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Posts tagged ‘joy’

Heavenly Oils

“A flower will always grow in the direction of the sun because beauty recognises beauty.”― Matshona Dhliwayo

The Sun by Mary Oliver

“Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful

than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone–
and how it slides again

out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower

streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance–
and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love–
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure

that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you

as you stand there,
empty-handed–
or have you too
turned from this world–

or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?”

to never grow weary
take for granted
bypass without noticing
restoration in awe and wonder
found in a sunset, flower, a poem
billowing, reaching, streaming
joy, peace, love

“The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of a trick learned while mastering the art of living.”― Viktor Emil Frankl

Go to the Field

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.”― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

“When loneliness comes stalking, go into the fields, consider
the orderliness of the world. Notice
something you have never noticed before,

like the tambourine sound of the snow-cricket
whose pale green body is no longer than your thumb.

Stare hard at the hummingbird, in the summer rain,
shaking the water-sparks from its wings.” – Mary Oliver

To noticing what’s been in the forefront all along
Pulling over often to praise and ponder
Sitting with gratitude in imperfect days

Present and eager
Grateful and gentle
Go to the fields, look, notice.

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say”― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Secret Gate

“Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate
And though I oft have passed them by
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien

“Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!” So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.”― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again

Onward
Enter this day
Anew
Blank canvas
Fresh start
Awe, wonder, beauty
Secret gate
Love, the journey
To be given
To be received
Cast light

“Love is the beauty of the soul”― Saint Augustine of Hippo

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

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

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

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

Sowing, Tending, Reaping

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” – Simone Weil

“I will complain, yet praise;
I will bewail, approve;
And all my sowre-sweet dayes
I will lament, and love.” – George Herbert

Praise
Approve
Sowing
Love
To do these first, second, third
In the wilderness or plenty
Manna for this day.

“This entire planet is about wilderness, but God is about manna. The journey of life is not a matter of finding our way out of the wilderness but finding the manna inside the wilderness.”― Annie F. Downs, Remember God

Light Abase and Abound

“Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!

Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.

The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.

The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.

Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven’s river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad.”― Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali

To gladness overflowing
Brilliant light, blue sky
Floods of joy, on the banks of ordinary days
Luminosity abase and abound
To witness, partake, participate
Peace

Bright Morning Invitation

“Here, root yourselves beside me.
I am the tree planted by the river,
Which will not be moved.
I, the rock, I the river, I the tree
I am yours—your passages have been paid.
Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need
For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage,
Need not be lived again.
Lift up your eyes upon
The day breaking for you.
Give birth againTo the dream.” – Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of the Morning

“Come, clad in peace and I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I
And the tree and stone were one.
Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your brow
And when you yet knew you still knew nothing.
The river sings and sings on.” – Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of the Morning

Pulse of a new day.
The rhythm and rhyme.
Poetry woven throughout, rising up, overflowing.
Birthing, renewing, restoring.
Flowing like a river.
Deep roots.
Rock solid.
Good morning, good day, good life.
Accept the invitation.
Grace, hope, joy.

“Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes,
Into your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.” – Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of the Morning