A girl can dream

A prayer of hope,

as we enter the new year,

for hands to reach across the aisle;
for an end to racism, hate and war,

and all divisions cease...

Indescribable magnificence

What indescribable magnificence

we would find in the human heart

if only we would take the time

to look inward and see..

The journey home

We're on the home stretch now,
tramping down the slick hill in the cold,
eager for the warmth that awaits us.
But stop, for just a moment,
and take in all that beauty.
Watch your breath as it eddies forth
in the chill air,
revel in the arch of trees,
bending under the weight of snow,
listen for the silence
that softens this blue world,
and then for the crunch of booted feet
as we set out again
on this, the final lap
of our journey
home.

As the year fades

The year draws slowly to a close

bathing the highs and lows of our lives

in a gradual wash of nostalgia:

bright colors to fade in the shadows of time.

Looking back, what is it we'll remember, or regret?

What needs your attention?

It's just another day, you think --
nothing special, a way to mark
the time between two major holidays,
a day to spend in the usual ways --
shopping, or cleaning, reading or eating
the gifts we have received...
But no, each day is special: an opportunity
to learn what needs to be learned,
to give what needs to be given,
to love what needs our love...
Listen! As the year speeds toward its finish line,
what is it that needs the attention
that only you can give?

As we come to the close of the year

The day may be over,

but the season is not.

May you find moments of quiet peace

as we move toward the close of the year...

The Santa Train

Stop! Wait! I hear the bells!

It's coming now -- the Santa Train -- 

with carloads full of baggage and old patterns,

outmoded thoughts and unmet expectations.

We'll smile and wave, 

and welcome any passengers

who insist upon debarking,

but this year, let's just graciously 

refuse that "All Aboard!"

Ever nearer

Keep watch, dear ones:

if you look close,

beyond the woven strands of holiday madness

you might just catch a glimpse

of the joy that's swimming

ever nearer,

ever nearer...

What glorious gift?

Having turned that corner,

darkness into light,

expectancy still builds momentum,

longing to burst forth.

What glorious gift from deep within

is yearning to be born

in you?

Pondering the creche

In this season, when there's
so much to be grateful for,
how do we also honor our disappointments?
The job, promotion, or raise we didn't get,
the contest we didn't win,
the marriage that didn't last,
the child that didn't live,
the persistent wounds
that never seem to heal...
We sit here,
up to our necks in gifts and sorrows
and ponder
those timeless figures in the creche --
what do they have to teach us
about holding in our hearts
both joy and sadness?

Standing at the edge of winter

The fields are barren,

empty now,

yet glowing with the promise of spring.

Standing at the edge of winter,

we breathe in the distant horizon

and feel our souls take root,

gathering light for the harvest yet to come.

A Hidden Wholeness

That which is barely seen, or only faintly visible

is nonetheless real:

there is a hidden wholeness to everything:

just wait for the light to change,

and all will be revealed.

Look up and smile

Look up and smile:
what to us is just
a means to an end --
two wires,
carrying thoughts,
or energy,
from one home to another --
might prove to be
a perfect host
for someone else's home.

Nature's like that,
you know --
she seems to find
some unexpected use
for even the darnedest things!

Channeling the wildness

There are beautiful wild forces

spiraling within us.

Let them turn the mills and fill the sacks

that will feed even the heavens.

-- St. Francis of Assisi

Living creatively

"Even though personal creativity may not lead to fame and fortune, 

it can do something that from the individual's point of view is even more important: 

make day-to-day experiences more vivid, more enjoyable, more rewarding. 

When we live creatively, boredom is banished 

and every moment holds the promise of a fresh discovery. 

Whether or not these discoveries enrich the world beyond our personal lives, 

living creatively links us with the process of evolution." 

-- from Creativity, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

What are you waiting for?

And again I ask:
What are you waiting for?

And how are you spending your time while you wait?

Are you squawking? sleeping? 

preening? feathering your nest?

Why, when you have the wings to fly,

would you waste your time

waiting for some undefined future?

Take flight, my friend, and soar into the beauty of Now...

Let the spirit bloom

Though it's meant to be
the Season of Love,
I've noticed people get
a little prickly this time of year --
all those to-do lists,
and the crowds,
and the expectations
of unmet expectations.
Let's make a pact
to rise above
those prickly irritations
and let the Christmas spirit bloom
in spite of it all...

