Uncategorized

Out of the Weeds

September 18, 2021 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

Photo by **Vitaliy Mitrofanenko** from **Pexels**

You would think

that by the time we reach maturity,

we would know how

to make the way clear

for ourselves…

And yet,

the patterns continue –

the ones that

face-plant us amidst

the tangle around us.

Those frustrating weeds

of all we hang onto

have pinned us down

and left us feeling powerless.

We still have those times when

we forget how to breathe

and Life itself

needs to breathe for us –

teaching the way from

gasps to sighs to

calming deep breaths.

Eventually, with this fortified

and nurturing air,

we become strong enough,

to be receptive to our own truth.

We are ready to

trust our own insights –

and we can stand free

amidst the tangle

before us..

We understand that

Weeds are just flowers

with an angry history –

and compassion finds us.

Only then can we be

safe and whole even

amidst the weeds.

So, when on the ground,

look up –

examine what has been planted..

Drop the fear of harm

and tripping.

Really see the beauty before you.

Each bud and leaf

represents a lesson gained.

Know that the weeds with the thickest stems

and biggest thorns

have been planted by you

and you alone.

Those are the most stubborn

to pull from the ground –

for their roots are hardened

and run deep.

They require more focus

and strength.

Honor them all.

Once truly witnessed,

these trip wires

have fulfilled their purpose

and the way is made clear.

Do you understand?

Love the weeds.

Elevate each one of them,

giving thanks for their wisdom bestowed.

Wake up to the ways

you have cluttered your own path.

Please don’t despair –

for everyone has weeds on their trail.

The way to freedom

is born in taking responsibility…

elevating the pain we have been feeling,

bowing to it,

and setting it free.

You do not need it anymore

for you have arisen from the rubble

healed.

We can clear our own path

if we are brave enough

to nurse the skinned knees and

to cry its tears.

So, pull each weed

and lift it up to the bright blue sky.

You have found your way through.

You can now move forward

and live in joy.

You can be a blessing for the world.

I’m walking uphill, both ways it hurts. I bury my heart here in this dirt. I hope it’s a seed, I hope it works. I need to grow, here I could be. Closer to light, closer to me. Don’t have to do this perfectly. Have I the courage to change?
“Courage” – a song by Pink

I Miss Your Face

May 19, 2020May 19, 2020 becomingandbeholding10 Comments

At least I can see your eyes –

even though they look sad and tired.

Your shoulders, too, are not the same.

They are rounded.

Perhaps an unnamed shame is weighing you down…

or maybe grief.

There is good reason for grief.

You stand at an awkward distance

as if a cloud of contagion was

surrounding me

like Pig Pen’s dust.

I feel embarrassed somehow

by the invisible cloud.

I mean you no harm, of course.

Your eyes dodge mine, anyway.

The disconnect between us,

is strange –

its wordless noise brings

a haunting isolation.

The masks have swallowed our voices.

I hope one day to see your smile…

Your dependable dimples

could always brighten my day.

But now all I see is the barrier

we all have to wear.

I miss your face.

$woman-with-face-mask-and-latex-gloves-holding-a-shopping-bag-4226269$

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Permission to Grow

May 6, 2020June 6, 2021 becomingandbeholding3 Comments

With an abundance of time,

I can get a bit lost.

I am used to being driven

by duty,

with all its necessary tasks

keeping me busy.

But I am not so needed

right now –

or so it seems.

Reluctantly, I learn to be grateful

for the quiet,

the stillness that is always underneath.

I sit and open to it.

Once rested and

pretty soon,

my eyes begin to catch a vision

while my heart bubbles forth

with an effervescent song.

Its music is an invitation to grow –

to gather all the pieces

and moments

of wisdom, pain, and insight that

have been stacking in the corners –

to sit with them

and to honor their sacredness.

As I look back to review them,

the melody of their song

begins to weave together.

It travels in and through me,

bringing lightness and energy

to my searching heart.

The music floats up into my awareness

and sings to me:

You know how to knit all this together.

Trust what has been given to you.

The words form into a melody

only I can hear.

I can see now that

there is a song to be born, and

I have been invited

to sing it.

My feet become light

as I learn dance

to a new tune.

“To love someone is to learn the song in their heart and to sing it to them when they have forgotten.” – Arne Garbing

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Mosaic Moments

September 13, 2019September 13, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

Transitions increase a felt wistfulness.

We look back

and long for

what worked before.

Those pieces of us that

like routine and

the comfort of the predictable –

well, those parts feel sharp

in such seasons –

the edges hurt.

And yet, there is the buzz –

the bubbling energy of the new,

of possibility.

There are new faces to greet,

new tasks to learn and

fresh ways to open the heart

and to be.

Life is

as life does-

and its mysteries inspire and instruct.

