Tag Archives: Life

Wisdom for the Day

Use the moment to temper with love.
The sun does not suddenly appear in the sky
but rises with care over the horizon.
Breathe deeply before any expostulation.
Save unnecessary challenges for the grave.
It is okay if your list is different from all others.
Question for clarity.  Challenge to break comfort.
Cherish the energy created in difference.
Faith and doubt will always lay down together.
Smile when the world comes crumbling down
and hope for your phoenix to rise once again.
Awake and remember: A treasure hunt begins!

Stumble and Fall

Watching my daughter fall for the umpteenth time,
her head meeting the coffee table, I gasp.  Each
of her little spills as she toddles from here to there
seem to take more time off my life.  I ask the gods
to give me a little bit of the suffering and pain
to carry along with me as I toddle down my list
of daily to-do's.  I also wonder, who is there 
to bear my pain when I stumble and fall?

Porch Swing

She made new green coverings 
for the swing that seats two
which I hung on the front porch.
Undisturbed peace wraps around us
as now we move gently back and forth
looking forward to the coffee
silently brewing in the kitchen.
A neighbor passes.  Greetings exchange
with greetings.  Morning smiles appear.
Neither my beloved nor I wander 
into abstract ideals in our conversation.
Rather we create devotion by pointing
to the sunlight dancing around the leaves.
Let civilization plod its own path.
In this moment of today there is no time
for dancing along the fine line
of challenge and comfort.  And visions can
wait to develop.   There is no immediacy
to share in a world where certainty
needs each movement swinging between
now and forever.

“Now God is God not of the dead, but of the living…” – Luke 20:38

God in whom we live and have our very being,
who enlivens all death,
who effortlessly turns the pages of the Book of Life,
who dances on graves,
and who says "Yes" to every "No,"
the leaves fall,
the ground hardens,
the buried rest
and we must go on living.
The earth continues to turn
and so many of those in the world
continue their death-dealing ways.
Dwell with us once again
so we may join you in your divine dance
holding hands with all of the ones
who have gone before us into your music.
Amen.

Walden Pond

Walden Pond still lies 
in the midst of the wilderness
for all those seeking
to be by themselves.
Daydreams are welcome.
Please leave all dogmas behind
and lean into important matters
with a heartfelt embrace.
Remember that rigidity 
resists the creative urge
of the world to become new.
Greet any adventure that makes
the distant things become 
less remote in your sight.
You will find any experiment of joy
justification enough
for your next breath.

“Let us also lay aside every weight…that clings so closely.” – Hebrews 12:1

God who knows the weight of the universe,
driving down the frenzied highway of life
we glance and see the future in our rear-view mirrors
holding a sign reading, "The end is near."
We wonder what strange powers
order letters into these particular words.
What message attempts to come to life and be declared?
Are we missing something important,
something everyone else but us knows?
If we are the last to hear and to understand
will that endanger the lives of our loved ones?
Our questions cling to our bodies and weigh us down.
Give us strength to gently shudder them to the ground
so that on this day and in this hour and at this time
we can breathe and get on with living.
Amen.

Skeleton key

I found the skeleton key to reality displayed
on the lower level of an antique store
tucked away in a dusty corner.

There was no price tag on the key, only a note
scribbled in a fiendish hand saying, Touch
if you must.  Use sparingly.  Good luck.

I offered one dollar for the key at checkout
and the attendant smiled as if they knew
something which I did not know.

I now keep the key on my key chain hoping
to come across the door with a mysterious lock
waiting for fantasy to end and something to begin.