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Stars only shine
in darkness.
Only when we enter darkness
is their brilliance visible--
the brilliance of creation,
of vastness,
of eternity,
of the hope of life on worlds unknown--
only in darkness.
Are you in darkness?
Look to the stars.
Text and image © 2016 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.
Last week,
after months of abnormally warm and dry weather,
(leading to a drought)
we finally had an overcast day
with blissfully cooler temperatures,
rain and snow.
That evening,
a newscaster described the day
as "cold, wet and gloomy."
And I said,
"All day long
I enjoyed this day
as cold, wet and cozy.
Why did she choose the term gloomy?"
Something in her experience
(conditioning, up-bringing, enculturation)
has taught her that.
And she bought it.
But think of a child waking up that morning,
looking out at the snow.
The child doesn't think,
"It's cold, wet and gloomy."
The child looks out with delight,
"It's snowing!"
The child not only accepts what is
as right and good,
but is eager to enter into
the new experience of this different day.
"See like a child,"
says Jesus,
"and enter heaven."
So next time you wake up
and it's rainy or snowy,
try one of these:
"It's cold, wet and cozy."
"It's cold, wet and brooding."
"It's cold, wet and sweetly melancholic."
"It's cold, wet and nurturing."
It's more likely you that's gloomy,
not the day.
Text and image © 2016 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
She drives to church,
a woman who moved here from India
decades ago,
a woman who became an American citizen
back in 1978.
It's a day or two after the election,
and at a stoplight,
the man in the car next to her
motions for her to lower her window.
Maybe my taillight is out,
she thinks,
or my gas cap off.
He points to his baseball cap,
which reads,
TRUMP.
Then he points to her
and yells,
"Get out of our country,
because we're getting rid of
all you people now."
Some call this
"making America great again."
I call this
sin.
Text and image © 2016 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Create Stuff
The truth is,
almost every job allows for creativity
some of the time.
Even the process of juggling multiple tasks--
which most of us are called to do--
requires innovation;
you're probably more creative than you think.
But for most of us,
being creative isn't the focus of our work;
we're there to get as much done
as quickly as possible.
And for many of us,
to create simply for creation's sake
is a luxury we squeeze in
around the responsibilities of work, home,
relationships and health,
if we squeeze it in at all.
Yet we all know the power of creativity,
the freedom, the flow, the joy, the passion.
I have time for that now.
I have time for photography,
for cooking,
for arranging things at home,
for cross stitch (which I set aside for decades*),
for writing...
Even the process of reclaiming my home office
(which has involved shredding, cleaning
straightening up, organizing and re-imagining)
has been a satisfying creative process--
the making of art, if you will.
The bigger point is this:
we all need room for creativity,
"need" as in the need for air, food and companionship.
With it, we flourish,
and we're better prepared to reach out to others
with a fuller heart and clearer spirit.
Don't wait for retirement!
*The photo shows one of a half-dozen pieces I cross-stitched 30 years ago or more and kept in my desk drawer. A few weeks after retiring, I matted and framed several of them.
Text and image © 2016 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.
More wisdom
gleaned from actual T-shirts:
----
DON'T
GROW UP.
It's a trap.
----
Listen,
I'm a nice person.
So if I'm mean to you,
you need to ask
yourself "Why?"
----
I consider
ON-TIME
to be when
I get there.
----
A clear conscience
results from bad memory.
----
Top Ten Reasons
to Procrastinate:
1.
----
I used to be a
people person,
but people ruined that for me.
----
You're never too old
for napping.
----
So when is this
"Old enough
to know better"
supposed to kick in?
----
Cleverly disguised as
a responsible adult.
----
And my favorite:
LISTEN & SILENT
have the same letters.
Coincidence?
Text and image © 2016 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.
See Stuff
"See" as in
"take the time
to slow down,
stop,
be present,
observe
and really look."
Meditating each day
helps me with this.
Being at home with the cats
helps me with this
(since this is there natural state);
they climb on my lap, saying,
"Stay;
you're fine just holding me."
And I am.
I have spent my life
rushing, doing, accomplishing,
managing, advancing, bettering...
Now I can move
with greater intention,
with deliberation,
with awareness.
I do tasks more slowly.
Nothing is as urgent as it seems;
the world won't be any different
if I walk to the Post Office
instead of driving,
if it takes 10 minutes instead of 5
to fold the laundry,
if I step outside and sit on the patio
to watch the squirrel watch me,
to watch the wind tug leaves from the trees,
if I close my eyes for 10 seconds
in the produce section at Safeway
to imagine the spirit of God filling me,
washing over me,
calming and grounding me...
Or maybe the world will be different,
in a good way,
for me certainly,
but also for a world
with whom I engage more fully,
more thoughtfully.
The squirrel knows.
The squirrel thinks to himself,
"Taken you long enough..."
Text and image © 2016 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.
May my heart
and yours
prove that love
endures.
Text and image © 2016 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.
Donate Stuff
You have boxes
that you haven't opened
since the last time
you moved.
Am I right?
You don't even know
what's in those boxes.
Like the VHS tapes
that play in a machine
you no longer own,
and books you'll never read again,
glasses you no longer wear,
counter-top appliances you've used three times,
six pairs of cheap earbuds,
high-school year books you haven't opened in decades,
etc.
You are not the stuff you own,
so it's time to say goodbye.
Give 'em to neighbors,
to friends,
to family members,
to Goodwill or Arc.
They will be fine without you.
You will be fine without them.
Donation emancipation.
Text and image © 2016 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.
Shred Stuff
Shred your butt off:
old tax returns
bank statements
credit card receipts
health records
closing documents
(for the houses you haven't lived in for 20+ years)
school papers
(from 50 years ago)
incriminating love notes
photographs you look bad in
I go until the shredder quits in protest
(overheated again):
"I am a home shredder," she cries,
"never meant to do this much this fast!"
So while she cools off,
I cull more files,
continue remembering,
keep letting go.
And feed her again...
the cats give me wide birth--
too much noise for them--
the grinding that changes pitch and pace
with the number of sheets I run through at one time.
The label says "10 sheets,"
but she whines that this is unreasonable:
"Only a home shredder..." she repeats, wearily.
Over the course of two days
I fill three large, black trash bags
with a billion cross-cut bits of my life,
things once important,
things revealing.
There are some of you out there
who (a) save less stuff
and (b) purge frequently.
I admire you.
Don't judge me.
There are some of you out there
who are holding onto much more than this.
Perhaps you could admire me.
I don't judge you.
All in all,
it feels good--
lighter, freer.
And there's no denying the extra space I gain...
space which looks just fine empty,
like white-space on a well-designed curriculum page.
Retirement should bring
room to breathe.
Text and image © 2016 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.
What if a country
held a national referendum
on bigotry and racism,
on misogyny and sexism,
on anger and militarism,
on materialism and selfishness,
on pride and arrogance,
and discovered
that a huge proportion of its citizens
favors and sanctions these,
says, "Yes, that's what we want"?
Just sayin'...what if?
Well,
that would give people of faith
(people of all faiths),
those who love and serve God
(however we conceive of God)
a much clearer understanding
of the job before them,
of their calling.
This is it, people;
this is it, Church:
you are the voice of reason,
of compassion,
of peace,
of kindness,
of inclusion,
of humility.
You are the voice of Jesus.
And, oh, how we need your voice.
Text and image © 2016 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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