The 60-Second Sabbath

My Soul, My Soul

My soul,
    you are my hero.

While I spin, bounce through the day,
    you remain my stillpoint, my anchor, my tether.

While I lose myself in jumbled thought,
    you remain my silence, my center, my equanimity.

While I trip, stumble, tumble,
    you remain my ground, my stability, my scaffold.

You, my soul, my center--
    and the center always holds.

You, my soul--
    oasis,
        refuge,
            grace.

You, my soul, my hero,
    forever in union with God.

You and I, my soul,
    forever in union with God.

Text and image © 2021 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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After the Funeral

He pauses as he enters her bedroom:
    A catacomb, he thinks.

Row upon row of the dead cover the walls--
    Photographs--too many to count--
Family, friends, neighbors, lovers--
    Wedding photos, school photos,
Vacation photos, holiday photos--
    Ancestors in antique garb--
Children in swimsuits on forgotten beaches--
    Teenagers in bell bottoms and paisley--
Old people with walkers--
    Dads posing over BBQ grills--
Moms sitting primly on floral sofas--
    Faces crowded around Christmas trees--

How can she have slept in here? he wonders.

Too many memories--
    Too many whispers--
Too many ghosts--

They crowd against him,
    Pushing him back toward the door.
"Where is she?" they demand.
    "What have you done with her?"

He cannot breathe for the sadness.

Text and image © 2021 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
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Conditioning vs Freedom

Most of our
    beliefs
are the result of
    conditioning.
Culture and family,
    church and the workplace
all train us
    to be act, think
in ways that support
    the ongoing existence
of these conditional beliefs.

We haven't actually chosen
    most of what we believe,
which means,
    few of our beliefs
are true
    in any universal, cosmic sense.

True, this conditioning
    helps us survive,
but this conditioning
    also limits.

Hence,
    equally intelligent,
aware,
    sensitive people of goodwill--
and deep faith--
    embrace widely (wildly?) divergent beliefs.

Imagine life--and faith--beyond beliefs
    (outside of conditioning),
lived from the heart (the Heart)
    where we move and speak and act
and have our being
    in and from freedom,
in and from the great and loving Divine.

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.

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On War

When I rejoice in victory,
    am I not celebrating
        the death of those God holds close?

Victory calls for grief,
    weeping with God
        at the loss of God's children.

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

Everything~
    and everyone~
        returns to God.

It happens continually, 
    this returning,
        even now...yes, now.

This cat,
    asleep on the hassock in front of me~
        ever returning.

This ink, paper, pen~
    ever returning~
        ever received.

The love of God~
    ever drawing to itself~
        ever receiving.

This life~
    on the occasion of my 68th~
        ever drawn, ever returning.

Inexorable, inevitable,
    steadily, gently~
        drawn, returning.

As the earth absorbs all rain,
    as the sea welcomes all rivers~
        all return to God.

All things returning to God~
    even you,
        even now.

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

When I lose touch with
    my essential self,
        my God-with-me self,
then my false self,
    my ego-self
        eagerly steps up to take its place,

posing as the real thing,
    which it is most definitely
        not.

Holding on to my essential self,
    living from that unshakeable, 
        joyous, grace-filled core
keeps the ego-self
    in check.

The key for me?
    Returning every day,
        throughout the day,
            to the greater, underlying Reality.

Silence,
    reading,
        writing,
prayer,
    meditation,
        listening,
observing,
    mindfulness,
        stillness--

this is how God leads me back,
    this is how my essential self
        settles back into its rightful place.

How do you return
    to your essential self?

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

"I'm losing my mind,"
    I said to the empty kitchen,
having no idea
    what I had come downstairs to do.
It likely had something to do with the kitchen,
    since that's where I ended up,
but for the life of me,
    I couldn't image what.

"That's not such a bad thing, really."
    I jumped when I heard her voice behind me--
Sophia, appearing, as she usually did,
    without warning or invitation.

"Good grief, you scared me!"
    I said.

"You really should be used to it by now,"
    she said, without apology.

"And you really should arrive...
    less abruptly," I said.

"Noted."

"Thanks."

"Welcome.
    And don't be too worried about your forgetfulness--
you're not losing your mind,
    only valuing it too much."

She left the kitchen
    and sat down in the living room.
I followed.
    "What do you mean,
valuing it too much?"

"What you think about things
    matters much less than you believe.
What matters is how things
    actually are,
and you're thoughts about them
    don't change that."

"How things are?"

"Yes,
    you have opinions about so many things.
Have you ever observed
    how much energy that takes?
And stress it adds to your life?"
    She picked up something from the rug:
"What's this?"

I walked over to look.
    "That's a stray cat treat."

"Let me call her," she said.
    She closed her eyes for a few seconds,
then opened them again.
    Within seconds,
Belinda came trotting down the stairs
    and over to Sophia.
"Here you go, sweetie," she said,
    giving her the treat.
Belinda crunched it contentedly.

