Over the Hump

June 2, 2018June 30, 2018 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

Climbing can be hard work

on the muscles,

and on the spirit, too.

We can approach the mountain

in faith and,

even a sense of adventure –

until we get to

our limit.

We have gone as far as

we can go

on our own.

No progress is possible.

We are tempted to give up.

But then,

we somehow get

the boost we need.

We can move forward

with muscles ready

to work again.

As we progress,

new vistas are brought into view.

They bless us with beauty

and hope.

This is what the

miracle of grace

looks like.

We are lifted out of struggle.

We are blessed

with peace.

It is as if

a loving hand from the beyond shows up

and respectfully,

picks you up off the floor.

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Poem · Poetry

Giving Voice

April 8, 2018April 8, 2018 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

When a situation suddenly

and without expectation –

turns

in a healing direction,

your heart wants to sing.

For you had lost hope,

and could not see

what you could do to

help.

And here it is –

the needed change

on the way…

The joy of it is

bright.

Your gratitude starts to bubble

up.

It starts deep in your stomach,

then springs to your heart –

opens it wide,

and sets it on fire.

Next, it flies up through your vocal chords,

making sweet vibrations.

It is a song that

must be sung.

So, on the wings of a grateful

heart,

your song passes

through your lips and

dances off your tongue:

“I SEE YOU.”

Poem · Poetry

Go Gently

March 22, 2018 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

Here I go again,

getting lost in the tangle of

outward motivations which

lead me away –

like an excited child

pulling on my arm –

Come this way!

But my wisdom within says,

Not so fast.

You have been here before, remember?

We play this game over and over

until finally,

we are done playing.

We are ready for change.

Like Jacob wrestling with the angel,

we finally get blessed with divine insight

into who we are,

and the exhaustion of repeated patterns

falls away.

Here is the truth of it all:

we come to God

through suffering or wisdom –

and sometimes both.

Most of the time,

we create our own suffering.

So, my child,

Learn to trust your

inner light.

You were born with it,

and it waits for you to listen

to its guidance.

Be patient with how it flickers

until you are ready

for its full shining.

Go gently on your path,

and keep your eyes open.

Forgive your missteps along the way.

Just keep moving forward.

And whatever you do,

do not close.

For your light cannot shine,

if your shades are drawn

and you will keep tripping in your darkness.

Uncategorized

Morning Prayer

March 8, 2018July 23, 2018 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

MORNING PRAYER

Here I am again, Dearest God, embracing another new day which has been gifted to me. I thank you for all the possibilities ahead. I thank you for this moment I am taking to pause and remember You. Once my day gets going, I tend to forget you. Please forgive my inattention, my tendency to check the boxes of the day thoughtlessly, forgetting You as the Giver of each moment. May this day be different. May I focus on the goodness you offer so freely and universally. May I participate in its unfolding that I may see my part in making it happen. Free me from the usual distractions and wants which pull me away from the purposes You have put in place for me. Show me the way, dear God. Light me up with your Love and peace. Heal whatever needs mending. May it be so, today and every day. I am yours.

Amen and Amen

Poem · Poetry

Long Story Short

February 10, 2018February 11, 2018 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

Loving, but imperfect parents

unwittingly teach the young girl

the wrong lesson

about who she is

and what she can do.

Years pass,

the little girl grows up

with some success,

but with the wrong idea

now settled deep within –

still unknown to her,

dictating her experiences.

Suffering comes.

Suffering goes,

Suffering comes again.

The unhappy pattern

is set in place.

One beautiful day,

an opening begins.

Light and Truth show up –

along with Love and Grace –

and the little girl,

now a grown woman,

blossoms.

Healing arrives,

as insights dawn

over time.

Life begins to unfold ever more

beautifully.

Now the woman understands

who she is,

and can see what life is all about.

Gratitude opens her heart.

She understands her purpose

and she begins

to let go of the old

and allow herself

to heal

and to glow,

knowing that Love and God

are One

and woven into her.

She learns in her healing,

to get out of her own way,

and share this GodLove –

to use her new-found voice

and be Present for others,

and all is well.

She now dwells

in the land of Grace.

Nothing is a problem anymore

and Joy abounds.

The woman welcomes the whispers of Inspiration

and learns Trust.

Freedom arrives

and pain is but a memory.

She lived happily ever after

with GodLove as her guide.

Blessed be!

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

Morning Walk

October 18, 2017October 18, 2017 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

We are built to move
the way a bird is built to fly
or a flower is built to bloom.
Sleep has a way of stiffening us –
setting us in our ways and patterns
long in place –
like a mold we conform to.
Heck,
the couch can do the same
as it swallows us.
But a morning walk
can loosen
broaden,
unfold and inspire.
I literally start my day
by moving forward.
I spring out of bed
for this.

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

Singing a New Song

October 15, 2017October 15, 2017 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

Not sure how it happened

whether it was gradual

or sudden.

I wish I could remember

the moment it all changed –

when my voice no longer matched

the person that I am.

Suddenly,

it hurt to speak –

not only physically,

but existentially.

It has been a painful five years.

Do you know what it is like

to hate the sound of your own voice?

To feel the inward disdain

and embarrassment?

To see the expressions of others change

when you dare to speak?

To bravely express yourself despite it all

and then to feel the pain of faulty speech patterns?

It has a way of shutting a person up,

holding you back.

But now I have hope again,

hope of a voice that sings effortlessly,

a voice that is a joy to listen to,

lilting and silky,

warm and welcoming –

powerful in its message and impact,

comforting and present.

I have hope of healing

the incongruence

of who I am and how I sound.

You see,

I have all this love in my heart

and a soul that needs expression.

Now that I am getting real help with my voice problem,

my whole life is opening up

to what I can be and do

as a beneficial presence for others.

Let the healing commence.

I am in!

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.