Faith inspires magnificence

Never doubt what humans can accomplish 

 When inspired by faith: 

Belief in something greater than ourselves 

Makes possible magnificent response; 

Creativity beyond our wildest imagination.

Waiting for the world to change

The decision to change is never easy: 

It takes courage, because 

For something new to be born in us,

 Something old almost always must die — 

And then there is that dark space in between, 

While we wait for the new to take shape…

Reflected love

As the water glows with reflected light, 

So, too, we glow, when we reflect 

 The love we’re given 

Back into the world…

Love, ever flowing

Breathe deep, and breathe again, and know 

That Love is like a fountain, ever flowing, 

Pouring through us without ever running dry: 

We only need to keep the channel clear; 

To trust the Source, and its infinitude.

Divine reassurance

Today I write in praise of serendipity: 

That inner prompting that draws me 

 To unexpected opportunities, 

Placing me where I need to be 

To see what I need to see. 

I’ll be forever grateful I was drawn to do my dishes 

At the precise moment when two orca whales 

Were breaching by my house. 

It feels like divine reassurance 

That all shall be well…

Coping with overwhelm

And then there are the days 

When the world’s ugliness and cruelty 

Fills us with despair: it’s all we see, 

And all we can imagine, full of darkness, 

Void of light, coloring all our thoughts 

And poisoning good intentions. 

The only way out is through: 

 Finding ways to express what we feel; 

Sharing our sense of loss and grief; 

Continuing to take steps to heal the world.

The gift in our brokenness

How best to mitigate the hopelessness we feel 

In the face of current events whose remedies 

Appear to be beyond our control? 

One possible solution: find some way 

To make the world a gift out of our brokenness.

Choose your shadow

Wherever there is light, 

You will cast a shadow. 

Only you can choose 

How the shadow you cast 

Will affect the world around you.

A hunger for beauty

Yesterday an artist sent a survey to me, 

And one of the questions was something like, 

“How would you like to describe or feel 

About the art you create?” 

And I had to face the fact that, at heart, 

I mostly just want it to be beautiful. 

Yes, there are other words — 

Contemplative, evocative, inviting, inspiring — 

And I always hope that I’m responding 

To a prompting outside myself, 

 That’s being expressed through me, 

But, most of all, I‘m embarrassed to admit,

 I hunger for beauty, 

 And my heart soars when I find it…

Trust, but verify

Centuries — or decades — of experience 

Can make us wary of others’ generosity, 

And the voices of acceptance or rejection 

We hear coming from within 

Might be divine, but might also be triggered 

By egoic self interest or self protection. 

Discernment is an essential faculty: 

As my father used to say, “Trust, but verify.”

Predictably amazing

Each night, the sunset blesses us 

With a new array of shapes and colors; 

A celestial artist whose originality - like love - 

Is both predictable and endlessly amazing, 

Two words that seem to contradict, 

Yet coexist in perfect - and delicious - harmony.

Choosing curiosity

I’m thinking this morning about curiosity; 

About the vulnerability it entails 

To respond to the unexpected or confusing 

With openness instead of frustration.

 Can we respond, like these plants, 

To the dark places in our lives 

By opening our hearts to let in more light?

Grateful for awareness

Give thanks today 

 For that sense of awe within us 

That invites us to notice, stop, and appreciate 

 The simple moments of beauty 

In the world around us; 

That looks beyond the fence of routine actions 

And lifts our eyes to the joy that resides 

In awareness of our surroundings.

In praise of tenacity

How can we not be admire the tenacity 

 Of trees, who so determinedly place roots 

That will support them 

 And allow them to reach great heights 

Despite the difficult circumstances 

In which they started? 

And yet, how fortunate we humans are 

 To have the choice, the opportunity, the courage 

To pull up roots and plant anew elsewhere 

 When circumstances prove inhospitable. 

But still — the need for roots remains: 

Too many moves, and the lack of roots 

May stunt our growth…

Where can we step?

This time of year, 

Despite, or perhaps because of, a rainy Spring, 

Every living thing appears to be blooming. 

Where can we step, if every step we take 

Appears to crush a blossom?

Stop and explore

Sometimes, like scientists, 

We make our most important discoveries 

 On the way to something or somewhere else. 

