A generous understanding

eyes filled with wonderPhysics is right.
The way you look at things makes all the difference.
The looking, itself, changes reality.

When I look with generous eyes,
Willing to see wonder,
Searching for hope,
Watching for moments of grace,
My edges of my days are softened.

When others look at me with generous hearts,
Looking for reasons to love and affirm,
Rather than pointing to my warts and worries,
I am made whole.

What a gift to have friends
Who intentionally see the good in me,
Who hug me into my better self.

Perhaps that is the definition of a friend:
Someone who holds the mirror for your better self,
And calls it forth to play.

I am grateful, today, for friends like these.
They fill my life with grace.
They help to make me who I want to be.

After all, it’s not so much what you look at.
It’s what you see. It’s what we see, together.
Thank God.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

[photo by Khalid Al-Haqqan per cc 2.0]

gathering pebbles

pebbles

Can I even do this?
Can I jump from work to meditation in a heartbeat?
What besides a heartbeat can hold room for meditation?

Yet, it is a challenge to get inside a heartbeat – to hold the moment open.
That infinite, small space; that timeless time; that inward journey toward the universe
It does not bend to my command, and yet it is, somehow, within my reach.

Continue reading

Promise and Fulfillment

julian of norwichI want to be Rumi or Julian of Norwich.

You want me to be me.

I don’t want to settle.

You smile, thanking me for agreeing with you. Continue reading

Could it be?

a smile

Could it be true
that what you long for most
is my smile when I look upon you,
just as I long for yours?

Could it be
that this connection
is the heart of all creation?

Could it be
that you want my bliss
more than I do?

Could it be
that you hold it in your hands right now,
and offer it as a free gift of love?

Then let us gaze upon each other
and smile.

[photo by Abhinay Omkar per cc 2.0]

Charleston

holding on to faithThe deep roots of faith
Support the suffering, grieving souls
Who are redeeming tragedy with forgiveness
That mirrors the unfathomable love of God.

Unbelievable belief
Faithful faith

Honoring the beloved ones who are now held close
In the very arms of the One who conquered death
… for them and for us all.

[photo by Hannah Swithinbank per cc 2.0]

embrace of heaven

heavenHeaven awaits you.

It will come at the very moment
that you are enfolded in the arms of God
with full assurance that you are,
indeed,
deeply loved and treasured
for exactly who you are.

God’s arms are open now.
They ache for this embrace.
Lean in, lean in,
and enter heaven.

There is no need to wait.

5 12 15

[photo by Manu Praba per cc 2.0]

Sister Grace

bread lineThere are so many things that concern me. They stand in line at the back of my brain waiting their turn to pester me. They push and jostle and twiddle their thumbs. They threaten and cajole. Like folks in the bread line in the scenes of the great depression – they stand in sepia-toned sameness, tattered at the edges, always in need.

And now that I have turned to look them fully in the face, I am overwhelmed. I, too, am in the photo. I, too, have ragged edges and a gnawing need. I, too, have my hat in my hand and my eyes full of empty want. I, too, am begging on the curb. Continue reading

This Day

happy blanketThis day, this day is yours
thank you.

Gather it up in your arms
and me along with it
cuddle us together in your love
fill us all with the fragrance of your Spirit
let it dust our days and tickle our souls
and whisper in our hearts
today, this day,
as you unfold it, is yours, is ours. Continue reading

Whisper of Envy

rumi 3

Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.  –Rumi

Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it. –Rumi

I’m jealous of Rumi, you know. Such delicious words, slicing through to the very heart of things, letting life ring. A clear bell of a voice – his words are not holders of knowledge, but windows to the very heart of reality. They open me. Continue reading

Revelatory Emotions

editing documentI must admit that I was a bit taken aback with a phrase in my last post and its implications that I might find God annoying. At such times, I am torn between honesty and the threat of heresy. Somehow, I think that God prefers honesty. In any case … in all cases … I must rest upon that very grace that sometimes seems annoying. Continue reading