I said,
    "How did you do that?
I heard nothing."

She shrugged and said, "I know.
    So...back to the mind."

"But..."

She ignored me and continued:
    "The mind can be a helpful tool, sure,
but you are not your mind.
    Your mind is not what makes you human.
With or without your mind,
    you are still a beloved child of God.
With or without your mind,
    you remain worthy of love.
With or without your mind,
    you are joined forever with God."

"But, without my mind..."

"You would still be known to God
    and would still know God--
not necessarily with words,
    but with a connection much deeper than words...
and perhaps more meaningful."

She could see me struggling with this.

"You are trying, even now,
    to grasp this with your mind.
Try receiving it with you heart."

I sighed.

"Maybe this will help:
    think of your friend Jules,
the one with Alzheimer's."

"Yes?"

"Have you ever sensed--ever--
    that Jules was not held by God?"

"No..."

"Have you any reason to think
    that Jules lacks a deep, real connection with God?"

"No, I haven't."

"Has it occurred to you
    that Jules may experience God,
moment by moment,
    more purely and immediately than you do,
because her mind doesn't get in the way
    as yours does?"

I nodded,
    tears welling up in my eyes.
"I have wonder that...
    and envied it."

Sophia stood,
    stepped toward me,
and gave me a hug.
    "Less mind, more heart," she whispered,
and I felt her body fade from my arms,
    leaving me with a loudly purring Belinda
and a sudden, unreasoned, unreasonable opening
    of my heart.

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

I am enjoying a marvelous little book:

    Of Cats and Men by Sam Kalda.

Kalda is both the author and illustrator
    (he is an illustrator by trade).
In the book, he highlights 30 male historical figures
    who were inspired, companioned,
taught and/or owned by cats,
    and offers one-page bios for each man,
along with loads of wonderful images.

I have drawn quotes from the book,
    all from the profiled men,
and offer them below.

Those of us who have been inspired,
    companioned, taught and/or owned by cats
will immediately relate.

Those of us who haven't...
    well, that's just sad.

Here we go:

When a man loves cats,
    I am his friend and comrade,
without further introduction.

                                    -- Mark Twain, writer, humorist

In ancient times
    cats were worshipped as gods;
they have not forgotten this.

                                    -- Terry Pratchett, writer

When I am playing with my cat,
    how do I know
she is not playing with me?

                                    -- Michel de Montaigne, philosopher, essayist

I have my favorite cat,
    who is also my paperweight,
on my desk while I am writing.

                                    -- Ray Bradbury, writer

What greater gift
    than the love of a cat?

                                    -- Charles Dickens, writer

I said something that made you to think
    I hated cats.
But, gad, sir,
    I am one of the most fanatical cat lovers
in the business.
    If you hate them,
I may learn to hate you.
    If your allergies hate them,
I will tolerate the situation
    to the best of my ability.

                                    -- Raymond Chandler, writer

I love cats because I enjoy my home;
    and little by little they become its visible soul.

                                    -- Jean Cocteau, artist, writer, film-maker

A cat has absolute emotional honesty:
    human beings,
for one reason or another,
    may hide their feelings,
but a cat does not.

                                    -- Ernest Hemmingway, writer

My relationship with cats
    has saved me from a deadly, pervasive ignorance.

                                    -- William S. Burroughs, writer

In my next life I want to be a cat.
    To sleep twenty hours a day and wait to be fed.
To sit around licking my ass.

                                    -- Charles Bukowski, poet

I never thought I would fall in love like this
    with a cat.

                                    -- Karl Lagerfeld, designer

Meow!

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

Fr. Richard Rohr speaks of two equally
    unsatisfactory approaches to faith:

(1) religion as nostalgia,
    in which we look backwards
        to a fondly remembered (though perhaps imaginary) time
            when things were so much better--
                God was God,
                   and we all knew how to properly respond,

or

(2) religion as carrot on a stick,
    in which we solely focus on obtaining
        our final reward at some point in the future
            when our earthly trials are done,
                ignoring the call to transform the world.

Both approaches share one thing in common:
    they deny the reality of the present moment--
        the only moment in which God lives,
            the only moment in which we can be fully alive,
                fully engaged with being, now, the people of God,
                   loving and serving others,
                        working to be the Kingdom we intrinsically are.

Eternity is now,
    not back then,
        not in the future,
            but now.

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

If I pray,
    "thy kingdom come,"
I am at the same time praying,
    "my kingdom go."

It's tough to let go of
    my little kingdom.
I've invested so much time
    establishing it,
securing my borders,
    excavating my moat,
stocking my arsenal,
    setting up my tiny throne
to house my tiny, annoying ego.

But to honestly pray
    "thy kingdom come"
means I invite God
    to dismantle my own.

Our Father who art in heaven,
    hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
    my kingdom go...

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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