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Sep 24

Harmony Woven in Presence

“If you live in harmony with nature you will never be poor; if you live according what others think, you will never be rich.”― Seneca, Letters from a Stoic

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”― Seneca

This day
Overflowing with possibilities
Presence, curiosity, receptivity
A shift in view
Loosening grip
Open heart and hands
Same place, different person.

“If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.”― Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Letters from a Stoic

Sep 23

Bright Morning Invitation

“Here, root yourselves beside me.
I am the tree planted by the river,
Which will not be moved.
I, the rock, I the river, I the tree
I am yours—your passages have been paid.
Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need
For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage,
Need not be lived again.
Lift up your eyes upon
The day breaking for you.
Give birth againTo the dream.” – Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of the Morning

“Come, clad in peace and I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I
And the tree and stone were one.
Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your brow
And when you yet knew you still knew nothing.
The river sings and sings on.” – Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of the Morning

Pulse of a new day.
The rhythm and rhyme.
Poetry woven throughout, rising up, overflowing.
Birthing, renewing, restoring.
Flowing like a river.
Deep roots.
Rock solid.
Good morning, good day, good life.
Accept the invitation.
Grace, hope, joy.

“Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes,
Into your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.” – Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of the Morning

Sep 22

Enchantment to Transformation

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” – Simone Weil

“Incidentally, the world is magical.
Magic is simply what’s off our human scale… at the moment.”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Encounter
Enchantment
Delight
Partake in magic
Woven through the day
Borne of attention, awe and wonder.

“Enchantment arises on the threshold between human activity and nature’s presence. It is always a liminal phenomenon, a momentary relationship, made of the right arrangement on stars and planets and elaborate with art by human consciousness.”― Thomas Moore

Sep 21

Don’t Skip to the End, Behold

“Don’t skip to the end,” he said, gently. “Don’t skip to the end.”― Kate Bowler, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved

“I have to remind myself not simply to look, but to behold. So let’s bless the gift of cultivated attention. May it bring us endless oooohs and aahhhhhs” – Kate Bowler

No skipping by
Going around
Shortcutting
Counting and comparing
Busy overwhelm
Task overload
Notice, pause, pay attention
Awake and aware
In this day alone
Behold, bemuse, be kind
Yep, even on a Monday, especially perhaps
Scatter seeds frivously
Joy, peace, laughter
Cast light.

“but I believe in joy. We can’t mistake it for anything less than what it is: one of the most powerful ways we experience the deepest and most healing forms of gratitude, delight, and hope. It is a kind of transcendence; joy is a glimmer of love and forgiveness and wholeness that lifts us out of reality for a moment and gives us back to ourselves, anew.”― Kate Bowler, Joyful, Anyway

Sep 20

Tips and Dust

“The true harvest of my life is intangible – a little star dust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched.”― Henry David Thoreau

“Direct your eye inward, and you’ll find / A thousand regions in your mind / Yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be / Expert in home-cosmography”― Henry David Thoreau

Busy, rushing, noise
Distractions, short cuts, avoidance
Clear clutter, in and out
Go off path
Make room, create margin, horizons
Pause, ask, listen
Partake and dive into wonder, awe, reverence
Hidden in moments
Harvest of life
Abundance in tips and dust.

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”― Henry David Thoreau

Sep 19

Moments to Seasons

“These autumn days will shorten and grow cold. The leaves will shake loose from the trees and fall. Christmas will come, then the snows of winter. You will live to enjoy the beauty of the frozen world, for you mean a great deal to Zuckerman and he will not harm you, ever. Winter will pass, the days will lengthen, the ice will melt in the pasture pond. The song sparrow will return and sing, the frogs will awake, the warm wind will blow again. All these sights and sounds and smells will be yours to enjoy, Wilbur — this lovely world, these precious days…”― E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web

“Stolen moments” create a feeling of enjoyment in our “intensive time” awareness. The glow and the intensity of those instants can guide us throughout a whole lifetime. They can expose a second or a third dimension of the daily events and shed an expounding light on all the little details we encounter.”― Erik Pevernagie

Each day, stolen moments falling into months and seasons
Abundant with gifts and offerings
Woven in ordinary and perceived sameness
Transitions, transformations if we allow
Joy, delight, beauty, shedding, growth
Attention required, open hands too
Pause, look, listen.

“The world is full of talkers, but it is rare to find anyone who listens. And I assure you that you can pick up more information when you are listening than when you are talking.”― E.B. White, The Trumpet of the Swan

Sep 18

Fresh Mind, New Day

“Love life. Engage in it. Give it all you’ve got. Love it with a passion because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it.”― Maya Angelou

“Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous. It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood.”― Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now

Thoughts, words, actions.
The framework and foundation.
How we enter the day, the world.
Defeated or hopeful.
Kindness or criticism.
Past or presence.
Grateful even in the challenges or comparing and counting.
Hardened or porous.
Daily decision, choice.
May I choose well.
Praise, laughter, traveling light.
Fresh mind, new day.

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking.”― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

Sep 17

Appointment with Presence

“Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds’ wings.”― Jelaluddin Rumi , The Essential Rumi

“Our appointment with life is in the present moment. If we do not have peace and joy right now when will we have peace and joy–tomorrow, or after tomorrow? What is presenting us from being happy right now?”― Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

No rushing
Anchored, perched, at ease
Front and center
Deep presence
Fresh curiosity
Inquiry and attention
Appointment with life
In this day.

“The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future.”― Eckhart Tolle

Sep 16

Effervecence and Luminosity

“Life is not a series of gig lamps symmetrically arranged; life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end.” — Virginia Woolf

“There is a quiet light that shines in every heart. It draws no attention to itself, though it is always secretly there. It is what illuminates our minds to see beauty, our desire to seek possibility, and our hearts to love life.”— John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

Flat rising to effervescence
Luminosity with renewed senses
A deep dive into presence
Holy ease, sacred ground
Soak in light, cast it back out.

“May you recognize in your life the presence, power, and light of your soul. May you realize that you are never alone, that your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe.”— John O’Donohue, Benedictus

Sep 15

Consent to Presence

“To make bread or love, to dig in the earth, to feed an animal or cook for a stranger—these activities require no extensive commentary, no lucid theology. All they require is someone willing to bend, reach, chop, stir. Most of these tasks are so full of pleasure that there is no need to complicate things by calling them holy. And yet these are the same activities that change lives, sometimes all at once and sometimes more slowly, the way dripping water changes stone. In a world where faith is often construed as a way of thinking, bodily practices remind the willing that faith is a way of life.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

“The treasure we seek requires no lengthy expedition, no expensive equipment, no superior aptitude or special company. All we lack is the willingness to imagine that we already have everything we need. The only thing missing is our consent to be where we are.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

Slowing to attention
Falling into presence, reverence
Slow drip to rhythm of waves, beating of heart
Canopy of the sky
Treasure on the ground of this day.

“Busy? The word loses all meaning under the canopy of this sky.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark: A Study of Spiritual Growth Through Darkness

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