What is it that invites us to stop and explore? 

And what is it that puts the blinders on 

And drives us to keep pushing forward 

To the arbitrary goals we set for ourselves?

From wariness to hope

What if that wariness we feel 

When something new or unexpected 

 Enters our horizon — 

Which stems from a longing to protect 

Who we are and what we have — 

Were transformed into hope:

 Expectation of opportunity

 For expansion and growth?

The paths we follow

I so appreciate the ones 

Who take the time to guide us on our way. 

And I hope, with time, I’m leaving markers 

For other folks to follow. 

But the fact still remains that blindly following 

 The path others have laid for us 

May not be leading us where we are meant to go. 

We must raise our eyes; look up and out, 

And in the end must choose 

 The destination that’s right for us, 

 Even if it takes us off the path.

Open to the unexpected

After a windy day of clouds and rain, 

The sky began to clear, 

And though the wind was fierce and cold, 

I went outside to photograph the sunset. 

It was only when I turned around 

To walk back to my house 

That I realized true beauty 

 Could be found in facing east, not west; 

 A very simple lesson on many levels. 

I could name them all, but I’ll allow you 

To draw your own conclusions: 

Feel free to write them here…

Invitation to healing

Welcome! 

Come into my garden, 

And breathe the sweet, enduring scent of peace. 

Whatever torments trouble your soul, 

Release them here, 

 And know that you are safe, and loved.

Colored by experience

We who stand safely on land 

May contemplate the sea that lies beyond 

With fear or longing, depending on experience. 

When will we realize how our experience colors 

Everything we contemplate; 

 That our convictions of right and wrong 

Might subtly shift, were we to stand 

In another’s shoes 

 And breathe the life they’ve lived?

A Oneness rarely glimpsed

Like happiness, the mountains emerge in Spring 

From behind their wintry shroud of clouds, 

Only to disappear again; a tantalizing glimpse 

Of our foundational oneness, that uniting spirit, 

 Always present but rarely glimpsed 

 In these cold unfeeling seasons 

When so many of us are wrapped 

In our own protective cloaks of self-preservation.

Choose light

In art, as in life, 

We feel the darkness pressing in, 

Threatening to overwhelm us, 

But we can choose the light; 

Choose to let it shine through us 

And continue in our efforts 

To uphold and expose life’s truths.

Grateful for your care

Feeling blessed by the profusion 

 Of Mother’s Day offerings,

 I share this gift of color 

To honor all those who’ve mothered me 

Through the years. 

For more than Valentines Day, this day 

Is a celebration of Love in all its kindest forms; 

Of all the ways men and women 

 Through the years have put others’ needs 

Before their own, that those for whom they care 

Might learn, and thrive, and grow, 

And in their blooming bless the world.

Homage to Spring

Our aging Rhodie lifts her buds in prayer, 

An homage to the return of Spring, 

Of warmer days, 

And Light.

Passing in the night

A cruise ship passes, heading into night 

While we stand, watching from the shore, 

Sheltering from the rain beneath the trees, 

Breathing in the colors of the sky, 

Grateful for a brief glimpse of sun 

And sending our good wishes 

To the travelers across the water.

Breathing peace

Apple blossoms, rosy in the morning light, 

Frame the horse that grazes 

Just beyond the fence 

While birdsongs fill the air. 

Breathe in this peace, 

 And breathe it out again to bless 

And heal a troubled world.

Open to possibility

The invitation is always there: 

To step forward, and open up your heart; 

To welcome and appreciate 

 All that lies before you, near and far. 

Drink in this view: 

 A world aflame with possibilities.

Ephemeral as happiness

Rejoice!

 A gaggle of goldfinches gilds our view:

A presence that delights. 

 Like happiness, welcomed though ephemeral, 

 As both departure and return 

 Are inevitable as the sun.

Blessed respite

Blessed are those who find or create 

Oases, areas of respite and peace: 

The quiet listeners among us, 

Who hear our tales of woe and do not judge 

 But simply offer invitations to change; 

To find new ways and reasons 

To love the world around us.

The past is your foundation

Though we may ask forgiveness 

 For our thoughtlessness and mistakes, 

Do not regret the past, 

For it provides the foundation for future growth.