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Posts tagged ‘Contemplation’

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

Apr 13

Wide Open

“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.” – Rumi

“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” – Rumi

Deep, expansive, wide.
Within awaiting your return.
Walk through the door.
Ecstatic motion.

“Why do you stay in prison, when the door is so wide open?” – Rumi

Apr 12

Like a Jewel

“Maybe if we re-invent whatever our lives give us we find poems.”― Naomi Shihab Nye, Red Suitcase

We don’t realize the weight that we carry until we lay it down and walk a few steps without it.
Whatever is heavy on your mind, in your heart, on your shoulders, put it down for a bit.
We are more than what we do, what others think, what we think, the past or the future.
Spirit and soul.
Current and waves.
Wind and stillness.
Embedded in the doing, in the striving, in the chasing, enough, whole and imperfect beauty and light lingers, resides, invites.
Go there, sit awhile, warmed by the glistening beams.

“The person you have known a long time is embedded in you like a jewel. The person you have just met casts out a few glistening beams & you are fascinated to see more of them. How many more are there? With someone you’ve barely met the curiosity is intoxicating.”― Naomi Shihab Nye

Apr 10

Love

“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” – Saint Augustine

“No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.” – William Penn

As Palm Sunday begins the most holiest of weeks, may we know that love was and is the reason for the Cross. And may we offer but sliver of that kind of love to others each day.

“God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.” – Pope Francis

Make this week holy, sacred and filled with deep gratitude for a love that carries us each day, if only we would recognize and receive it. Seek His mercy, accept His love.

“Remember finally, that the ashes that were on your forehead are created from the burnt palms of last Palm Sunday. New beginnings invariably come from old false things that are allowed to die.” – Richard Rohr

Apr 7

Encounter and Embrace

“TO COME HOME TO YOURSELF May all that is unforgiven in you Be released. May your fears yield Their deepest tranquilities. May all that is unlived in you Blossom into a future Graced with love.”― John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Invocations and Blessings

“What you encounter, recognize or discover depends to a large degree on the quality of your approach. Many of the ancient cultures practiced careful rituals of approach. An encounter of depth and spirit was preceded by careful preparation.

When we approach with reverence, great things decide to approach us. Our real life comes to the surface and its light awakens the concealed beauty in things. When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. The rushed heart and arrogant mind lack the gentleness and patience to enter that embrace.”― John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

May you be touched by beauty.
Awakened by light.
Jarred by gratitude.
Held in love.
And bring it all into the world to live the unlived in you.
Human. Holy. Sacred.
Mind renewed, spirit released.

“May we find our foundation in the work of Love; demanding, tiring, true and human and holy.”― Pádraig Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community

Apr 5

A Doorway

“Prayer is how we press our hands into the invisible and find the hand of Christ reaching back.” — James K. A. Smith

Attention
Awe
Thanks
Awareness
Meditation
Reflection
Noticing
Acknowledging
Gratitude
Joy
Laughter
Flowers
Sky
Light
Conversation
Connection
All prayer, praise and reverence.
Pause, patch a few words together.
Followed by silence so another voice may speak.

Praying by Mary Oliver

“It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.”

Mar 27

Press Pause

“Sometimes you need to press pause to let everything sink in.” – Sebastian Vettel

“Mindfulness not only makes it possible to survey our internal landscape with compassion and curiosity but can also actively steer us in the right direction for self-care.”― Bessel A. van der Kolk

May calm, ease and rest enter and sit with you today, each day.
To remind you often of what and who is important, including self.
In service and giving, we find our purpose.
Self-care, then other care.
Approval, people-pleasing, offense, permission-seeking, judgment, worry, the past, the future, control, negativity, certainty, our way – all hindering beauty, imagination, joy, delight, awe, enthusiasm, possibility, excitement, abundance.
Let these good things in to do their work in and with you.
Art, music, nature, writing, reading – prompts, bridges, gateways to the great expanse that resides with, in and next to each of us.
Reflect, decompress, pause, recalibrate.
Discernment, clarity, divine order.

“It’s not only moving that creates new starting points. Sometimes all it takes is a subtle shift in perspective, an opening of the mind, an intentional pause and reset, or a new route to start to see new options and new possibilities.” – Kristin Armstrong

Mar 9

Ordinary Altars

“We carry within us the wonders we seek without us.” – Thomas Browne

“When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.” – Mahatma Gandhi

A run at the end of the day as the clouds roll in and temperature starts to drop. The finish in sight, the sun breaks through the clouds, kissing the frozen lake. A cross take shape but for a moment before fading behind again. An altar, an awakening, a whisper to deepen, widen, open, prompt awe. Signs and wonders woven in the ordinary to carry, hold and embrace. Choose well to what and for who you kneel to and for. God or gods.

“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.” – William Cowper

Mar 8

The Power in Pause

“Every natural object is a conductor of divinity and only by coming into contact with them… may we be filled with the Holy Ghost.” – John Muir

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” John Muir

In the flurry and hurry, pause.
In the noise and chaos, pause.
In the chatter and complaining, pause.
In beauty and nature, pause.
In blessings and abundance, pause.
In frustration and impatience, pause.
In observation and awe, pause.
In wonder and exploration, pause.
In play and delight, pause.
In the pause, the inflection, the reflection, power resides.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” – John Muir

Feb 13

Pure Nectar

“Look past your thoughts, so you may drink the pure nectar of this moment.” – Rumi

“A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the heart. We know so many things, but we don’t know ourselves! Why, thirty or forty skins or hides, as thick and hard as an ox’s or bear’s, cover the soul. Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there.” – Meister Eckhart

Sunday, the day deemed for rest
For reflection
For filling
For being, not doing
For preparation
For knowing and unknowing
For unwinding and savoring

May you put on rest
A cloak of slowness
A blanket of ease
Open space past the field of thoughts, limitations and expectations
Holy, sacred ground to return to not only on one day but each day
A homecoming, familiar and new at the same time
Finding God residing there, waiting to be seen within, around, above and below, everywhere
Reverence, awe, mystery, beauty
Be captured and held
Pure nectar.

“God is at home, it’s we who have gone out for a walk.” – Meister Eckhart

 

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