Listen to your soul

Make time today to sit with yourself and listen: 

What is it that your soul truly hungers for? 

Is it really “more” and “better?” 

Or might it be simply “this” and “now?” 

Perhaps all the sustenance we need 

Is already here, in this moment.

What and where to give

In a world where there is so much need, 

So much that demands our attention — 

Earthquakes, war, famine, disease — 

How do we decide how and where to help 

When so much is required 

And we have so little to offer?

I think we start close to home; 

Make a difference where we can, 

And trust that whatever we can do 

To brighten the world around us 

Will have larger ramifications..

Moving through the shadows

We don’t tend to know what’s coming, 

What’s moving toward us in the shadows, 

Or what lies waiting at the crossroads, 

But still we press on, 

Despite the fog of anticipation and worry, 

Trusting that when we reach 

That eternal stopping point 

We will not be alone…

Your heart as a garden

Think of your heart, your love, your community, 

Your nation, your world, your universe 

As a garden: capable of enormous beauty, 

Of sustaining life, of feeding our eyes, 

Our lungs, and our souls with grace 

When carefully tended, watered and weeded.

Freedom

Invited to paint with a simple piece of cardboard, 

I found myself closer to the canvas; 

More intimately engaged with the painting, 

And more inclined to follow 

Where the mix of colors led. 

It was as if the critical voices in my head 

Had been silenced, and I was free 

To simply enjoy the process without worrying 

 How it looked, or where it might take me…

Pluses and minuses

Life is full of pluses and minuses; 

Divisions and dividends. 

On which do you find yourself focusing?

Coloring the past

When you look back on the past, 

What do you see? 

Do you focus on the shadows or the light? 

Do you remember what carried you through, 

Or what was happening in the wider world — 

And are those memories colored 

With joy or with pain?

Keep working!

There will be gray days, 

But still there is work to be done, 

Tasks that must be accomplished 

No matter what the weather or your mood. 

Keep rowing, and remember to be grateful: 

Your activity will keep you warm, 

And your aching limbs will distract your mind 

From worrying…

Echoing our hungers

We carry within us this sense 

Of responsibility to the natural world, 

Which, in its silence, speaks to us, 

Echoing our own internal hungers 

For love, for safety, for respect, 

And for connection.

Fearing change

New opportunities await you, 

Yet here you stand: 

Entranced by the possibilities 

But reluctant to take that final step, 

Not opening those doors 

For fear of what you might 

 Have to leave behind…

Light at the end of the tunnel

Always, contained within the darkness, 

There beckons an invitation to the light: 

We simply need the courage 

To step into it and through; 

To lean into the difficult and challenging, 

Rather than walk away.

Breathe more deeply

The act of centering 

Takes us down to our roots; 

To the tranquil waters of spirit 

That well up within us; 

To that place where, once again, 

We can breathe more deeply, 

 And know.

Never grow complacent

May we never grow complacent 

About the simple pleasures of this life: 

The shade of trees, the scent of flowers, 

The song of birds and the glorious colors 

Of the sunsets and sunrises, ever new 

And always renewing the promise 

Of new beginnings and restful nights.

In the Divine embrace

Those of us who long to be held 

In the embrace of the Divine 

May find our longings satisfied 

More outdoors than in, 

Finding peace while floating, 

Cradled tenderly, in the arms of the clouds…

When opportunities arise

Yes, there will always be 

Opportunities that arise 

And folks who are quick 

To take advantage of them. 

It’s up to us to evaluate the risks, 

Decide to climb, or simply wait 

For them to fall…

Guiding lights

A word of gratitude today 

For all the saints over the years 

Whose words and hearts 

Continue to light the way 

For those of us who navigate 

The challenging shoals of life.

Oases of love

In these dry and worrisome times, 

I’m more grateful than ever 

For the gardeners who are willing to share 

Their cool and fragrant oases of green. 

May each of us, in turn, 

Serve as oases of love in this troubled world…

Appreciate imperfections

However perfect life might be, 

There will always be projects we began 

That didn’t unfold as we expected; 

There will always be things that bug us. 

We do our best to appreciate it all — 

Not just the perfect, but also the imperfections 

Which give the perfect character 

And help us appreciate it all the more…

Aflame with love

It’s morning now, and that red light 

From smoke and sun 

Sets our interiors aflame, 

Just as a word of hope or kindness 

Can set the darkest heart 

Aflame with love.

Promise in the night sky

Even as the day fades, blazing with glory, 

The small moon tips its well of light 

Into the night to come; 

A promise of more joy on the horizon. 

The waters, like the light, 

Will rise and fall again, 

Called into motion by the gentle prompting 

Of the distant moon.

Celebrate character

Do not bemoan the many signs of age, 

But celebrate the character they display, 

And stand firm in your willingness 

To prepare and point the way 

For a better life for others.

Let the subtle shine forth

Do not assume, when the sun drops 

Beyond the horizon, 

That the wonderful display of color is at end. 

Often the most spectacular moments 

To occur in our lives 

Come after the obvious bright benefits 

Have left the room, 

And the subtle has its opportunity to shine.

Reminders

Everywhere we look, there are reminders 

Of both the suffering in the world 

And the divine grace that brought us to this place.

Divine mystery awaits

Whatever our environment, 

Whether urban, suburban, rural or remote, 

The divine mystery is there, 

Waiting for us to breathe it in and respond.

Elsewhere there are fires

In the midst of the cool and calm, 

A reminder that there are fires burning 

Elsewhere in the world…

In touch with mystery

This morning I opened a book I’d purchased —

Used, old, and out of print — 

And these petals fell out, 

As if to mark the place which read, 

“Contemplatives withdraw from time to time 

Into silence and solitude. 

They do this, consciously or unconsciously, 

To nourish their willingness 

And intouchness with mystery.” 

Indeed…

No effortless peace

The invitation to peace 

Inevitably contains within it 

A presumption of effort: 

We reach that stillness we think of as home 

By having diligently applied our oars, 

Sweeping repeatedly past 

The interruptions of an anxious mind 

To achieve the desired destination: 

Only then can we tie up and rest.

Sharing our giftedness

Creativity and intelligence take many forms, 

Not all of them readily recognizable 

To others, to our parents; 

Not even to ourselves. 

Often what we bring into the world 

Is as natural — and invisible — to us 

As water to the fish in the sea. 

Make time today to realize 

How very gifted you are 

And find new ways to bless the world 

 With those gifts.

Good morning!

 When morning gilds the skies…

Surprised by the scent of love

The most important decision 

A contemplative photographer makes 

Is whether or not to respond 

To the invitation. 

Those of us who listen; 

Who stop and turn and go back to see 

What’s calling them, and kneel 

In search of the perfect composition, 

Having taken the shot, make awake to find 

Their nostrils and their hearts and eyes 

Filled with the sweet surprising scent of Love.

Trust in the becoming

Who we are now and what we are becoming 

May be very different things. 

Our job in this moment 

Is simply to bloom as best we can, 

And to trust that our labors and our losses 

Will result in something more 

Than we could ever have asked or imagined.