Thursday, September 30, 2021

Ever present mystery


It’s always there, the mystery: 
Shining through the busyness and complexity, 
Enlightening the darkest corners of our lives, 
Reminding us — when we remember 
To stop, look, listen, and breathe — 
That we are not alone; 
That we are loved.

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Welcoming the change


It’s as if all nature celebrates with exuberance 
These last few days of summer, 
Tossing clouds into the sky like confetti; 
An explosion of rejoicing; wild abandon 
To both celebrate the harvest 
And to welcome the return of winter’s rest. 
If only we could be so welcoming to change…

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Forgiveness as a rainbow


We sit, amazed, before the rainbow, 
Wondering at the miracle of colors birthed 
When a patch of light is cast 
 On clouds and rain; 
A beauty that is echoed when 
The soft light of forgiveness falls 
Upon clouds of anger and the rain of tears.

Monday, September 27, 2021

Simple pleasures


In a time when so much has been reduced 
To its simplest, most practical form, 
It stirs the soul to be reminded 
Of the complex, impractical indulgences 
Of the now-so-distant past.

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Protective coloration


The choices we make — where we’ve been, 
Who and what we’ve loved — 
Have a way of marking us, 
Leaving traces of the past. 
We can use those marks 
As protective coloration, 
To mask our true intentions, 
But what lies beneath 
Will inevitably shine through.

Saturday, September 25, 2021

In the fallow times


There will inevitably be times 
When we are prevented, or simply unable, 
To be where we were meant to be 
Or do what we were born to do. 
Don’t fret: the tide will rise again 
And lift us back into life. 
Think of this fallow time as an opportunity 
To breathe, to dream, and to listen 
For what new insights we might bring 
To the work that waits for our return.

Friday, September 24, 2021

See and appreciate


Beauty is everywhere, even in the simplest, 
 Most mundane circumstances. 
Our job is simply to see and appreciate.

Thursday, September 23, 2021

Pattern recognition


For an artist, repetition is a way 
Both to get into your work 
And to declare it as uniquely yours. 
But for humans repetition offers 
Opportunities to learn: 
We keep getting it wrong until we get it right, 
Or we keep repeating patterns 
Hoping the outcomes will be different — 
Einstein’s definition of crazy… 
Some patterns we repeat may define us: 
They can simplify our lives, 
Help us develop healthy habits 
And keep us safe — 
But then there are the others, 
The mistakes that we keep making, 
The ones from which we never seem to learn.

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Hands lifted in prayer


We who have been praying for centuries 
Will continue praying for all that matters: 
For peace, and health; comfort and safety — 
Not just for friends, family, and neighbors, 
But for all who live and breathe 
And dare to love.

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Truth will be revealed


First, there is a mountain, 
Then there is no mountain, then there is… 
What fog and clouds obscure 
Will always be revealed again with time: 
Like mountains, truth lies waiting, 
Solid and serene beneath all obfuscation.

Monday, September 20, 2021

Longing for a simpler past


So many of the structures 
That once guided us to safety 
Now seem outdated; obsolete — 
Replaced, in many cases, 
By things unseen, complex, 
And hard to comprehend. 
Is it any wonder that so many of us 
Long for a simpler past, 
And find it hard to trust what we cannot see?

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Patience and a prayer


Whatever inconvenience there might be 
For those of us who are forced 
To slow down and wait 
Pales in comparison 
To those whose lives are changed forever. 
Time to be patient, 
Time to be grateful for your own safety, 
And time, too, for a prayer for those affected.

Saturday, September 18, 2021

Unique, but not alone


Look around you as you move through this life: 
Everywhere you look there are echoes: 
Echoes of choices you’ve made 
That others have made, too; 
Echoes of shared experiences 
Of love and loss, successes and failures… 
You are truly unique, but not alone, 
And the sooner we all realize 
How much we have in common, 
The better off all of us will be.

