An Ordinary Evening

To spend the evening in the presence of family,
lounging in the midst of familiar noises,
laughter of children playing,
the sound of the beloved reading,
the littlest one going off in search of her bells.

These moments make holy the life I live.
And years later, reading my journal entry
of this night like any other night from long ago,
I am there, breathe into memory, and smile.

Love Within

Love creates paths,
ways without means,
and circles of hands
holding together
in the midst of shadows.

Love cherishes evenings
of quiet dinners out,
catching up, connecting
with the look of eyes,
the hidden made known.

Love celebrates the essence
of who we are,
turning expectantly
to what we may become
as the presence makes
itself known within us.

“For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away…” – Matthew 5:18

Creating God of all things perishing
and of all transient time,
so many wish to hold on to forever
as they hold on to their ways and means
believing what they have is all that is,
we seek to know better and to be lighter,
freed from the weight of stuff 
and loosened from the ticking of time
to pass away as the earth ceases to turn
and heaven fades into the heavens.
Amen.

Grace and Healing

I once asked of the wind
as it moved the leaves of the tree,
Who makes these changes?

Receiving no reply, at least
not one I could understand,
I turned to the chair in the courtyard.

I heard, Only the devout sit here.
Surely they are the only ones to know
that grace came to forgive.

And then, from everywhere,
grace upon grace,
to forgive again,
and to be healed, again.

Into Forever

Come and find the quiet center
where what is said to the rose
enters.  There we will find the path 
of what the mystics call love
and leave the sky and earth
weeping.  The longing we feel
one for another will be the return
message.  Our sense of self will
fade into all created forms and make
our ecstasy something talked about
forever.

The Scented Call

Waiting for the moon to rise
I caught the scent
of the fragrance of fulfillment
encouraging me to let it go.

I stood surrounded
by the bare trees of winter
not asking to receive anything
I could not give them.

Earlier, sitting in my favorite chair,
I saw a divine revelation
in the words on the page
asking for experience to be shared.

The many-sidedness of the tables
where we come to dine
and to share
the wonder of living

brings to bear
the same intention and inspiration
found in most pulpits
calling each of us to the ground.