Welcome

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, September 30, 2016

Presence is love

“If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence”
                                                                         Thich Nhat Hanh
_______________________________________________

It seems so simply really

Love equal presence
Sometimes we are just too busy
On the run, going from one thing to another

But we find so many ways not to be present
Smart phones destroy presence
Busy minds do too

Can we be present if we are thinking about the next task,
The next meeting, the next person?
Can we truly be there for another if we are filled with worry?
Or anger, or fear?

But presence is shown in ways both big and small

Presence is in the eyes,
And in the touching

Presence is birthed when we listen, deeply
When we share our hearts
And sometimes when we are silent

Presence is in eyes that connect
In hands that help
And words that comfort

Presence is focus
It is making the person in front of us, not just the most important person in the world
But the whole world,
For that moment

Presence is
Love



the prey

For thirty years I sought God.
But when I looked carefully ....

I found that in reality God was
the seeker .... and I the sought. "
                                           - Bayazid Bistami
___________________________________________

I think I have always sought to find that Sacred
To connect with Sacred Power
Sacred Hope
Sacred Love

But I must have a short-attention span
All too often I suddenly realize
That my attention is clearly
Somewhere
Else

On success, or money
On political candidates (yuk)
On my past
My future

So many things
The Sacred just gets lost

And then
I am found
In the sun coming over the edge of the earth
In a text from a friend
In a mountain top breaking through the clouds
In calves playing in the field

Suddenly the Sacred is there
In my face
Saying
“Hey!  I’ve been looking for you”

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Suffering

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.”
                                                                                                     Thich Nhat Hanh
_____________________________________________________________

There is so much suffering in this world
Suffering created by arrogance
Suffering created by hate
Suffering created by violence
And fear

Suffering created by greed
And lies

So many lies

It is hard for me to remember sometimes
That suffering comes from suffering

That those who lie and kill
Who stir up hate
Who exclude and judge

Who use power to minimize
And control

Are really people who
(whether they know it or not)

Are suffering at their core
They have souls that have been shriveled
Sometimes by abuse and violence
Some times by privilege and affluence

Which is why
Responding in kind does not work
It simply does not work

Our world does not need anger
Fear
Brutality
That will not save it.

It needs compassion
It needs generosity
It needs open minds
Open heart
Open minds

It is not easy work
It does not always seem to be effective
But ultimately
It is
the
only
way

when will we ever learn?