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Sep 20

Astonishment and Delight

“Every dew wet apple blossom, every garden plot filled with creeping flowers and weeds, each crimson leaf, each sparkle in a newly white morning – each nuance of creation offers up a sense of place and rhythm.”― Heidi Barr, Woodland Manitou: To Be on Earth

“We applaud in silent awe
at how something as simple
as the alignment of
water
trees
light
creates a masterpiece
every single day,
just by existing.”
― Heidi Barr, Cold Spring Hallelujah

Color, light, nuance
Astonishment, delight, awe
Patiently waiting to be found, held
Already here and now
Woven in the ordinary present
Awaiting our awakening
Backdrop to forefront
Attention, noticing, proximity
Clean your glasses
Look again.

“What i want in life
is an aptitude for astonishment
room for unanticipated delight.”
― Heidi Barr, Cold Spring Hallelujah

Sep 19

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No Scarcity of Delight

“Delight is all around us you know, from the food we eat, to the night sky, to the dreams we have. It surrounds us with every moment, you just have to stop and take it in whenever you can.”― Jonathan Maas, Horsemen

The Patience of Ordinary Things
by Pat Schneider

“It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they’re supposed to be.
I’ve been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?”

In abundance.
Simple things.
Ordinary days.
New eyes required, attention too..
On the ground of now.
Windows open wide.
Fresh air of joy.
No scarcity of delight.

“So today I’m recalling the utility, the need, of my own essayettes to emerge from such dailiness, and in that way to be a practice of witnessing one’s delight, of being in and with one’s delight, daily, which actually requires vigilance. It also requires faith that delight will be with you daily, that you needn’t hoard it. No scarcity of delight.”― Ross Gay, The Book of Delights: Essays

Sep 18

Blade of Grass, Slice of Sky

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”― Henry Miller

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself”― Henry Miller

Proximity, within reach
Look longer, gaze
Pay attention, joyously
Make room for reverence, awe, quiet
Invite and let wonder in

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”― Henry Miller

Sep 17

Time will Come Good Again

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” – Henri Matisse

“This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.”
― John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

Away from the noise and chaos
Respite and quiet
Slow and low
Soft and light
Pause and reflect
Hope and joy
Generous and kind
Steadfast and resilient
Anchor and root
Fresh pastures of promise
Blushed with beginning

“It’s a hard time to be human. We know too much
and too little.”― Ellen Bass, Like a Beggar

Sep 16

Tend to the Garden

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” – Frances Hodgson Burnett

“I Choose Love…
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I Choose Joy…
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I Choose Peace…
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so I may live.

I Choose Patience…
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so, Rather complain that the wait is to long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I Choose Kindness…
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for that is how God has treated me.

I Choose Goodness…
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I accuse. I choose goodness.

I Choose Faithfulness…
Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My friends will not question my word. And my family will not question my love.

I Choose Gentleness…
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it only be in praise. If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I Choose Self-Control…
I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then when this day is done I will place my head on my pillow and rest.”― Max Lucado

Perspective and intention.
Abundance or scarcity, a bit of both.
Thoughts and words.
How they turn into action or inaction.
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
Gifts and fruits of the spirit.
For a world in desperate need.
Daily choices.
Choose well.
Love trumps fear.
Tend to the garden.
Cast light.

“A world of grief and pain
flowers bloom—
even then.” – Kobayashi Issa

Sep 15

In All Seasons, Blooming

“Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” – Theodore Roethke

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” – Frances Hodgson Burnett

Beginning, ending, beginning, ending
Woven together in ordinary days
Extraordinary ways
Last blooms of summer
First blooms of fall
Choreography of transitions to transformations
Join the dance
From darkness and dirt to light and glory
In all seasons. blooming.

“One day you will look back and see that all along, you were blooming.”- Morgan Harper Nichols

“September is the culmination of the harvest and the storing of earth’s abundance.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

Sep 14

Building Cathedrals

“May I be at peace, May my heart remain open, May I awaken to the light of my own true nature, May I be healed, May I be a source of healing for all beings.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

“There is an old story about three masons who are laying bricks. A man walks up to them and asks them each the same question: “What are you doing?” The first mason spits on the ground and looks up. “I’m laying bricks. What in hell does it look like I’m doing?” The second mason groans and mops his brow. “I’m earning a living.” The third mason looks up with light in his eyes and says, “I’m building a cathedral.” Who do you think feels most refreshed at the end of the day?”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

From laying bricks to building cathedrals
Of kindness
Possibility
Joy
Purpose
Empathy
Connection
Delight
Peace
In gratitude, grace, generosity of spirit
Keep building cathedrals each day
A brick at a time.

“Let me be open to all possibilities, living the full circle of my life in gratitude no matter when that circle is complete.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

Sep 13

Guardians of Light

“Everything takes time. Bees have to move very fast to stay still.”― David Foster Wallace, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

“Let us be grateful
for the bees and fireflies—
small wonders
that keep the world
blooming and glowing,
our tiny guardians
of life and light.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

To put the world down
If but for a moment
To enter wonder and beauty
Revery and reverence
Let us be torches of kindness, of home
Lighthouses and warm embraces
To pick the world back up with love.

“To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.”
― Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

Sep 12

Freshened Honed Senses

“Great Mystery, I awaken this morning with deep gratitude for the gift of life. May the renewal of faith in this season be the ground from which perfect peace will grow.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

“When we are mindful, experiencing the world around us freshly with all our senses, we leave the judgements of small mind behind and enter the web of interconnectedness, the Big Mind of God. Happiness, joy, peace and gratitude arise spontaneously from within our hearts.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

Small mind shifting to Big mind
Panoramic view to see expanse
Re-entering the details with freshened honed senses
Teaspoon of gratitude making the way for gallons, overflowing
May I be fully awake to today
Beauty, blessings, peace, awe, wonder
All of it, in abundance
Ordinary to extraordinary, a breath away

“Gratitude is a natural outcome of mindfulness. It is also a way to become mindful. We often shut out natural beauty by becoming mindlessly absorbed in the chatter and worry of small mind with its endless self-absorbed attachments to past and future.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

Sep 11

Peace Be with You, Pass It On

“Let your mind be quiet, realising the beauty of the world, and the immense, the boundless treasures that it holds in store.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

“When we catch ourselves thinking belittling, judging, cynical or snide thoughts, we are on the way to surrendering old habits of mind and planting the seeds of kind, encouraging thinking. Awareness of our thought habits and the intention to change them is an important aspect of cultivating kindness.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

Kindness
Empathy
Concern
Compassion
Companionship
Common good
Recklessly scatter seeds of love
Rain of peace
Sun of grace
Cast light in words and actions

“May I learn to consider every circumstance of my day, and every person that I meet, as a teacher. Free me from the pitfall of idealization and disappointment, receiving every teaching as a gift—especially those that are not pleasing.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

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