A sigh at the heart of the universe;
A goodbye to a good friend.
And, for you, my friend, an unexpected hello
On the other side.
And then …
Another sigh,
One of sweet surrender into joy
And into a brother’s arms.
This is my hope for you.
Not because a life of love is not enough,
But because I wish you more.
I wish us all more when our turn comes,
And your wry smile awaits our welcome.
[photo of Larry’s tree – from Facebook]
Obedience is not the actions you take – though action is taken.
Obedience is not subjugation – though a changing of the will is accomplished.
Obedience is not a precondition of love – instead, love is the precondition for true obedience.
Until your heart is full of love, the actions that mimic obedience are merely practice shots at the goal. Obligation has no role, except as the schoolmaster, the prefect, helping to show you the pattern. Only when the heart is transformed is it true obedience – flowing out of love, in love, to love. Then obedience becomes joy and what you obey is really just your own heart’s desire to love in return.
[photo by ruben alexander per cc 2.0]
It seems I am continually befuddled.
I question myself and I question my questions.
I gaze at my navel and I wander around the corners of my mind.
And it seems I go nowhere.
So …
I am thankful that the world is not held together by my understanding.
I am glad that the mystery of love is actually … a mystery.
I am grateful that my fidgeting soul, like a small and restless child, can be held
And held, and held,
Until I can fight no more
And I put my head upon your shoulder
And sleep.
[photo by FUMIGRAPHIK-Photographist per cc 2.0]
If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. – James 1:5
I’m still overwhelmed. Even consistent meditation cannot extract me easily from over-obligation. I wonder if I can ask for wisdom, retroactively?
The foolishness I reel from today actually rolled out of my mouth nine months ago or more, when I said yes to too many projects. When my calendar pages looked so clean and clear. I forgot that they really, already, had obligations attached – like PTA meetings, and science fair projects, and a mother-in-law’s birthday, things that should carry the joy of relationship, but, in the context of too much, become one more burden that I might drop. Silly me, foolish me… to think that I might forget that I would be living day-to-day realities in even the unmarked calendar months ahead. Continue reading
“Our hands imbibe like roots, so I place them on what is beautiful in this world.” – St. Francis of Assisi
You might try it today.
Touch with intention.
Draw in the wonder around you.
Let your fingers experience
The flow of life
The beauty of being.
Connect your soul.
Through touch
And rejoice.
It is.
You are.
I Am.
Amen.
[quotation of St. Francis of Assisi, p. 40, in Love Poems from God by Daniel Ladinski]
[photo by Jens Dahlia per cc 2.0]
Once upon a time
There was a family with five daughters
Five.
Daughters.
So let me ask you,
“Who is richer, a man with five daughters
Or a man with a million dollars?”
And the answer is …
The man with five daughters …
Because he knows he has enough.
It is good to be part of a family
That knows it has enough …
That knows it is enough
To be wrapped in love
To be accepted, regardless.
Even when you break the rules,
Or break the mold
Or, ok, when you break wind.
It is good to be part of a family
Where adoption is as strong as birth,
And there are no half-sisters,
Only whole.
Where love draws you in and tells you
In the very center of your soul
That you are enough,
Just as you are,
Already.
When I count my blessings
These are surely at the top of the list:
A family whose love for each other
Has verified the miracle of enough.
It is the tangible evidence and true reflection
Of an even greater love
That surrounds us all.
[a sister slumber party with our folks 2/26/16]
Two weeks into Lent and I’m still wondering what to give up.
I’m feeling kind of bad about that.
Maybe, I should just give up guilt for Lent.
Not, of course, that I’ve never done wrong.
Not even that I’m free of wrong right now.
But that the focus on what is wrong with me
Is a bottomless bog. Continue reading
The very moment when I think I’ve got it nailed, it moves. Jello to a wall, as they say.
I don’t know how people can be so sure of what they know – sure enough to tell me what I should do; sure enough to claim an infallible authority that is not possible within the context of human endeavor. Continue reading
That whisper …
It is the brush of the Holy One upon my soul,
It is the kiss upon my cheek
That wakes my spirit to the day.
That wonder,
That gasp and sigh,
That aching hope,
That tear,
They are mine in response.
Do you not know?
I think you do.
The call of beauty
Cannot be ignored.
On this Valentine’s Day,
When everyone is thinking of love,
Or wishing for love,
Or claiming and proclaiming love,
I wake to joy.
I wake to a warm memory of a cold night.
I wake to smile at the edges of delight
Sketched on my memory.
The evidence of love in the simple,
More than the spectacular.
To watch a mother watch her children dance,
To join friends sharing whiskey, wine and cheese,
To see a daughter revel in her daddy’s joy,
Is to cuddle up close to the warmth
Of deeper flames.
Was that a shiver of cold or of delight?
The exquisite splash of note and tone,
The words that speak to simple truths,
Of dusty memories and faithful harmonies.
It makes the singers giddy. Completely.
I know it, too …
The sweet tug of love expressed in apricot pies,
It sings within my soul.
Not loud, but oh, so very real.
And I am grateful.
Quiet Hope 