our hearts, our brains, our art --
each benefits when we allow or consciously create
a little white space.
Stop. Breathe. Let all that could distract you 
slip away, if only for a moment,
to expose and set apart what's real; what's true.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Dress and dismiss


This baggage we all carry is full of tired old thoughts
with which we clothe our new experiences and adventures.
The fit may be a little tight, but then we needn't look
at the naked  potential and energy beneath.
We can recognize and easily dismiss all possibility,
of hope, of creativity, of growth, or of change.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Life as an experiment


What if we saw all life as an experiment?
Yes, we'd draw conclusions along the way,
but if we could stay open, present, focused on the now,
new data points might surface; 
new patterns might emerge 
to guide us to a broader, 
more compassionate understanding of our world.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Lessons from the earth


Place your hand upon a stone, warmed in the afternoon sun,
and listen to the secrets coursing beneath its lichen-laced skin:
all paths lead to the heart of being;
all paths lead to the heart.