A beacon of compassion

Just for today, in anticipation

of a lifetime to come,

can we resolve to become

a beacon of compassion?

Shared mystery

We can, each one of us, in time, identify

with the broken stick, the sand, the shell,

the rivulet, the ocean, the distant hill, the sky;

the island, or its lonely tree; the clouds...

It’s all a mystery, how we can be so different

and yet, each one of us, the same...

Don't be discouraged

Let not the failed attempts of others

serve to discourage you.

You have your own unique gifts, ways,

and means to propel you toward your goal.

Balancing inside and out

It’s easy to get caught up in creating

a perfect nest for ourselves.

but we mustn’t lose sight of the need to connect

with the world outside our own limited existence...

Grazing in the field of now

Driven by a false sense of urgency,

we hesitate to graze in the field of now;

fail to appreciate the value of being still

and drinking in the flavors of this moment.

The roundabout route

Sometimes it’s safer — and wiser —

to take a more roundabout route

to get to where you need to go...

Finding your way

Where I live, the old sayings

about moss on the north side of trees

would prove useless — it grows on all sides.

which just goes to show: the rules we use

to find our way in one community

may not work all that well in another...