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Posts tagged ‘Grace’

Jul 23

Quiet Mystery Calling

“An awe so quiet I don’t know when it began.
A gratitude had begun to sing in me.
Was there some moment dividing song from no song?
When does dewfall begin?
When does night fold its arms over our hearts to cherish them?
When is daybreak?”― Denise Levertov

“Days pass when I forget the mystery.
Problems insoluble and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; caps and bells.
And then
once more the quiet mystery
is present to me, the throng’s clamor
recedes: the mystery
that there is anything, anything at all,
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything,
rather than void: and that, 0 Lord,
Creator, Hallowed one, You still,
hour by hour sustain it.”
― Denise Levertov, Sands of the Well

Gratitude
Not built on platitude
Sewn on pillows
Signs hung on walls
Deeper, wider, dense
Resilient, transcendent, grace
Woven in ordinary, trust, delight
In the letting go, letting it be, letting it become
In the mess, detours, delays
Remember the mystery
Partake in wonder, awe, laughter
Daily practice, habit, commitment
Capture and cast light.

“Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift. It liberates us from the prison of self-preoccupation.”― John Ortberg, When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box

Jul 8

Emergence in the Pause

“There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep. ”
― Elizabeth Bishop

“Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what’s happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s happening, stories that get in the way of direct experience. Often such stories treat a fleeting state of mind as if it were our entire and permanent self.”― Sharon Salzberg, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation

In the pause, stillness
Gaze
Abide
Release
Reset
Slow
Mindfulness spilling into grace, gratitude
Anchoring
Patterns reshape
New stories emerge
Narrative wanders off path
Peace, delight, anticipation
In the paragraph on the blank page of this day.

“In our frantic search for something to quench our thirst, we overlook the water all around us and drive ourselves into exile from our own lives. ”― Sharon Salzberg

Jun 15

Gentle, Quiet, Grace

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” — Saint Francis de Sales

“Oh! that gentleness! how far more potent is it than force!”― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

For the past three mornings, the girls have been barking with intensity in the backyard.
Each time, going to get them in, a deer standing on the other side of the fence.
Gentle gaze, unmoved by the commotion, undistracted by the noise, rooted in calm ease.
Across traditions and cultures, deer symbolize gentleness, intuition, spiritual renewal.
The ability to navigate life’s challenges with quiet grace.
God enters our days in a million little ways.
Often through nature, children, dogs, deer, other people.
Encounters, distractions, delays, long cuts.
Unseen, bypassed, not on our checklist, sped by on the way to somewhere else.
Make somewhere else this day.
Reset the pace, the cadence.
Someday is this day.
Saunter.
Easy spirit.
Quiet grace.
Just outside your door.
Woven in your heart.
Peace.

“I choose gentleness… Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.”― Max Lucado

“Gentleness is strength under control. It is the ability to stay calm, no matter what happens.” — Elizabeth George

 

Oct 12

Rhythm, Light, Grace

“You can have the other words-chance, luck, coincidence, serendipity. I’ll take grace. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’ll take it. ”― Mary Oliver

“If you allow yourself to be the person that you are, then everything will come into rhythm.
If you live the life you love, you will receive shelter and blessings.
Sometimes the great famine of blessing in and around us derives from the fact that we are not living the life we love, rather we are living the life that is expected of us.
We have fallen out of rhythm with the secret signature and light of our own nature.”
– John O’Donohue, Anam Cara

May you hear your own voice
Allow others too
Conversation, exchange, dance
Inquiry, quieting, listening
Allowing, inviting, welcoming
To not know everything
Creating space for unlearning, relearning, growth
Standing on this ground, blessed and blessing
Grace, light, homecoming.

“Sometimes I need
only to stand
wherever I am
to be blessed.”
― Mary Oliver, Evidence: Poems

Sep 4

Blooming with Grace

“To the ones that bloomed when the world expected them to wither.”― Lisina Coney, The Brightest Light of Sunshine

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.” — Buddha

Wherever planted this day, this week, this season
Bloom
With color
Hope
Resilience
Gratitude
Wonder
Joy
Grit
Curiosity
Awe
Grace
Most of all.

“Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace”― Lisina Coney, The Brightest Light of Sunshine

Aug 21

Anchor and Kite

“Grace is the permanent climate of divine kindness; the perennial infusion of springtime into the winter of bleakness.”― John O’Donohue, Divine Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

“The best portion of a good man’s life: his little, nameless unremembered acts of kindness and love.”― William Wordsworth, Lyrical Ballads

Look longer.
Listen intently.
Breathe deeper.
Move out in love.
Anchor and kite.
A smile, laughter, enthusiasm, delight, generosity, gratitude, presence.
Infuse this day with joy.
Cast peace and light.

“It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.”― Germany Kent

May 31

Altar of this Day

“Ô, Sunlight! The most precious gold to be found on Earth.”― Roman Payne

“I place on the altar of dawn:
The quiet loyalty of breath,
The tent of thought where I shelter,
Waves of desire I am shore to
And all beauty drawn to the eye.
May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.
May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.”
– John O’Donohue, A Morning Offering, To Bless the Space Between Us

Interrupted by beauty.
Delayed by awe.
Tripped up by wonder.
Distracted by gratitude.
Detoured by grace.
Disturbed and changed.
To be made new.
And never go back.
Holy, reverent, sacred ground.
Beneath our feet.
On this and each day.
To fear no more.
Awakened soul.
Grateful heart.
Love alive and well.
Attention required.

“Dawn opens as the sky in spring and sunset as the banquet in heaven. But only the awakened souls can sense the feast.”― Jayita Bhattacharjee

May 9

Cheerful Beams

“Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?”― Augustine of Hippo

“Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.” – Saint Augustine

Luminous
Above, abound, within
Wonder, beauty, nature’s canvas
Painting cheerful beams
May the spring that is unfolding outside, cascade within
Peace, awe, light

“O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.” – Saint Augustine

May 7

Fecund

“I do not understand the mystery of grace — only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.” – Anne Lamott

“Grace is one of the most majestic words in theology. It suggests the sublime spontaneity of the divine which no theory or category could ever capture. Grace has its own elegance. It is above the mechanics of agenda or operation. No one can set limits to the flow of grace. Its presence and force remain unmeasurable and unpredictable. Grace also suggests how fluent and seamless the divine presence is. There are no compartments, corners or breakages imaginable in the flow of grace. Grace is the permanent climate of divine kindness. It suggests a compassion and understanding for all the ambivalent and contradictory dimensions of the human experience and pain. This climate of kindness nurtures the sore landscape of the human heart and urges torn ground to heal and become fecund.” .. John O’Donohue

Beneath the chaos
Above the noise
Beyond the hustle
A whisper
A soft breeze
Sacred ground
Thin spaces
Detached from effort or earning
Unforced rhythm of grace
Awaiting reception without explanation
Partaking without delay
Partake

“You can have the other words-chance, luck, coincidence, serendipity. I’ll take grace. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’ll take it. ”― Mary Oliver

Apr 18

Heavy Love

“Gimme hate, Lord,” he whimpered. “I’ll take hate any day. But don’t give me love. I can’t take no more love, Lord. I can’t carry it…It’s too heavy. Jesus, you know, you know all about it. Ain’t it heavy? Jesus? Ain’t love heavy?”― Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

“Hate can be helpful to certain causes. It unites a group quickly, it gives a person identity—even if it is a negative one—and, most of all, it takes away doubt and all free-floating anxiety. It gives us a place to stand that feels superior and in control. Hate settles the dust and ambiguity that none of us like. Hate is much more common, and more immediately effective, than love. Hate, as we will sadly see below, makes the world go ’round.”― Richard Rohr, The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder

Fear
Anger
Hate

Denied
Abandoned
Emptied

Love poured out
Overflowing to this very day
For all and each, not only some

Companion who says “I know”
Death defeated by love
Heavy heavy love

“But simple as the Sign of the Cross is, it carries a brave weight: it names the Trinity, celebrates the Creator, and brings home all the power of faith to the brush of fingers on skin and bone and belly. So do we, sometimes well and sometimes ill, labor to bring home our belief in God’s love to the stuff of our daily lives, the skin and bone of this world — and the Sign of the Cross helps us to remember that we have a Companion on the road.”― Brian Doyle, Credo

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