The 60-Second Sabbath

Please Visit www.PhotosByDirk.com!

Please stop by my website PhotosByDirk.com. There you'll find prints and books for purchase, as well as news on my photography. Click here for the link: www.PhotosByDirk.com.

One with the One

Run, run toward the One
    who gave you your feet!

Look, look to the One
    who gave you your sight!

Listen, listen to the One
    who gave you your hearing!

Reach, reach for the One
    who gave you your hands!

Call, call for the One
    who gave you your voice!

Love, love the One
    who gave you your heart!

Dance, dance with the One
    who invites you into
        the chaotic, joyous, insane swirl of life!

One, one with the One
    who loves you
        ridiculously, extravagantly, endlessly!

Text and image © 2023 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

Words

Words can't explain
    what words can't explain.

Words can't contain
    an experience that lies beyond words.

To rest in God's Presence,
    what is that like?

It's like...
    well, um...
        like floating in a vast, warm sea...
            no, more like rising slowly into night air...
                or holding a steady, celestial hand while soaring past galaxies...

Oh, heck--
    I don't know--
        experience it yourself,
            then tell me.

I just know
    it wasn't what they taught me in seminary,
        which was, as I recall,
            awash in words
                and woefully short
                    on silence.

Text and image © 2023 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

Skeletons (Matthew 6:6)

I'm sitting on the edge of the bed
    when Sophia steps out of my closet.
"Prayer time?" she asks, cheerfully.

"Ha!" I say,
    "I'm getting used to your sudden appearances.
I barely jumped this time...
    and why are you wearing my sweatshirt?"

"Just came from the tropics--
    much colder here.
Do you mind?"

"No," I answer,
    and to be truthful,
there is something comforting about
    seeing her in it.

"Prayer time?" she asks again.

"Yes," I say.
    "I was going for silence,
open space, resting in God.
    Holding the world,
releasing it to...er...you all."

She smiles.
    "Sorry to interrupt."

The irony of this sinks in:
    how can the Source and Goal of prayer
interrupt prayer?

"So," she says, "subject change...
    well, not really,
more like location change."

"Yes?"

"Let's continue in your closet."

"Say what, now?"

"Let's go into your closet to pray,
    you know, like Jesus suggests."

"I remember what he said,
    I just never took it literally."

"Well, let's try it!"
    She holds out her hand.
"Come with me," she says.
    I stand, take her hand, and follow...

...into the closet.

This is weird, I think.
    I reach for the light switch.

"No," she says,
    "let's keep it dark."

"Um...okay."
    We stand together in the center.
It is dark.
    I can't see anything.
Her hand feels comforting.
    Why am I feeling anxious?
It's just a closet...my closet.
    I'm in here all the time.
Yet the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"You know what you find in closets?"
    she asks.
When I don't answer, she whispers, ominously:
    "Skeletons."

"Skeletons?"

"Yes, everyone has skeletons in their closets."

"Again," I say, "literally?"

"Well, let's find out.
    You see, Jesus knew our closets hold our skeletons.
Being silent with the Source of Peace
    is the best way to meet them."

"This is creepy."

"I know, right?
    But you're not alone.
The Light in you
    is brighter than the darkness that haunts you.
You just need to be quiet enough
    and open enough
to let them emerge--
    all those dark parts of yourself
you prefer to deny."

I sense movement in the clothes hanging around me.

I hold her hand more tightly.

"Ouch," she says.

"Sorry, but..."

"I know. I'm here."

An eerie green glows from the corners.
    Boney fingers part my shirts.

And so they emerge--
    and, yes, it's painful--
until it isn't,
    until that Light shows them for what they are--
mistakes, regrets, selfishness, anger, prejudice.

Skeletons wanting to shame me, discourage me,
    make me despair and give up.

Strange this:
    skeletons are far less frightening
when seen in the Light of God's love and gentleness.

They shrink;
    some dissolve.

I inhale deeply,
    exhale slowly.
And again.
    And again.

The unpleasant green glow
    gives way to warm amber,
and we are alone in the closet,
    still holding hands.

"You okay?" she asks.

"Surprisingly, yes."

She leads me out
    and releases my hand.
The bedroom looks...so normal.

"Did that just happen?" I ask.

"Yes," she says,
    "and with grace
it will happen again
    as long as you remain open,
trusting, growing, healing."

I sit again on the edge of the bed.
    She places a hand on the side of my face.
"Time for sleep," she says.

I nod.
    "And I will."

And, like usual,
    she is gone.

Text and image © 2023 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

That Look

Did you see that?

God just glanced over at you--
    and, oh, the look on that great, gracious face!

Pride...and delight,
    joy, tenderness, love...

It's obvious you mean the world to them.

God looks at you
    and grins from ear to ear.

Text and image © 2023 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

Oh, But I Love My T-Shirt Wisdom

Yes, all really appearing on T-shirts.
I've been collecting these for a while,
so here we go:

----

    Am I perfect?
    No.
    But am I trying to be
        a better person?
    Also no.

----

    A penny for
        your thoughts
    seems a bit pricey.

----

    To quote Hamlet,
        Act II,
            Scene III,
                Line 92,
                    "No."

----

    I don't have the
        TIME
    or the 
        CRAYONS
    to explain this
        to you.

----

    I bake so I don't
        choke people.
    Save a life;
        send eggs.

----

    List of people I like:
        1) Dogs

[ I would substitute "Cats."]

----

    In my defense,
       the kids were
           screaming first.

[This could apply to Sunday School teachers
as well as parents.]

----

    HUNKLE
    Like an uncle but
        way better looking.

----

    I'm out of SNACKS.
    What else do people
        do for fun.

----

[And finally, for me:]

    Books
    Helping introverts
        avoid conversation
            since 1454.

----

Hope you have enjoyed!

Text and image © 2023 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

The Hospital, Day 10

I wrote the following on my 10th day in the hospital,
    August 10, 2022:

Today a friend stopped by to visit;
    he brought a card that read:

        Know what I say
            when I see bad things happen
        to good people?
            That really sucks.

And that, friends,
    is exactly what is needed--
not "Things will get better,"
    not "It could be worse,"
not "God has a plan,"
    but simply this:

        That really sucks.

To have my suffering and frustration
    acknowledged?
Best. Comfort. Ever.

I know all the rest is true,
    but right now what I really need
is just this:

    That really sucks.

So to all of you suffering today:

    That really sucks.

I mean it,
   and you can say it loudly,
without apology;

    This really sucks.

And I'm truly sorry.

Text and image © 2023 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

Joy

Sometimes,
    unexpectedly,
Joy rushes in,
    overfilling me,
pushing aside my bored, dusty ego
    (with startling strength),
and I AM,
    in that moment,
in the moment,
    and all is present,
and all is Presence,
    and nothing else matters
but to rest into the wonder
    of whatever joy wants.

What Joy intends--
    and what Joy does--
is to purge me,
    like blowing out the sprinkler system
before the first freeze:
    Woosh!

Joy purges,
    then flows into the empty me
with the needed:
    autumn tree ablaze in gold,
        cats entwined before the fire,
    smell of bread in the oven,
        warmth of his touch,
    burning (yearning) for all things holy
        (for all things are then holy).

What Joy wants,
    Joy gets,
pouring in,
    like now.

Text and image © 2023 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.