Not Up to Me

December 1, 2017December 1, 2017 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

Like gears that click into place,

making everything

smooth and running as it should,

the moment you arrive,

you get it.

You get everything.

The Bible calls it

“the secret place of the Most High.”

You deeply know when you are there –

because everything before you

disappears into peace, Love

and the amazing Presence –

including you.

Sounds scary but

it is actually beautiful.

This is true freedom,

the letting go

and letting God.

Don’t let your gears get stuck

by grasping too hard

onto your special brand

of misdirection.

There is nothing to do

or figure out.

Divine Design has it.

Simply trust.

And Love.

Release your grip –

and again,

and again.

Everything is in place

and all is well.

It is not up to you

to figure it out.

Don’t Let Go

November 21, 2017November 21, 2017 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

Like a warm blanket

takes the chill away

from my weighted shoulders,

your Presence is sweet comfort.

When alert,

I catch glimpses of you,

and they are just enough

to enliven

that inner pilot light

you so gracefully set

to burn within me.

Sometimes it burns fiercely

and then I know –

that is what flames are meant to do.

You are with me all the time.

You are my inner light,

waiting to flame up

every time I dare

to share its healing energy.

I surrender to the flame,

to its powerful glow,

trusting that

when the chill dares to set in

from time to time –
when I manage to turn away

for a minute

or a month,

you will wrap me up in your

inviting Presence,

hold me close,

and re-light the flame.

Don’t let go.

Poem · Poetry

Grateful Heart

November 18, 2017March 10, 2018 becomingandbeholding7 Comments

There is a lifting above

and a grounding below,

a warming at the center –

when I remember.

It is like the unexpected gift

presented with love

and perfect timing.

Or the lightness of being

that comes

with surrender

and trust –

even in the midst of

struggle or pain.

I hold onto it

even as I let go,

allowing the divine

to move through,

heal me with its dawning.

“I was born with a grateful heart,”

says the patient

on her dying bed.

I marvel at the gift she has

and how it fills her up at the end,

easing the way.

And then I remember,

so was I.

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

Poem · Poetry

This Heart

October 24, 2017October 24, 2017 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

I suppose I am
one of the lucky ones.
I got a heart that was loved
from the beginning –
despite imperfect parents,
with broken hearts of their own.

I knew from the beginning
that I was loved.

That is huge.

My heart had a grounding –
an ontological gift,
an understanding that
no matter what,
it was worthy of affection.

That grounding
has been my strength.
It has lifted me above the long
and bumpy road by
connecting me
to the Divine.
A kind of safety ladder…

Through many seasons of lack
and longing
have I arrived
finally
to a place of fullness –
even bursting!
I have been filled up
and pried open
with the gentle tool
of growing awareness
of what a heart can be –
what a heart can do.

This is my heart:
open and ready –
stretching to you.
Free!

Take and seal it.

Poem · Poetry

What If?

October 18, 2017 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

You know that time
when you put your phone down
so you could attend to me instead?

Or that moment when I was starving,
and about to eat my 20 gram protein bar in the car
but saw a homeless man in the intersection,
and chose to go hungry –
handing him the bar through my open window
with a smile
and no regrets.

Or, how about
that day when I was terribly hurt and angry
and simply let it all go,
suddenly, and with faith and forgiveness
so I could refocus
on something larger than me,
beyond the anger
and the suffocating hurt.
Both just disappeared into a peaceful feeling.

There is a thread –
powerful in its connection
through these moments.
It seems to show
that when we step aside –
dare another way,
beautiful things can happen.

It makes me wonder…
What if?
What if God is the thread?
And the thread connects us to Love
And, well, everything that matters?

And what if God needs us?
Needs us to get out of our own way
and notice the thread?
What if
WE MAKE GOD HAPPEN?

Poem · Poetry

Blessed Assurance

September 27, 2017September 27, 2017 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

No more a need

to solve, cling, or do.

I am done with all that.

Breathe.

Just be.

I turn my attention outward

trusting that inwardly,

I am whole.

This is an important shift

and not one that is

familiar –

a down shift,

into trust –

rather than constant acceleration.

True freedom comes in

letting go of the wheel,

not needing to see the road ahead.

Gradually, I am learning to be

more of a passenger.

It is strange how unfamiliar it feels.

I have learned so deeply

to be on my own,

driving solo.

But I repeatedly follow the wrong directions

being the simple human

I have learned to be,

confused by which GPS to heed.

Now I call upon my divine nature.

It has taken decades to

own it.

Such a beautiful feeling…

to know it is not all

up to me –

that no map is needed.

A look back

in the rear view mirror

confirms.

All is well –

and has been all along the way.

Blessed be.