What did God whisper to the bird to make him sing? What was said to the rose to make her unfold? And to the tree to stand tall and spread its canopy? What did the cricket hear to make him chirp all night? And what word stirs the wind to blow, Sometimes gentle, sometimes with […]
Silence asserts not. It is simple nothingness Around every sound. Like God, silence waits To be heard among the thoughts. It never changes. Not to soothe with balm, Silence calls to stimulate, To notice no-thing. The song of silence Teaches one to listen, and Imbues with Presence.
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal thing does one thing and the same: Deals out that being indoors each one dwells; Selves—goes itself; myself it […]
Butterfly flutters, A flower basks in the sun, Contact charges life.
Slow is patience taught; Waiting teaches non-doing; Instilled is wisdom.
On the thin border between faith and doubt walks Christ, calling all to trust.
To do something small, it is very difficult to have much meaning.
An haiku of hope: Made is the promise: all lost things are someday found, if they want to be.
Christ on the cross bows his head, Waiting for you, That he may kiss you, His arms are outstretched, That he may embrace you, His hands are open, That he may enrich you, His body spread out, That he may give himself totally, His feet are nailed, That he may stay there, His side is […]
Sound — music — prayer no words — emotions, feelings, but more… essence, existence, but more… A lifting up of the heart from within the heart, not the head, not the intellect, a place reachable without words, beyond words. The space and silence between the notes, between the sounds, between the harmonies. Silence supports it […]
Found this little poem in a book laying around in the sacristy of the chapel at camp. For every pain we must bear, for every burden, for every care, there’s a reason. for every grief that bows the head for every teardrop that is shed, there’s a reason. For every hurt, for every plight, for […]
Is the nothingness I yearn for a return to the comfortable nothingness of the womb, or a step forward into the unknown of total giving, of emptying myself to You? Is this want from my egoic, fear and attachment-driven empirical false self, or from my shy true self that knows itself to be in, of, […]
Decide to be happy Render others happy Proclaim your joy Love passionately your miraculous life Do not listen to promises Do not wait for a better world Be grateful for every moment of life Switch on and keep on the positive buttons in yourself, those marked optimism, serenity, confidence, positive thinking, love Pray and thank […]
This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its […]
Don’t look at your form, however ugly or beautiful. Look at love and at the aim of your quest… O you whose lips are parched, keep looking for water. Those parched lips are proof that eventually you will reach the source. — Rumi [via]
For Mercy has a human heart, Pity a human face, And Love, the human form divine, And Peace, the human dress. — William Blake, from “The Divine Image”
For some people the day comes when they have to declare the great Yes or the great No. It’s clear at once who has the Yes ready within him; and saying it, he goes from honor to honor, strong in his conviction. He who refuses does not repent. Asked again, he’d still say no. Yet […]
The world’s a rollercoaster And I am not strapped in Maybe I should hold with care But my hands are busy in the air — Incubus, “Wish You Were Here” Suffering comes from holding on, not letting go of the pain. Let go. Do not resist. Joy is lost too when grasped at. Let go. […]
As flowing water falls to seek the lowest point, it gives all its energy away until none remains, and then returns to its source to fall again. What does the water gain from this falling? What does life gain? — Mark Woodward
Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back, Guilty of dust and sin. But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning, If I lack’d any thing. “A guest,” I answer’d, “worthy to be here”; Love said, “You shall be he.” […]
Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new […]
It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that […]
Been inspired to write my first haiku. Plump little blue bird On branch, sitting, listening Amazed at it all
An insight into the Trinity? In the early morning hour, just before dawn, lover and beloved wake and take a drink of water. She asks, “Do you love me or yourself more? Really, tell the absolute truth.” He says, “There’s nothing left of me. I’m like a ruby held up to the sunrise. […]
To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour. — William Blake, from “Auguries of Innocence” To see a World in a Grain of Sand — I am reminded of the Dr. Suess book, Horton […]