The 60-Second Sabbath

The Dot

Ah, perspective.

I've been reading lately
    about our universe,
and what we know of our universe
    is mind-boggling.

Perspective.

Before we get too caught up
    in our personal drama
it helps to catch at least a glimpse
    of the considerably bigger picture.

Consider for a moment
    the period at the end of this sentence.

Have you paused to look at it?
    Think of that dot representing the earth,
the little (and fragile) planet we call home,
    which we easily (and unconsciously)
imagine to be the center of things.
    (Indeed, at times, 
we each consider ourselves
    to be the center of things.)

If that dot represents earth,
    then our entire solar system
represents the universe.

That dot
    with all of us crowded on board.

But wait, there's more!
    In comparison to our own galaxy, the Milky Way,
our solar system is but a fuzzy little dot as well.

A dot.
    We here on earth
         are dots
            hidden in a dot,
                hidden in a dot.

There are 100 billion stars in the Milky Way--
    100 billion.
But our Milky Way itself
    isn't much more than a dot
among the 180 billion galaxies
    in the known universe--
180 billion.

And science now suggests
    ours is not the only universe;
we live in a multiverse.

Perspective.

Now for some God-talk:

What wonders has God worked
    with the populations
of innumerable other worlds (or non-worlds)
    in all of these billions of other
galaxies/solar systems/planets/existences-beyond-our-imagining
   throughout the billions of years (13.7)
that our universe (or multiverse) has existed?

What weirdly awesome things are out there?

And if you are a follower of Christ,
    what part has Christ played
in whatever scenarios
    have unfolded elsewhere?

Christians believe
    that all things are created
in and through Christ,
    so what are the implications
of all this incomprehensible vastness?

And we may confess our need
    for Christ as savior,
but perhaps we're the only ones
    who've needed one;
what role does Christ play
    in populations untouched
by selfishness and hatred?
    We know Christ incarnated
first in creation,
   then in the man Jesus,
but in what other ways
    has Christ incarnated?

Perspective.

So to review:

    I'm a dot on the earth,
        which is a dot in our galaxy,
            which is a dot in the universe,
                which may, it turns out,
                    be a dot in a multiverse.

All wrought by God.

So the next time I (or you)
    get too big for my (or your) britches,
remember the dot.

Brain-bending, soul-touching perspective,
    and one that's oh so humbling...

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

Yes, nearly Thanksgiving,
    and a different Thanksgiving it will be.
For the first time in, well, decades,
    we won't be celebrating
with the usual gathering of friends--
    and no, it's never been a "Friendsgiving,"
it's always been a full-on Thanksgiving
    with a beautiful family of friends.

Over the last few days
    we've brought in a few
of our Christmas decorations
    and put them on display--
candles and garland in the windows,
    the Disney tree in the upper hall--
all blending in with our Thanksgiving decor.

And why not?

We realize that we are celebrating,
    at least this week,
what we're calling
    Thanksmas
or
    Christgiving.

And it's all good...
    perhaps even necessary...
but certainly good.

We are grateful for all of you,
    including those
whom we will not see on Thursday:
    may your day
however it is spent,
    be peaceful and filled with gratitude
and the certainty that you are loved.

Happy Christgiving!
    Merry Thanksmas!

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

Rumi has said:

    Everyone near a saint
        gets drunk with God.

Have you had this experience?

Have you spent time with someone
    so obviously and intimately connected to the Divine
        that you came away from the encounter
            "drunk with God,"
    hushed in spirit,
        heart so filled with the awareness
            of God's reality and invasive presence
                that you felt stunned, released, whole?

My first time was in San Diego,
    early in my work as a youth pastor,
        attending a youth ministry conference.
One workshop was led by a Catholic nun
   (my first nun-encounter),
        who oozed, bled, spread the peace of God
            in a way I'd never experienced.
As she spoke--calm, articulate, compassionate--
    she embodied Christ,
       and I knew--knew--
           I was in Christ's presence.

