Tag: life
We Are Needed
It takes just a moment
to pause and let go –
to notice.
Presence always waits patiently for us.
She is found in the smallest of things…
The slow drip of water
off a rock
which holds the riverbank in place….
Presence is there.
The thought that gives birth to the word that spawns a tear…
Yes. There.
In that moment between
the reach of your hand
to the lifting of another –
Or when the homeless man
catches your eye and
a generous smile blooms…
There!
How short our time is!
We squander Presence like we waste water…
We forget to look,
to hear the slow drip,
to speak the unspoken word.
We get lonely in this poverty
of connection.
Sad, isn’t it?
This slip of a rose through the grasp of our fingers.
We ignore the dropped flower
and miss out on the bouquet,
the colors…
And then we grieve the loss of
a flower to cheer us –
it’s brilliance unwitnessed.
Love is like this , too.
It can hide beneath.
So, let’s elevate the
Presence and the Love, too.
For without them,
we aren’t even here.
And we are so needed.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
That Part of Me
My heart is working hard these days
with loss and loneliness.
I am an orphan seeking home.
The grief of moving through the landscape which
is my life
tugs at the ways I have
stitched myself together.
This waking up is painful –
but as I move forward,
I open my heart to it.
It is a time of deepening –
of allowing the mystery to instruct
and show me
the location of my true belonging.
The older I get,
the more acquainted I am
with this type of deep reckoning.
It is familiar terrain and
I have visited it often.
When I look back, I can see this.
But in this moment,
choosing to be present
feels like valor.
I gradually take on the challenge
as little pieces of me mend.
I begin to hear again the
warm and forgiving invitation.
It calls to me like
a song over the hillside,
sending music to my ears and heart.
I allow this embrace of mystery which
wells up within my very soul.
This is the place which
connects me to the beauty of it all
and the realization of belonging.
I find my way home again
and I learn to dwell in a sweet peace.
I dare to hold everything –
all the precious pain and longing.
Thanksgiving visits me –
I am surprised as it wells up like a wave
and invites me to rest in a beautiful tenderness.
This is Life and Grace
given and received.
They had never left.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
“Secret work is being done in us of which we have no inkling.” John O’Donahue
When the Poems Do Not Arrive
When the poems do not arrive,
it is time to sit and quiet.
Rest is needed
so trust in Life can
bubble up for expression
and flow in a new way.
When the poems do not arrive
and the wings of inspiration
do not lift and lighten,
one must look within with honesty.
Where are the blocks?
When found, raise them up
and bless them.
Be grateful for the freedom they bring
when discovered and set aside.
When the poems do not arrive,
grieve a little and
then let go.
For there is no one to blame.
This is not about you.
There is only understanding
waiting for the dawn.
It always comes.
When the poems do not arrive,
be patient.
For when Presence returns,
so will the words that illuminate it.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
When Life is Hard
When life is hard,
and each day a challenge,
look for the soft places
beneath and below.
Uncover what is there
and be comforted.
When each day is an effort,
relax your muscles
and decide on purpose
to seek what frees.
Do more of that.
When the weight on your shoulders
is slowing you down,
go slow.
It is okay to rest.
Share your load and
ask for help.
Listen to the whispers of God –
for you are being directed to learn
something important.
Perhaps this is the time you finally understand that
joy can be found
in the pain
when you change your thinking.
Everyone gets lessons along the way…
Now is your time
to blossom in winter.
So, take comfort in the crocus
which perseveres through
hard frozen ground
to rise and shine,
transcending into Spring.
For you are the crocus.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
A Breath That is Free
If our moments are forgotten,
did we really live them?
If our thoughts are in charge,
are we present at all?
If our breath is held,
is it really a breath?
I pause with these questions
and my ears open to the hum of my home,
and the song of the birds outside.
My vision is sparked by
the morning light filtering through the trees.
The glow is beautiful.
I notice that as I write,
my posture is hunched,
and I am tight in all the usual places.
I release the usual.
Relaxing and deepening awareness
of my breath,
and my gratitude for it all,
I begin again.
I am present and I live this moment.
Grace and peace find me
in the movement of my breath.
I am ready for the gift of another day.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
Shift!
Enough Already
Don’t worry about the direction
ahead, or the matters of the day.
Simply place your hand
on your own heart
and feel the love there – love
that was given long ago
that you may have forgotten.
Don’t be the person who
allows busyness to run
over your life, squashing it
with good intentions, and
all that learned stupidness which
pulls us away from
this preciousness given.
Remember those moments
when God has broken through –
those glimpses when you
knew beyond a doubt that
you are made of the same stuff
as the flowers and trees, and
forever is possible – that
Love is You, and
You are Love.
Let yourself glow, please.
For those who do, are
born in true freedom.
For in stepping aside from
the pettiness of all our
misdirected ways, we can
float like a feather
on the breath of God.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
Nurture
You are but a drooping plant
with a bowed-browned bloom.
Your light is not reflecting –
the shadows grow.
Grief visible like this
is more easily watered.
It calls out for nurturance.
When hidden,
it festers
and roots into every pore,
making us sick –
stealing the colors.
This is the usual way…
for we are all good at facades
and hiding.
We smile brightly,
despite the pained cracks within.
Where does it hurt, my friend?
Show me the place
and tell me the story.
Dig out the pain from
your hardened crusts – fashionably covered.
Lift your voice and let the cry be born.
Let me know what is needed.
Take the covers off
and allow the hurt to move you
to a new place of freedom.
All is well, and
I am here with you.
You belong.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
Be a Tree
You can stand in your ground
with roots that grasp to
all that matters
and holds you in place.
You can reach for the light and
blossom in its glow.
You bloom and grow,
bloom and grow –
shedding what is no longer needed,
in the appropriate season.
Other beings are attracted to you…
they sense your peace.
Its good to allow them
to hug you,
and be in your presence.
For sharing the strength and life
of your core
brings healing –
and releases the knots of
tension and contraction which cause
unnecessary twisting.
As the winds and storms arrive,
remember who you are.
You are not the weather.
You are a tree.
You observe.
You lend air.
You stand tall and alert, and
your stillness blesses.
Copyright © Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2019
Becoming and Beholding 