The 60-Second Sabbath

Sophia behind the Mask

I stepped onto the patio--
    there sat Sophia, at the table,
        shaded by the big red umbrella,
            surrounded by our newly planted pots,
wearing a mask.

"Well," I said, "first off, hello.
    it's been a while."
        She nodded.
            I could see from her eyes
that she was smiling.

"Second," I continued,
    "why are you wearing a mask?
        You can't get sick, right?
            And if you can't get sick,
you can't get me sick."

She mumbled something unintelligible.
    "I can't hear you," I said,
        "Your mask--it's muffling your voice."
            She spoke louder:
"When we incarnate, we are fully human."

"Ah, so you can get sick."
    "Yes," she said, "You don't think Jesus got sick
        in his brief time on earth?
            He had colds, got the flue,
puked occasionally."

"Let me get my mask," I said,
    "I'll be right back."
        When I returned, I said,
            as loudly as I could without shouting,
"Seems I'm always learning more about you."

"When you let us love you,
    then you will discover who we are.
        When you let us love you,
            then you will discover who you are.
It's pretty simple, actually."

I: "Just let you love me?"
    She: "Just let us love you."
        And with that, she began to fade,
            leaving, for a few moments, only her mask,
until that too disappeared,

like the smile on the Cheshire Cat.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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Within/Without

If you're looking for God without,
    you haven't yet found God within.

Once you find God within,
    there is nothing but God without.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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Finally Ready to Be Found

It's hide and seek, it seems.

All these years--
    You've been hiding;
    I've been seeking.

And so I slog,
    through bog and fog,
slipping, tripping,
    ripping aside curtains and cobwebs,
stumbling, fumbling
    (too often mumbling, grumbling).

I'm stopping...
    now.

No more seeking:
    I'm ready to be found.

Sophia advises:

    That's always the way--
    God seeks. God finds.

    And look--here I AM!
    You've already been found.
    What a great day!

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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Already There

There is nothing you can do
    to improve on what is already within you,
        which is God,
            which is therefore perfection.

It's not about getting somewhere,
    it's about stopping long enough
        to look around and understand--
            you're already there.

You are there.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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Who?

Who inspires you
    with their generosity?

<pause>

Who humbles you
    with their compassion?

<pause>

Who softens you
    with their tenderness?

<pause>

Who releases you
    with their laughter?

<pause>

Who restores you
    with their silence?

<pause>

These are the life-boosters,
    the soul-healers,
        the heart-lifters,
            the God-bringers.

Be grateful.
    Be transformed.
        Be this for others.
            Be this for God.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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Holiness

Holiness
    is not about
        what you know
            or how you behave.
Holiness
    is about
        who you are.

Fasting, meditation, service, tithing--
    yes, all good--
but holiness
    comes
        with that embrace of God.

Holiness
    arises
        from union with the Divine.
Union with the Divine
    comes
        when you no longer cling to
            what you thought made you holy.

It is not a striving after,
    it's a falling into.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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Striving for the Light

We strive for the light,
    not recognizing
that the light is obscured
    by our own inner darkness:

anger might be yours,
    or impatience or pettiness,
maybe envy or pride or blame;
    perhaps you are judgmental or fearful--

whatever. Your darkness.
    It is time, now, to let go,
to release it, give it up.
    Bye, bye, darkness,

bye, bye, bye.

And--My, oh, my!--such light!
    Vision clears.
Heart expands (one-hundredfold).
    and here--right here--

is God.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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Yes, Even That

You know what else God owns?

    Death.

Yes, even that.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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What Faith Looks Like

Here's what faith looks like:

All you have known, learned, believed,
    acquired, trusted, longed for--
everything that you think is you or yours--
    is packed up in a huge box.

You stand on one side of this box,
    and you can't see what's on the other side--
from where you stand,
    it's just a big Nothingness.

Faith is when you get a running start
    and leap over the box
into whatever or whomever
    lies beyond.

Yes, that's what faith looks like.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
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Therefore Love

God
    is love

therefore,
    you
        are love

therefore,
     I
        am love

therefore,
    the red and yellow tulips in your yard
        are love

therefore,
    the dog looking up at you with utter trust
        is love

therefore,
    all that greens and grows and grins and gropes heavenward
        is love

therefore,
    your pulse and breath, your seeing and touching
        all are love

therefore,
    we
        are love

therefore,
    a truth
        to live

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

Have you ordered your copy of Contemplative Vision: Photography as a Spiritual Practice? 
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