When Life is Hard

March 24, 2019 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

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.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

A Breath That is Free

March 9, 2019 becomingandbeholding3 Comments

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.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Snow on Trees

March 3, 2019March 3, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

Don’t despair the soul season

when all the green is gone

and you feel darkened

and bare.

These are the times when

you stand alone, while

everyone looks past you

to escape to the horizon beyond.

You feel planted in place

with nowhere to grow, and

the present brittleness

makes you snap easily.

Though unpleasant and cold –

while in this raw nakedness,

please be reminded that

you are in a good position.

You are in the right place –

the proper season.

You are ripe for grace.

A season of cold and dark

is a gift like no other.

For when the white glow arrives,

softly blanketing and

offering beauty and peace –

healing is gifted.

You are born again with the

verdant seeds needed

to bloom again

and commune with others.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Enough Already

February 25, 2019February 25, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

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.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

In the Deep Blue

January 26, 2019January 26, 2019 becomingandbeholding3 Comments

With eyes closed

and distractions put away,

I settle and still.

Muscles release and

gradually, breathing deepens.

I am quiet.

Sensing an opportunity to connect

in silence,

my cat curls into my lap.

I look inward and notice things and

gradually release the grip –

that way of being

which contracts me.

I let go.

Soon, the colors arrive –

they move about in my awareness

and before my mind’s eye.

I see red and green,

purple – and finally blue.

When I get to the deepening blue,

I am touching awareness and

I disappear for some time.

It does not scare me to disappear…

but feels like freedom.

The deep blue teaches me

in ways that soothe.

In its presence, I become one with

the breath of creation.

I flow with the ocean waves,

glow with the trees,

and share the song of the birds.

I see the eyes of Love

looking back at me.

The wisdom of the ages finds me

and its touch heals.

In the deep blue,

I learn that God is real, and

in my very being.

In the deep blue,

there is peace.

I bring it with me.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

In the Chill of Winter

January 19, 2019March 1, 2019 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

In the chill of winter,

build a fire big enough

to warm

your fingers and toes.

Allow the warmth

to travel to

your center –

let the grip of

cold and contraction

relax.

As you loosen and warm,

release your fear

of harsh winds

and insidious ice

which, in its blackness,

sneaks up on you

and threatens to knock you down.

In the chill of winter,

burn with awareness.

Let go of complaining

and resistance,

for they hasten the cold

to root in your being.

Instead, look to creation.

Honor the season.

What can the cold teach us?

The trees do not argue.

The squirrels settle in.

The birds accept the change

and move southward.

The plants rest.

All of nature flows with the seasons.

So, in the chill of winter,

build a fire,

rest and be warm,

discover wonder and joy

at the coating of the white –

a pure dusting

which baptizes in beauty,

reflecting the light.

Let this inspire you, and

when you are ready,

learn to play with the cold.

Build a snowman.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Be a Tree

January 5, 2019January 5, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

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.