Its best when

there is a mix of things

for the creative touch of God is genius

and multi-dimensional.

So, even when loss

is the larger piece at the time,

there will always be the sparkle

and felt presence

of grace, of love … even joy.

When awake,

we can wonder at and

give thanks for

the whole design of it all.

We see our piece in the creation.

Gratitude for Anne Lamott and her coining of the term, “mosaic moments” in her recent book, Almost Everything.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

The Heart of It All

May 12, 2019May 12, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

The hand that grasps and controls

is the same hand

that lets go.

The mind that sorts and decides

is the same mind

that can be opened by mystery

or pain.

The eyes that do not really see

but look past,

are the same ones

that can catch the vision

of truth.

We are but soft clay

yet we act as if cast in stone –

armored in our ways.

But life is not done shaping us.

Changes always come to

meet us where we are

and show us another way.

The time for invocation is here.

So lift up your sad, stiff heart –

mistakenly broken by you alone –

and ask Life to soften it.

For the heart of it all,

it seems,

is to be anchored in softness –

so you can be ready for anything.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

No Matter

September 28, 2018September 28, 2018 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

The ground may shift

and the weather, change

on a daily basis.

It does not matter.

The look in your eye

may have less sparkle

for a day – or more…

It does not matter.

The body might morph

into a vessel of pain

or disease…

It does not matter.

Change is everywhere.

It is not what Life is.

It is simply experience –

the classroom of Life.

Life is within

and it is everlastingly

with us

as the heart of everything –

the place of Love,

of God,

of Peace,

of Truth.

This is where we connect

and get our fuel

to endure our experiences.

Don’t allow

the pull of distraction –

or the disease

of the personal,

hold you to

all that does not matter.

What a precious waste

of Life

that is.

Your ground awaits

and patiently protects

the gifts of

Joy and Presence

which belong to

you.

Poem · Poetry

Entering the Dance

August 21, 2018August 21, 2018 becomingandbeholding3 Comments

When the winds are shifting,

and change is here,

I sometimes shudder with

fear, which blankets my heart

in a covering so itchy…

the restlessness it brings

grows like a cancer,

consuming health.

I wonder out loud,

and through every pore –

my cells scream

No!

The resistance builds a wall

around my soul,

and I begin to hide.

I grieve…

the tears wash over

all the tensions and aches,

bringing yet another baptism.

Eventually, I remember

that changes bring a

kind of birthing process…

and I know there is

something beautiful coming

after this pain.

I love how tears

release and inform

all at once – as if

we must break, deeply –

apart and before

we can be refashioned.

These very insights, eventually

bring gratitude.

I know,

it does’t make sense

to the logical mind…

but it is the dance of Spirit

within and beyond me.

When I learn to

accept the invitation to

the dance of life,

letting go of my need to

lead it,

I get lighter on my feet,

and my being

finally hears the music

and is wrapped in comfort

and delight.

I am set free.

Poem · Poetry

Transitioning

July 11, 2018 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

When in an unfamiliar place,

you are on your way.

It usually comes with lots of tension.

You become unsettled,

and maybe even a little bit scared.

Transitions are that rocky time

when your usual patterns are useless

and you have to allow for

change.

The big ones are literally

earth-shattering,

setting you off kilter,

making you feel raw and

vulnerable.

But when you get to the other side,

you are in that shiny spot of

All New.

You have grown new muscle, and

you are reborn.

When this freedom flowers,

you realize that

the pain of change

was nothing but

the peeling of the layers

that are no longer needed.

Poem · Poetry

Beyond Chasing Tail

May 13, 2018May 13, 2018 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

Round and round we go,

looping and repeating,

distracted with ourselves –

chasing tail.

Transformation comes only

when we lose interest

in this game –

when it finally dawns on us

how much time,

and how much energy

is lost

in the constant spinning.

It is the miracle

of the pause

which lifts us up

and out –

and helps us connect

to what is real and true.

We discover the wonder of rest, and

in the birth of this realization,

we learn to drop the chase.

We are finally free.

Poem · Poetry

Still You

October 28, 2017 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

Oh, yes,

The seasons come and go,

bringing new ways

of being.

Sometimes you shine with new growth,

literally bursting at the seams –

brilliant in shiny young green.

And then there are the periods

when what is not needed

must fall away –

the colors indicating

how bold you are

to face the loss

of what is attached.

And yet,

through it all –

despite how the winds have shaken you,

or how crowded your field has become,

you remain.

Your roots run deep,

they grasp, expand,

and strengthen

as your rings widen.

Your center

is deeply connected to the eternal.

So, my friend,

the lesson here

is to understand at your core

that though the changes come –

whether welcomed,

or not,

you are not the changes.

You are

still you.

Image created by my sister, Martha Harris