Skip to content

Oct 16

Secret Gate

“Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate
And though I oft have passed them by
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

“Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!” So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.”― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again

Onward
Enter this day
Anew
Blank canvas
Fresh start
Awe, wonder, beauty
Secret gate
Love, the journey
To be given
To be received
Cast light

“Love is the beauty of the soul”― Saint Augustine of Hippo

Oct 15

Colander

“May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.”― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again

“Silence and stillness are how I sift through the day’s input. The silence serves as a colander, helping me discern what I need to hold on to and allowing what I don’t need to fall gently away, making space to access courage and creativity, quieting to hear the voice of God.”― Emily P. Freeman, The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions

What to hold on to
What to let gently fall away
Daily decision, choices
Discernment, attention, focus
Or
Busy, repetition, avoidance
Reset, recenter, anchor, alignment
Colors brighter, air fresher, horizon widened
In stillness, narrowing, sifting
Holding and being held.

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Oct 14

Crumb Trails

“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.”― Thomas Merton

“Hope has holes
in its pockets.
It leaves little
crumb trails
so that we,
when anxious,
can follow it.
Hope’s secret:
it doesn’t know
the destination–
it knows only
that all roads
begin with one
foot in front
of the other.” – Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Seeds of hope
Joy and encouragement too
Scatter generously|
Gather frivolously
One foot in front of another

“Prayer and love are learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and the heart has turned to stone.”― Thomas Merton

Oct 13

Gravity of Spirit

“There is a gravity of spirit that pulls the essence of who we are into being. Our job, like all our sister creatures, is to find the abundance of air and water and light, and to unfold what is already within us.”― Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

“Living is a conversation with no end, a dance with no steps, a song with no words, a reason too big for any mind.”― Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

Keep your conversation with life going
Ask, listen, explore
Release, embrace, pursue
In the struggle, routine and rush
Pause, pay attention, notice
Gravity of spirit invites, draws forward
Different paths
Same journey home
To light, unfolding, becoming.

“To be running breathlessly, but not yet arrived, is itself delightful, a suspended moment of living hope.”― Anne Carson, Eros the Bittersweet

Oct 12

To Its Lair

“life is always where we are.”― Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”― Arundhati Roy, The Cost of Living

Look again.
Linger.
Longer.
Yield.
Softly.
Gently.
With kindness.
Warm embrace.
Light spirit.
Well of hope.
Fertile soil.
Holy ground.
Life blooming, unfolding.
On this very day.

“The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.”― Thomas Merton

Oct 11

Transparent and Divine

“Life is this simple: we are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time.”― Thomas Merton

“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.”― Thomas Merton

Possibilities over lack
Mystery and unknowing
Curiosity and inquiry
Divinity beaming, flooding
Imagination and abundance
Joy in the present moment
To be harvested and held.

“The least of learning is done in the classrooms. ”― Thomas Merton

Oct 10

Miracle of this Day

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”― Thich Nhat Hanh

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation

May you participate in the miracle of this day.
If letting go feels impossible, put it down for an hour.
Do something spontaneous.
Drive a different route.
Laugh, play, delight.
Let light in.
Cast it back out.

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”― Thich Nhat Hanh

Oct 9

Altars and Cathedrals, Front and Center

“Whoever you are, you are human. Wherever you are, you live in the world, which is just waiting for you to notice the holiness in it.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

“What is saving my life now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them. My life depends on ignoring all touted distinctions between the secular and the sacred, the physical and the spiritual, the body and the soul. What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

Altars and cathedrals
Sacred ground
Hidden front and center
On the ground beneath
Ordinary days
We search, seek, chase in far off places and fictional “someday when…”
Pay attention
Plant seeds on your path today
Tend, water,
Cast light.

“Every human interaction offers you the chance to make things better or to make things worse.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

Oct 8

Wild and Wondering

“Blessed are the wonderers with the courage to live into the questions. Seems to me that sooner or later, whether we like the outcome or not, theirs is the answer.”― Sarah Bessey, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith

“May we be…the ones who hold our opinions loosely and yet love ferociously.”― Sarah Bessey, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith

Curiosity before judgment
Unknowing to broaden, widen, deepen
Inquiry and listening
Abiding and witnessing
Wild, wandering, wondering
Love well, small ways, noticing, tending
Cast light

“Sometimes our most holy calling is to listen, to bear witness.”― Sarah Bessey, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith

Oct 7

Roots, Shoots, Fruits

“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.” – Saint Basil

“You can’t change the fruits without changing the roots” – H.L. Mencken

Blue skies
Rushing river
In all seasons and circumstances
Seed daily both on fertile and dry soil
Some with take, some will blow away, some may take time
Roots firm, shoot sure, fruit harvested
Be kind
Thoughts, words, actions
Plant kindness, gather love.
Cast light.

“Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.” – Mother Teresa

← Older Entries