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Posts tagged ‘Nature’

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 6

A Bit of Sky

“It’s amazing the difference
A bit of sky can make.”― Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends

“Draw a crazy picture,
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-gumble song,
Whistle through your comb.
Do a loony-goony dance
‘Cross the kitchen floor,
Put something silly in the world
That ain’t been there before.”
― Shel Silverstein

Put down the doing, the working, the rushing
Slowing, savoring, rejoicing
Spring serves up a buffet of color, fragrance, beauty in abundance
To dive, partake, witness, participate in
Awe wonder, delight
Here and now.

 “And all the colors I am inside have not been invented yet.”― Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends

May 1

1 Comment

Doorway to New World, Spring Threshold

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.” – John Muir

“No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees.” – Thomas Merton

April showers to May threshold to spring
Unfolding and unfurling
The world is greening, budding
Path to full bloom
Transition to transformation
On full display played
Do not miss the show
Get outside
Breath it in with all of your senses
Doorway to a new world, listening heaven
This day is your life
Participate, celebrate, cast light.

“Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.” – Rabindranath Tagore

Apr 29

Skyful of Wonder

“Whatever it is I am saying, I always
Need a leaf or a flower, if not an
Entire field. As for sky, I am wildly
In love with each day’s inventions, cool blue
Or cat gray or full
Of the ships of clouds, I simply can’t
Say whatever it is I am saying without
At least one skyful. That leaves water, a
Creek or a well, river or ocean, it has to be
There. For the heart to be there. For the pen
To be poised. For the idea to come.” – Mary Oliver

“I would love to live like a river flows,
carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”― John O’Donohue

Margins, space, pause
To the surprise of unfolding
To open the gift of awareness
Eagle view
To fall into the sky
Full with wonder.

“The soul does not grow by addition but by subtraction.” – Meister Eckhart

Apr 26

Width of Spring

“And for all this, nature is never spent; / There lives the dearest freshness deep down things.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poems and Prose

“ELECTED Silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.”
― Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poems and Prose

May you feel the width of spring unfolding slowly
The lift of dappled skies ablaze
The gravity of grounding in this day
The depth of silence
To witness and partake in the symphony of peace.

“Nothing is so beautiful as Spring-
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.
(From “Spring”)”― Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poems and Prose

Apr 15

Transitions to Transformations, Spring Unfolding

“Healthy religion gives us a foundational sense of awe. It re-enchants an otherwise empty universe. It gives people a universal reverence toward all things. Only with such reverence do we find confidence and coherence. Only then does the world become a safe home. Then we can see the reflection of the divine image in the human, in the animal, in the entire natural world—which has now become inherently “supernatural.” That is the paradox, and all dualistic language will henceforth fail us.”― Richard Rohr OFM, The Wisdom Pattern: Order, Disorder, Reorder

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”― George Eliot

Still dry and brown
But glimpses of what is to come
Buds, dots of green popping up
Growth surfacing
Proof of what is to come but not here yet
Pre-game of spring with winter cool still lingering in the air
Soft rain
Longer sun
Patches of color
Hallway between winter and spring
Lent and Easter
Before and after
Waiting, walking slowly to notice, signs of life
Closing in on the threshold to cross over
Transitions to transformations
Spring unfolding
Inviting us to do the same.

“Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction.”— Rumi

Apr 10

Defying Gravity

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”― Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

“A bird is safe in its nest – but that is not what its wings are made for.”― Amit Ray, World Peace: The Voice of a Mountain Bird

A shift in attitude
An ounce of gratitude
A cup of encouragement
Putting down my way
For what is
Seeking and finding delight, joy and beauty
On ground of now
In the imperfect, unchosen, unexpected
Abundance in mystery, unknowing, wandering
Some days may be long, but the years are short
Use your wings
Defy gravity
Take flight in the sky of this day.

“The days are long, but the years are short.” – Gretchen Rubin

Mar 27

Springtime Advent

“Wonder. Go on and wonder.”― William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury

“Oremus

…Let us listen to the sound of breath in our bodies.

Let us listen to the sounds of our own voices, of our own names, of our own fears.
Let us name the harsh light and soft darkness that surround us…
The world is big, and wide, and wild and wonderful and wicked,
and our lives are murky, magnificent, malleable and full of meaning.

Oremus.
Let us pray.” – Pádraig Ó Tuama

To be here and now
Fully
In the mess, chaos and the beauty
The in betweens
Not winter but not spring
The advent time of spring
The brown sure to turn to green with April rain
Followed by the first bloom to break ground and burst into color
Anticipation. Reverence. Presence.
Springtime Christmas is coming soon
Outside and in
To walk with joy, delight, wonder
Especially in “the longer than we want” waiting seasons
The what’s next
The transitions that lead to transformation
Trust the process and go on and wonder in the meantime.

“The only place to begin is where I am, and whether by desire or disaster, I am here. My being here is not dependent on my recognition of the fact. I am here anyway. But it might help if I could learn to look around.”― Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World

Mar 23

Gratefully Present in the Present

“If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you must look forward, do so prayerfully. However, the wisest thing you can do is be present in the present…Gratefully.”— Maya Angelou

“When the mind is festering with trouble or the heart torn, we can find healing among the silence of mountains or fields, or listen to the simple, steadying rhythm of waves.
The slowness and stillness gradually takes us over.
Our breathing deepens and our hearts calm and our hungers relent.
When serenity is restored, new perspectives open to us and difficulty can begin to seem like an invitation to new growth.
This invitation to friendship with nature does of course entail a willingness to be alone out there.
Yet this aloneness is anything but lonely.
Solitude gradually clarifies the heart until a true tranquility is reached.
The irony is that at the heart of that aloneness you feel intimately connected with the world.
Indeed, the beauty of nature is often the wisest balm for it gently relieves and releases the caged mind.” – John O’Dononue, Beauty, The Invisible Embrace

Color
Nature
Flowers
Poetry
Roots and sky, and all the beauty in between to behold
Stillness
Rest
Wonder
To restore, root, release
Be filled back up
Not in doing but in being
Ever present in this day
Overflowing, abundance, ease
Curious, receptive, open to where the space, quiet, awe leads
Follow

“Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.”― Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

Mar 22

2 Comments

Sweet Smell of Dirt

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” – Margaret Atwood

“As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness — just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.”― Laura Ingalls Wilder, Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Wisdom and Virtues

Winter to spring dance
Dirt softening to growth
Get out and put on some spring
A walk in the woods
Wrestle in the back yard
Mud on the forehead
Dirt embedded in your feet
Grounding in ordinary days
With extraordinary gratitude
To be right where you are
Delighting in this day
The unfolding of a thousand springs.

“For a day, just for one day,
Talk about that which disturbs no one
And bring some peace into your
Beautiful eyes.”
– Shams-al-Din Mohammad Hafez, The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems Inspired by Hafiz

“Spring work is going on with joyful enthusiasm.” – John Muir

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