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.