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Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Friday, January 31, 2014

love is


Resist your temptation to lie
By speaking of separation from God,

Otherwise,
We might have to medicate
You.

In the ocean
A lot goes on beneath your eyes.

Listen,
They have clinics there too
For the insane
Who persist in saying things like:

"I am independent from the Sea,

God is not always around

Gently
Pressing against
My body."
___________________________________

Here I  sit
Early morning
Very early morning

And God is here
Gently pressing

In the licks of my cat
In the kneading

In the notes from friends
Love is
Present
And
Accounted for

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Deep Listening, Loving Speech

They can be like the sun, words
They can do for the heart
what light can do
for a field
                                St John of the Cross
_________________________________

Wise men
say it clearly

resolution to the worlds ills are not to be found
in the clanging noise of the internet
through harsh encounters
where everyone is talking
an no one is listening

except with a eye
to a response

the healing of the world
is to be found
in deep listening

in understanding

in loving speech

a lesson even more difficult
to learn
when we are soooooo
sure WE
are right

_____________________________

Lord, this day
help me to stop for a moment

May I really listen to
all the pain, and fear
and yes joy too
which lurks behind the words

My I seek to understand with the heart
and use my words
wisely

scattering them
like warm sun across a
field of good seeds

to bring forth
good
fruit


Wednesday, January 29, 2014

On smiling

 
O Wondrous Creatures
by what strange miracle do you
so often not
smile?
                                Hafiz
_________________________________________________

In the darkness of early morning
I watch the healthy exuberance of cat the younger
who prowls
eagerly
looking for mischief

and I watch the halting steps
of cat the older
nearing death
weak
and wanting to be
himself
but just not able

I think of the day ahead
of challenges and opportunities
of the day past
of good moments
and bad

and I have a choice
I always have a choice

on what path will I place my feet
what seeds will I nurture
who, will I invite
into the living room of my soul?

Since I have a choice
I think I will

try

for being me there is no guarantee

to smile

over the miracle of life
the miracle of 19 years
with my old friend the cat
over the small gifts of beauty and compassion
that will come my way

truly
what an oddity it would be
if I did not

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Stuck with another day

Stuck with another day
how should we
pass
it?

If anything worked for you before
-          I’d give that preference
Mira
____________________________________________

the day before ended
poorly
not badly
just came to a halt with a whimper
when it could not be faced
anymore

and the only way forward
was to hope
sleep
was a way around the
dark wall 
looming

today is another day
the dark is still profound
both without
and within

where does light go
sometimes?

I guess I will just have to dive in
to the day
to my soul
and see if I can
find
it