The 60-Second Sabbath

Thanksgiving Dinner

"I worship," says my uncle,
"in the woods.
The duck blind is my sanctuary,
    the fragrance of wet earth and pine my incense,
    the campfire my altar, receiving my offering
        of solitude and of thanks."

The others at the table,
more conventional with their believing,
    cautious to move beyond the boundaries
        of the walled church,
sit in skeptical silence.
Some frown.
His brother-in-law clears his throat and says,
"That may be fine for you,
but most of us need
the community of the faithful--
the church--
to truly worship."

I watch my uncle's face,
and in that face, his faith.
Unphased by their doubt,
he returns to his turkey, stuffing
and the memory of sacred space: 
    rain on leaves,
    birds on the wing,
    time on hold.

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
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This Side of the Rainbow

There's no point in wearing ruby slippers
if you don't know they'll take you home,
but you are,
and they will.

So now what?

Text and image © 2015 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.

Would You?

You don't believe;
    I get that.
But if you could,
    would you?

I can't run a marathon,
    but if I could,
    I would.

I can't sing like Andrea Bocelli,
    but if I could,
    I would.

We share that ache for meaning,
    don't we?

    yearning for depth,
    craving connection,
    desiring amazement...

It would be nice to believe,
    wouldn't it?
Would you,
    if you could?

Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.

Christmas Wish

"Believe in the magic of Christmas!"
so our greeting cards suggest.

"Let Christmas believe in the magic of you!"
is my holiday behest.

Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.

Voice of the Mountain

"It's the wind," he told me,
"nothing more."

But I'd heard the voice,
deep and resonant and beckoning.
I could not make out all the words...

"Wind," he repeated.

...but could tell--
just by the tone--
it's old, wise, weary.

"The mountain has no voice,
and you have an overactive imagination."

It spoke again,
raising the hair on my arms,
shivering along my spine,
tousling my hair.
"He's wrong," it said.

Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.

The Cats and the Closet

Our cats regularly ask
to be admitted
to the closet under the stairs.
They look up and meow,
then eagerly enter
when we open the door.
This, we believe,
is their wardrobe,
their entrance to whatever feline Narnia
    beckons from the other side.

Our clocks indicate
they've been gone only a few minutes,
but for them?
It could be days, months, years...
On that side,
They may be prowling princes
ruling over kingdoms of mice and moths.
They may be sable-cloaked explorers,
mapping menacing, overgrown lawns,
or feather-crowned high priests
in service to Bast.

Or perhaps they spend their days
lounging in leather club chairs
before enormous fireplaces
while dogs in tuxes
serve them tuna bites, grasshopper poppers
    and chilled catniptinis.

When they return
they seem unchanged,
but who knows, really,
what fresh wisdom they bring
to our sweet lives?

Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.

Easter Prayer

Great Mystery,

let me die
to who I thought I was,
and be born
into what you long for.

Amen.

Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.

Invitation 4

Hi, all. My blogging service, Typepad, was under attack and rendered inoperable since last Thursday. Today, Tuesday, it's up and running again. What follows is what I had intended to post Friday through Sunday (Good Friday through Easter), pulled together into one entry:

Today
I invite you
to live large enough
to embrace the losses.

Today
I invite you
to look to the horizon,
to place yourself
in the widest possible context.

Today
I invite you
to shoulder aside the stone
and step living from the tomb.

Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.

Another Prayer for Lent

Let me stretch imagination.
Let me break the curve of time.
Let me cut through bland convention
to the heart of the divine.

Let me say the unexpected.
Let me be what's on God's mind.
Let me leap to reach the heaven
I have faith is fully mine.

Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.

Soon Enough

Death comes soon enough;
Why invite it in early?

    Why be jealous? Why be angry?
        Why nurse the grudge,
        rehearse the hurt?
    Why resent? Why fear?

Why welcome decay?
Why hurry death?

Soon enough. Soon enough.

Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.