What do you hunger for?

We are, all of us, at our most attentive

when we await something

for which we deeply hunger.

In this, the season of waiting,

what do you hunger for?

Getting into the Christmas spirit

No, I'm not ready for Christmas -- though we did get the lights up and the decoration boxes down from the garage, and I finished designing the annual family calendar.  But the shopping has barely begun, we don't have a tree, and we've been frankly too busy dealing with the weather to get in the Christmas mood.

... but that doesn't mean we're not aware: this season comes with a lot of expectations for stuff lots of people find either hokey or ridiculous -- I mean, face it, there's not an aspect of Christmas that hasn't been somehow overdone or commercialized.

But that doesn't mean there isn't some important truth lying underneath, some deeper awareness that things are supposed to be a little different this time of year.  Whether we fail or succeed, we get that we're supposed to be a little nicer, a little gentler, a little more generous, a little more forgiving when Christmas rolls around. 

And we get that that's hard, and that actually Christmas, the whole holiday thing, is hard, for an awful lot of people.  So many expectations and hopes, so many past disappointments, so many losses to be borne anew as the memories come rolling in...

So, yes.  It's not really about Santa -- whether you see him as a jolly generous old elf or the personification of consumerism.  But I'm posting him here anyway, because I like this version of him, like the twinkle in his eye, the sense of a shared joke just underneath the surface.  He gets, I think, that this Christmas mood thing we're trying to get into is all a game, but he wants it to be fun, and deep down I think he knows we're each a little better and more cheerful for trying to join into the spirit of things.

Some days

Some days --

and there's no rhyme or reason --

I just feel safer watching

from behind a fence...

This, too, shall pass

Like the tides that roll in in the winter

And surround my neighbor's home:

It may look bad for an hour or two,

But the reality is -- this, too, shall pass.

In gratitude

In gratitude

for all the times

that I've been lost in fog

and someone's come along

to tow me home...

The clouds' embrace

Watch, dear one, and see

how the clouds reach out

to cradle and embrace the mountain;

how the sea extends her smooth caress

to stroke and soothe the worried shore.

So, too, will you be calmed --

stop, look, and breathe.

On these wild days

On these wild days -- so icy cold,

snow glowing on the distant mountain,

waves tearing at the edges of our beach --

the world's aflame, like some great burning bush

that's not consumed but ever shining forth;

some fathomless joy keeps surging into being

with each breath, hurling itself

against this darkened shore,

a fierce insistent promise of light.

Take a break to breathe

Stop! Rest! Take a load off your wings!

You've been so busy lately,

gathering sweetness for your hive of family and friends --

practice a little generosity for yourself as well.

Even one breath --

slow,

conscious,

attentive to the flow of love

from outside to within and back again --

(hold it, treasure it for just a moment)

can fuel your energy for the season ahead...

Come love, and set us free

Winter's come,
and now the leaves are off the trees,
we see that we are locked
in the same old patterns,
harnessing our energy
to win some pointless race
forgetting that winning
never sets us free.
It's always someone else
that walks off with that cup
while we are still fenced in --
or locked into a stall of our own creation...

Come light. Come hope, come love:
open the gate and set us free.

When hope is born anew

What will it take, as winter's solstice nears,

to lure the sun back into our lives,

to call the brown bear from his cave,

to find the courage in this looming dark

to dance, and sing, and play the lute

in confidence that spring and light

will visit us again?

A babe, a star, a cry in the night

and hope is born anew...

Celestial ecology

Whatever is, has been before; 

each taking inspiration from the past 

to breathe new life into the future:

this building, once the pattern of a tree, 

reflected in a pond,

this mountain, once a cloud;

this fish, the broken petal of a flower, 

torn by some harsh wind;

this paper once a bowl of rice --

nothing -- yet everything -- even the moon -- original, unique:

each element both dead and born again, 

inflamed with life and spirit, 

and true.

The arc of good intentions

Here, at the edge of being,

where I reach out for you and you for me,

who can say what is real,

and what are merely shadows and reflections?

Beneath the surface, something reaches back,

as eager to communicate its longing

as I am to communicate mine.

Together we become one overarching whole,

a wave, an arc of good intentions

that surges forward with each breath I take.

Anticipation

We wait all our lives

for that windfall to arrive --

for who and what and when we will become --

but all we ever really need to be or to know

is who and what we are in this moment, now.