Friday, September 17, 2021

This masking thing


This masking thing can be a bit of a bear, 
And carrying proof of vaccination 
Can be even more so. 
But we do these things 
On behalf of one another, 
In acknowledgment of the common bond 
We share with each other; 
A silent witness to our mutual vulnerability.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Clouds on the horizon


Yes, there are clouds on the horizon. 
The days are growing shorter; 
We no longer wake to light — and yet, 
With that comes the harvest; 
The fruits of all our labors
That will feed us as the winter closes in. 
Welcome the apple; nibble on the fig 
And be grateful for the bounty of the past.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Nurturing uniqueness


The challenge for a parent or a spouse 
Is not unlike the challenge 
We face for ourselves:
How can we protect, nurture, and encourage 
The wild and precious spirit — so unique, 
So divine — that lies within? 
How can we create a safe place 
For the soul to dance its uniqueness into life?

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Benefits of boredom


Sometimes a road is just a road, 
A day is just a day, 
The work we do just feels like work — 
And that’s not bad! We need those times, 
Of quiet comfort, of familiarity, 
To balance out the inevitable highs and lows: 
Think of them as the white space 
That every designer uses
To ensure we place our attention 
Where it’s needed.

Monday, September 13, 2021

Transitioning to what’s next


Standing, once again, upon the bridge; 
That all-too-brief transition time 
Between what’s now and what’s next 
(A future often shrouded in fog), 
We realize, once again, how small we are, 
And how alone, each journey so unique, 
Even as we’re guided by 
All those who’ve gone before us.

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Misdirected focus


It’s easy to get distracted 
By what is evil or broken in this world; 
To get caught up in judgment 
And focus our time and our passion 
On pointing it out and rooting it out. 
But when we do that, evil has won; 
Has successfully kidnapped our energies: 
Energies that might have been spent 
In the creation of goodness and beauty.

Saturday, September 11, 2021

Open to new life


Like the flower who closes herself 
To protect herself from the rain, 
We close ourselves to protect ourselves 
From the memories — which keeps us 
Both from learning from those memories 
And from opening to the return 
Of light, and life, and joy.

Friday, September 10, 2021

A trick of the light


It’s altogether too easy 
To make snap judgments - 
To decide what —or who — is black or white 
Without a second glance, 
When often what we think is wrong or right 
Is merely painted so 
By the light in which we view it.

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Shifting landscape of emotions


"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale 
Her infinite variety.” 
Perhaps Shakespeare was inspired 
By the endless variations of a sunset? 
We, too, can learn to look upon 
The same face, day in, day out, 
And marvel at how our responses 
Are colored by emotions…

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Paying attention


A relationship, a community, a country — 
These human creations— 
Like a house, they need to be attended to: 
Without consistent maintenance, 
They’re in danger of collapsing. 
Simple bandaid measures will never be enough.

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Attempting to control


We spend so much of our lives 
Attempting to rein in and control 
The uncontrollable, not realizing 
We are boxing ourselves into corners 
When we could be out riding the waves...

Monday, September 6, 2021

Attachment to antipathy


What is is it about our antipathies, 
That we feel we must nurse them 
At every opportunity; 
Constantly locking horns; 
Immersed in righteous indignation 
At the slightest possibility of a slight? 
When will we discover that our greatest enemy 
Is not those whom we perceive as “other,” 
But our blind attachment to our own attachments?

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Plant anyway


Not everything we plant will come to fruition: 
Prepare the ground, protect and plant anyway. 
Care for what does survive and thrive, 
And revel in the joy of those accomplishments. 
Appreciate and be thankful 
For those blessings that do appear, 
And trust that they will balance out your losses.

Saturday, September 4, 2021

Truth like a rushing stream


May truth roll down like a rushing stream, 
Washing away all the lies and misinformation 
That divide us, one from another; 
Sister from brother, daughter from mother, 
Friends and neighbors from each other…

Friday, September 3, 2021

Stillness, reflecting


Still waters reflect the light and the color. 
Find a bit of stillness in your heart today, 
That you might reflect the light of love 
And the colors of hope 
Into the encroaching darkness.

Thursday, September 2, 2021

You can choose


If we pay attention, there will always be a gap 
Between what we experience and how we react. 
In that gap, we have the opportunity 
To choose: not just how we will respond, 
But also the lens through which we perceive. 
So then I ask: what do you see? 
Is this a train wreck about to happen? 
Or the flame of spirit deep within 
That ignites the passion in your soul?

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Fuel your future


No matter how fast you go 
Or how far you travel, 
You can’t escape your past. 
Think of it instead as fuel for your future.