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Posts from the ‘Inquiry’ Category

Feb 2

Ask, Listen, Pay Attention

“Zen pretty much comes down to three things — everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention.”― Jane Hirshfield

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” – Zora Neale Hurston

Living the answers with grace and gratitude
Allowing more questions without knowing the answers
In thin spaces, quiet places, gentle throughways
Releasing the grip of control and knowing
Inviting and allowing
Sacred, holy ground of
Curiosity, inquiry, nuance, noticing, imagination, connection, laughter, gratitude, joy
Rooted in trust, fidelity, love
Different seasons
Each with its own gifts to bear
Opening the gifts
Of presence, awe, wonder, planting, abiding, slowing, savoring
No rushing to get to the other side, in a hurry or to be first
Alignment, attunement, rooting, rising
The work of eternal blooming.

“The most sublime act is to set another before you.”― William Blake, Proverbs of Hell

Jun 26

Window on the World

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”― Alan Alda

“Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.” – William Arthur Ward

What am I missing that’s right in front of me?
What don’t I know?
What’s beneath the surface?
Ask good questions
Give space and margins for the answers to rise up
To take shape and form
Unlearning, relearning, discovery
Inquiry, curiosity, imagination
Listening, hearing, receptivity
Crack the door
Open the window
Let fresh air of unknowing and mystery in
Get out of your own way to find the way
May you see the delight, wonder and awe that cross your path today
Let the light in.

“Dreams don’t die.
They move on to the next available dreamer.”― Michael Bassey Johnson

Oct 23

Beginner Mindset

“The less theorizing you do about God, the more receptive you are to His inpouring.”― Meister Eckhart

“Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time.”― Howard Nemerov

Keep asking questions.
Learning.
Unlearning.
Relearning.
Exploring.
Questioning assumptions.
Asking and then listening.
Asking again.
For answers that are not easy.
Some that never come, remain a mystery.
Not as simple as we make them for our own comfort and rightness.
Too big for the small boxes we put ourselves, others, the world, and God into.
Complex.
Overflowing.
Vibrant.
Rich with texture and nuance.
The less we know for sure, the more we open up to deepening, expanding and growing.
Permeable.
Teachable.
A beginner, fresh with enthusiasm, curiosity and zeal.
The delight of discovery.
Of seeing the same differently.
Know less so you can wisdom more.
Reborn anew each day.

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”― Meister Eckhart

May 16

In the Unknowing, Knowing

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

“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous.” – Thomas Merton

Calculator and canvas;
Art and science;
Sky and spec;
Knowing and mystery;
Boundary and wide open field;
A moment and forever;
Shadow and light;
Oasis and desert;
Deep beyond surface;
Found in silence, inquiry, observation, praise, awe, wonder;
Discernment and clarity;
Imperfection and incompleteness;
Sacred and holy;
Beyond the façade, recipes, rules, assumptions, expections;
Unbound and calling you home to self, true self;
Pieces to patterns;
Unfinished and unexplainable;
All of this and more;
Not caught, rather harnessed and embraced;
Intuition the map;
Homecoming the destination;
Transformation and unfolding.

“The very contradictions in my life are in some ways signs of God’s mercy to me.” – Thomas Merton

Feb 17

In the Questions

“Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.” – e. e. cummings

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”― Rainer Maria Rilke

May you invite joy into your day.
No destiny but the present moment.
In moonlight and sunrise.
In inquiry and observation.
In play and frolic.
In beauty and light.
In unfolding and becoming.
In rest and a deep breath.
Letting go of what is not yours to hold.
Embracing what is yours to hold.
Anchoring in peace.
Rooted in surety of being, spirit, soul.
In companionship with gratitude, unknowing and imagination.
Ever changed in the opening and acceptance.
In the questions, the answers unfold.

“And the faith that grows out of questioning is stronger than the faith born of blind acceptance. It can withstand the shocks of circumstance. Only he who questions the universe and questions it in utter honesty can grow in his comprehension of the truth.” – James Dillet Freeman