I walked away dazed--
    drunk with God.

It's happened a few more times in my life,
    always unexpected,
        always transformative--
            Christ, once again, in the flesh.

    Everyone near a saint
        gets drunk with God.

I wonder, then,
    do others get drunk with God
        when they encounter us?

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

"God is love,"
    Jesus tells us.
Jesus never tells us,
    "God is justice."

We may say,
    "God is just,"
but this is, grammatically, 
    not the equivalent of saying,
"God is love."

"God is just" identifies
    one of many characteristics of God.
In this case,
    "just" is an adjective.
We're saying,
    "God is a just God."

"God is love"
    equates God with love,
defines God as love.
    In this case,
"love" is a noun,
    not an adjective.

Significant difference,
    with big implications.

All of God's characteristics--
    God is just.
    God is trustworthy.
    God is endlessly creative.
    God is humorous.
    God is one.
    God is long-suffering.
    God is mysterious.
    God is ultimately unknowable, except in bits and pieces.
must be seen
    through the lens of love.

God's justness,
    like all of God's characteristics,
is subsumed
    in love.

If, with our limited understanding,
    we struggle to reconcile God's justice
with God's defining identity--love--
    love wins, always,

because
    God. Is. Love.

This is Good News.
    This is THE Good News.

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

Early November,
    and the day is warm.

I sit on the patio
    writing these words.

Leaves from the plum tree overhead
    scatter the patio floor,
leaves dark, dark green,
    like quiet pond water.

The breeze lifts,
    culling more leaves;
they fall around me,
    tick, ticking down through the branches,
tick, ticking on the top of the umbrella,
    tick, ticking on the pavement.

Sunlight slouches in these days,
    filtered through the pines against the back fence,
sunlight relaxed and gentle.

Sunlight warms the dried and fallen leaves--
    I love that smell,
distinct, recognizable,
    yet I cannot describe it.
(Can you?)

I claim these days,
    best, loveliest days.
I share them with all who wonder.

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
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And So, Today...

And so, today,
    God is still God.

And so, today,
    we still love and are loved.

And so, today,
    we remain committed
        to what we know is true and right,
            beautiful and just.

And so, today,
    we embrace ourselves
        with gentleness and hope.

And so, today,
    we hold tightly to friends and family.

And so, today,
    we slow down,
        we breathe,
            we are.

And so it is,
    today, and always...

Text and image © 2020 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
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And so, today,
    God is still God.

And so, today,
    we still love and are loved.

And so, today,
    we remain committed
        to what we know is true and right,
            beautiful and just.

And so, today,
    we embrace ourselves
        with gentleness and hope.

And so, today,
    we hold tightly to friends and family.

And so, today,
    we slow down,
        we breathe,
            we are.

And so it is,
    today, and always...

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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Come Tomorrow

Come tomorrow,
    God will still be God.

Come tomorrow,
    you will still love and be loved.

Come tomorrow,
    you will remain committed
        to what you know is true and right,
            beautiful and just.

Come tomorrow,
    you will embrace yourself
        with gentleness and hope.

Come tomorrow,
    hold tightly to friends and family.

Come tomorrow,
    slow down,
        breathe,
            be.

Come tomorrow...

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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God judges a nation,
    not by its wealth or GDP,
but on its treatment of its poor,
    its disfranchised,
        its marginalized.

God judges a nation,
    not on its military strength,
but on the sacrifices it makes
    for the world and for creation.

God judges a nation,
    not on per-capita gun ownership,
but its willingness to drop its weapons
    and be the first to die for peace.

God judges a nation
    on its willingness to say,
"We are sorry," 
    and to right the sins of the past.

God cares not a whit
    for pride and patriotism
but a whopping lot
    for humility.

Or, perhaps,
    God doesn't judge at all
and simply weeps
    at our failure to repent and return,
repent and return.

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? 
Follow this link: https://www.churchpublishing.org/contemplativevision