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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

Oct 6

Slow, Flow, Grow

“Love has the shape and feel of water. It is simultaneously flexible and powerful. It can adapt and roar; it can also be silently nourishing.”― Yung Pueblo, How to Love Better

“Slowing down is how you ground yourself. It is how you reconnect with your peace and intuition. Slowing down helps you understand yourself and other people. Slowing down opens the door to deeper learning. It is how you reaffirm the way you want to show up in the world. Slowing down is necessary if you want to live intentionally. It is the only way you can make sure that you are moving in the right direction.”― Yung Pueblo, How to Love Better

In the pause, attention
In the flow, communion
In the slow, presence
In the praise, reverence
In this day, devotion
In the connection, love
Slow, flow, grow.

“Going with the flow does not mean you sit back passively and expect everything to work out. Going with the flow means you don’t cause yourself stress by fighting changes that are out of your control.”― Yung Pueblo, How to Love Better

Oct 5

Beauty of Faith Everblooming

“Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.”- Saint Augustine

“I will have nothing to do with a God who cares only occasionally. I need a God who is with us always, everywhere, in the deepest depths as well as the highest heights. It is when things go wrong, when good things do not happen, when our prayers seem to have been lost, that God is most present. We do not need the sheltering wings when things go smoothly. We are closest to God in the darkness, stumbling along blindly.”― Madeleine L’Engle

Heights and depths
Smooth and stumbling
God always present
Close as breath
Unexpected, showing up in so many ways
In others, encounters, a blooming flower
Bigger and more creative than our thoughts and imagination
Knowing in the unknowing
Loved beyond measure
Beauty of faith everblooming.

“Just because we don’t understand doesn’t mean that the explanation doesn’t exist.”― Madeleine L’Engle

Oct 4

Seek and Listen

“if you will go where you’ve never gone before, you will see God like you’ve never seen him before.”― Annie F. Downs, Let’s All Be Brave: Living Life with Everything You Have

“When you take the time to draw on your listening-imagination, you will begin to hear this gentle voice at the heart of your life. It is deeper and surer than all the other voices of disappointment, unease, self-criticism and bleakness. All holiness is about learning to hear the voice of your own soul. It is always there and the more deeply you learn to listen, the greater surprises and discoveries that will unfold. To enter into the gentleness of your own soul changes the tone and quality of your life. Your life is no longer consumed by hunger for the next event, experience or achievement. You learn to come down from the treadmill and walk on the earth. You gain a new respect for yourself and others and you learn to see how wonderfully precious this one life is. You begin to see through the enchanting veils of illusion that you had taken for reality. You no longer squander yourself on things and situations that deplete your essence. You know now that your true source is not outside you. Your soul is your true source and a new energy and passion awakens in you. John O’Dononhue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

Seek
Inquire
Listen
Respond
Cathedrals of the soul.

“But for us the road unfurls itself, we don’t stop walking, we know there is far to go. ”― Denise Levertov

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