As summer fades...

As the deep green leaves of summer

Fade to gold, we take this one last opportunity

To celebrate the pleasure of a day

When all that’s asked of us

Is simply to appreciate what is.

The song in the stillness

Listen for the voice, the song,

singing in the stillness:

the voice that sings of home, and safety,

and love.

Nourished by the ruins

Yes, you have been burned -- haven't we all? --

but look at all the new growth springing up,

nourished by the ruins of the past...

Reflecting you

Whatever light you see in me

Is a reflection of your own amazing brilliance.

Autumn on its way

Though I am fed by the greenness of things,

I still can sense the creeping inevitability

Of Autumn...

Our thirst for hope

However frustrated we may be

We have to trust that change is in the wind;

That beneath this dry surface

Opportunities are ripening

And our thirst for hope will finally be assuaged.

Calm reflections

The calmer the waters around you,

the clearer your own reflections will be.

We dream of clearer skies

Reddened by the smoke 

from all the late summer wildfires,

the sun burrows down into the darkness,

leaving us to dream through the night

of clearer, cooler skies to come...

Keep on grumbling

What is this urge that drives us to create, or shop,

to write, or drink, or snack, or run away --

and how do we know whether to listen and obey

or just ignore and keep on grumbling at the world?

First step to forgiveness

The first step to forgiving

The dark shadows in others’ souls

Is accepting the dark shadows in our own...

Dreaming of a brighter, kinder future

Though life keeps throwing rocks into their path,

The waves of hope continue their relentless rush,

And still we look to the blue horizon

And dream of a brighter, kinder future.

Hop to it!

“Hop to it!” My mom used to say

If I was avoiding some task she’d assigned me;

“Hop to it!” As if I were some sort of frog

With no other demands on my time...

Humbling awarenesses

They come, like thieves, with the moon,

In the wee hours of the morning,

These humbling awarenesses of imperfection,

Masking the radiance of our souls

With shoulds, and should-have-dones,

And - worst of all - the never-shoulda-saids.

From the same stalk...

However different you and I appear to be —

You in the golden bud of youth

While I am blowsy with age —

Let’s not forget we share the same roots;

Together we’re both reaching for the sun.

The clutter in my brain

The clutter in my brain

reveals itself in silence,

then empties itself onto the page...

Heart of compassion

What is it you desire most,

And what could you do today

To help others achieve that goal?

Smoke-reddened

The smoke-reddened sun has set 

our whole world aflame...

What compassionate act?

Whatever culture or religion you espouse,

I suspect compassion is still a primary value.

What compassionate act

will you perform today?

Above the fray

Though it looks like a wild and crazy day,

see if you can find a way

to stay above the fray --

you won't regret it!

Gratitude for beauty

Take a moment today

To say a prayer of gratitude

For all the people who make the time

To add a touch of beauty to our world.

Drink deeply in the silence

The love and acceptance for which you thirst

Lies waiting, sparkling, deep within

The well of the body, sourced by the river

Of spirit that flows through all.

Drink deeply in the silence, and be healed.

Finding my way home

However thick the fog may be —

The infinite distractions

that keep cluttering up my mind and time —

I know I’ll always find my way home to You.

The web of connection

And finally, as the day draws to a close,

The late afternoon sun highlights

The web of connection we always suspected

That binds us all together, each to each...

It won't be long

In the heat of summer, the pine cone’s sap —

A not-so-subtle reminder that

It won’t be all that long before

Winter coats her needles with ice...

The nature of prayer

What is it that we're doing,

when we isolate ourselves

and stand here with our arms outstretched,

trying to catch the wind?

The road to compassion

The road to compassion is paved with kinder words

Than I have spoken yet today.

Help me to step more carefully between the lines...

Appreciate the past and the path

Pausing for a moment

on our path to the future,

We appreciate the beauty

of the past we left behind...

Broadening compassion

Whatever you feel compassion for —

These animals in the cold? —

Can you extend that feeling broader,

To include the lost, the ill, the refugee,

The rich, the poor, the powerful? Yourself?

When we stand together

Sometimes it’s hard to tell
Where you end and I begin,
But when we stand together
What beauty we create!

You are not your suffering

Trapped inside your own head?

You are not your suffering, but so much more.

Focus on the world beyond your pain,

And feel the tension slip away...

A light in the darkness

Do your best to be a light in the darkness,
And trust that the world around you
Will reflect and multiply
the light you choose to share.