The 60-Second Sabbath: March 2016

A Caution

Imagine you adopt a new puppy.
You love your puppy.
You delight in her frisky, inquisitive,
affectionate, heart-stealing essence--
those big eyes, the soft fur, the boundless energy!

In your desire to better know your puppy,
to expand her joyful puppy-ness...
you take her apart.
And instead of more frisky, inquisitive,
affectionate, heart-stealing puppy-ness,
all you have are a table covered with
inanimate puppy parts.

You have destroyed the puppy.

So too with some aspects of human experience,
    mystery, for example,
    and romance,
    holiness, perhaps,
    and wonder.

With too much examination,
dissection
and categorization,
the delight is gone;
all that's left are lifeless parts
strewn across the table.

Avoid analysis;
simply experience.

Posted at 05:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who Chooses Whom?

Can I choose wonder,
or does wonder choose me?
Is it about being in the right place
at the right time,
or can I create the place,
the time?

It may be some of both--
I can prepare for it
(both physically and temporally),
by making space,
    slowing my pace,
    clearing head and heart,
    fostering outer and inner stillness,
but there is always something of the unexpected
in the wonder-filled object or event.
Wonder presents itself--
"gifts" itself--
shows up unannounced crying, "Ta-da!"

Wonder requires, then, two things:
my openness to awe
and the element of surprise.

How do you
prepare for wonder?

Where might you find
today's holy wow?

Posted at 05:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Little Crocus

Be careful, little crocus...
are you sure you want to come out?
It may be too early--
only the first of March,
and the world you're entering
appears warm and welcoming now,
but just wait--
snow and sleet,
wind and frost
make it a tough place
for a fragile flower.

Be careful, dear crocus;
sturdier blooms than you
have been destroyed by Winter's cruelty.

Be careful, sweet crocus;
coming out before you're ready
can scar your brief, beautiful life.

Posted at 05:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Psst!

Hey,
psst...

You can come out now.

Dark time has ended--
    light dawns, pastels washing the East,
    day breaks, expectations shattering,
    robin sings, bright liquid raining,
    tulip blooms, from red to purest white,
so

time to step forth.

Yes, it may feel safer
there in the grave--
    known,
    quiet,
    undemanding--

but out here is life,
your life,
sometimes noisy and aggravating, sure,
    risky and uncertain, absolutely,
but only out here,
    beyond the confines of your coffin,
    above the damp constriction of grave clothes
lies the opportunity for love,
    play,
    laughter,
connection,
    authenticity.

Here's your Easter chance!
Alleluia!

Posted at 05:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Good Friday, 2016

The closer you draw
to God,
the closer you draw
to your essential self.

The more you live
from your essential self,
the more you live
from God.

God and your real, true, essential self
are companions on this journey,
this voyage,
this trek
toward completion,
healing,
freedom.

Call her Wise Sofia,
call him Heavenly Father,
call her Graceful Spirit,
call him Brother Jesus--
God and your essential self
walk hand-in-hand--
heart-in-heart--
will-in-will--
hope-in-hope...

Not like your little ego self
who insists on going solo--
no need for companionship, thank you
(divine or otherwise),
no need for anything
but the blinded, independent,
deluded, self-sufficient "me,"
living the illusion
of correctness and superiority.

(Just listen for this voice,
your sad ego voice,
your lonely, fearful, ego voice,
walking on ahead,
muttering against incompetence
and the failure of the world
to embrace its tin perspective.)

Let it wander on.

You and Sofia/Father/Spirit/Christ
have joyous miles to go
before you sleep.

Posted at 05:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Where It Leads

All wonder,
then,
becomes an encounter with the holy,
the sacred,
that which frames our existence with meaning
(and this is what I call "God").

To stand in awe,
to be astonished
(by beauty, intricacy, splendor, kindness, trust, the now)
is a deeply spiritual experience.

"Wow!"
is a confession of faith.

Posted at 06:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Wednesday in Denver

Yesterday it was 73.

Today it's 28, and we have over a foot of this...

...which we love. We bundled up, shook the snow off the trees, then walked a half mile to Wahoo's for lunch. Yea, Denver!

Posted at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Darkness, Cold, Evil

Darkness isn't a thing at all.
Darkness is the word we use
to describe the absence of light.

Light exists.
We can create it, reflect it, block it,
observe it, measure it, experience it.

But not darkness--
merely a word indicating
where light does not reach.

Cold isn't a thing at all.
Cold is the word we use
to describe the absence of heat.

Warmth exists.
We can create it, reflect it, block it,
observe it, measure it, experience it.

But not cold--
merely a word indicating
where warmth does not reach.

Evil isn't a thing at all.
Evil is the word we use
to describe the absence of love,
the absence of God.

Love/God exists.
We can create it, reflect it, block it,
observe it, measure it, experience it.

But not evil--
merely a word indicating
where love has not yet reached,
the absence of God.

Posted at 05:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Astonishment

In matters of faith
we tend to overthink
and under-experience.

We theologize
rather than dream,
categorize
rather than share our stories,
analyze
rather than play,
deconstruct
rather than build,
dissect,
rather than wonder.

The best response
to the mystery of the Holy
is astonishment.