Homecoming

September 2, 2019September 2, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

When walking next to the shore,

take in the salted air.

It tastes like your tears.

When walking next to the shore,

listen to the music of the surf.

It is the soundtrack of the movement in your heart.

When walking next to the shore,

watch the swoop and dance of the Plover birds.

They effortlessly play in the waves,

undaunted by the constant changes beneath their tiny feet.

Witness the lesson.

A walk by the ocean

is always a homecoming.

The whispers heard soothe the soul.

The sprays felt baptize us anew.

We are reminded that

sometimes we need to get wet

to begin again.

So take a walk on the beach.

Hear the invitation of its dynamic landscape:

Let’s be the ocean together.

You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop. – Rumi

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

The Call of the Morning Bird

August 31, 2019September 1, 2019 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

A chorus has erupted

and it filters through the open window.

A haunting call began it all.

Is it a cry? An alarm?

Is this creature hungry?

The cry repeats in

a rhythm of hurt.

As I attend to its voice,

I begin to hear others return the call.

Their message seems to say:

All is well.

We are here!

Join us- for you belong in the world.

We care about you.

After some time, and continued voicing,

the cry of the suffering bird eases.

Attending to this natural befriending

soothes my soul.

I begin this day

with the reminder that

we are one –

and attending to our sacred cries

is as natural and reliable as

the rising of the morning sun.

Our presence with one another

has the reassuring power

of gifting hope

and returning us to stillness.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Grace Shower

August 16, 2019September 10, 2019 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

Be watchful in the weather

of life,

for as your experiences show up,

their effect can either dampen and chill you,

or bless you with warm peace.

So much depends

on where you stand at the time

and if you are awake

or not.

Your life can be a challenge –

that is true.

And also the point.

For the challenges teach

and also preach

if we are present in the pew

and looking upward and inward

for understanding.

Be watchful for the weather of truth

which will come and go

like the wind which

gives us waves to ride

until we learn

how to balance on them.

And when we are ready to ride,

having built up our core,

the rain of grace

will shower down upon us,

gently cleansing us

with new realizations

of what is true.

And in this baptism of insight,

we are made new again

by the healing that

has finally arrived.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

The Time to Blossom

August 12, 2019August 12, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

There is an urgency within

which pulls at my skin,

leading me forth

into the mysterious newness ahead.

I’ve been germinating.

The rest allowed has given

the necessary space and freedom

to review the landscapes –

and offer each

to be placed into the heart of God.

Sure, there are mixed feelings attached.

But each place travelled

has provided the necessary nutrition

for the current unfolding.

I have found that

the more I let go and allow for

a larger view of things,

the more freedom there is

for my unique soul

to be connected to

God and my true belonging.

This lightens –

and allows for the reach up and out.

There really are no problems!

It is counter-intuitive, in a way –

but the more I let go,

the more I can be present for others

and actually be helpful –

be present.

So, I choose to be here –

as rocky as the ground can be…

I choose joy.

I choose love.

I live gratefully.

And when the memory of this lapses,

I forgive the pull of distraction,

and begin again.

We can always start over.

This is the beauty of

learning self-transformation.

God is the focus.

Not me.

There is always hope

and healing is here.

The presence of God needs to fill the space where you seem to be for healing to happen.

–Dr. Thomas Hora

Ask yourself, who would I be if there were no problem?

-Tara Brach

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

God’s Reach

August 11, 2019September 16, 2022 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

Sometimes I feel as if

I am in a favorite pocket of yours.

Once and a while,

you reach in and touch me –

and I am remembered again.

You may adjust me a bit,

smoothing my edges and

moving me about inside the pocket,

your touch comforting

as you bring me to new places

for my learning.

When the moment is right,

you lift me up and out

and I feel the rush of freedom knitted with

the warmth of grace

as you hold me in your hand.

You look at me,

and I look at you.

And I remember again

what home feels like.

Then you place me back

into your pocket

for easy reaching later.

I am your treasure

and in your keeping –

you keep me safe from harm.

One day, I know

your lift up

and into the light

will mean I get to stay.

My vision will be clear then

and so will my reflection

of you.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

This One Life

July 30, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

You see, to live

one must do these things:

like a bird about to take flight,

one must believe it is possible –

that our wings can be trusted.

When happy, allow it to be!

Share your happy face and glow

as created to do so.

When sad, embrace being seen as sad –

and surrender to the hug of compassion

packaged in sweet understanding and growth.

The struggles will come and go.

The secret is to surf the highs and lows

and learn to fall gracefully

and repeatedly.

There will always follow

chances to rise up again courageously.

We are here to love.

It is that simple –

and, also that complicated.

For most of us have learned

to turn away from the divine imprint

which shows us how to love

and accept our differences.

Remember that the journey of grace

is more inward

than outward.

We lose our layers of skin

and find peace in the presence

of this one moment.

We discover a deeper belonging.

We understand that we already have it all.

This is the amazing glimpse that,

when captured,

enables us to be the beautiful souls we are.

We can let go.

We can be free.

We can choose joy.

“Strange as it may seem today to say, the aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” – Henry Miller

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Late Bloomer

July 26, 2019July 26, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

I saw some unusual flowers yesterday

which bloomed in unexpected ways.

Their beauty ignited my heart

and blessed me with renewed vision.

Witnessing a perfect glow can do that –

it connects us to what is real

and true.

We color the world with so many hues –

the seasons directing the light

and filling the wide spectrum perfectly.

Sometimes the necessary germination before

the the colors can be expressed

takes time –

and that is by design.

For a full bloom

cannot be forced prematurely.

To be a flower

means being present to

the light being born in you

in its own time.

Your bloom will arrive in its fullness,

according to the Gardener’s plan.

Therefore, rest in the truth of the sunrise

and be soothed by the rain.

Wait your turn.

Your job is to allow the glow to be born in you

and to trust in the promised opening.

For part of the beauty of it all

is that the timing of your full flowering is not up to you…

It is perfectly fine and beautiful still

to be a late bloomer.

Photo credit by Gary Stanton, taken at Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, MA.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Your Embrace

July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 becomingandbeholding3 Comments

No amount of coffee

can awaken this soul

to quicken its attention.

I am looking for you again, my God.

The mysteries of my path,

unfolding in excruciating ease.

I long for answers.

It helps when I remember

the times I have visited this landscape before.

You have always been next to me –

your hand in mine,

gently leading.

In rare glimpses you point the way –

but your respect for me usually

allows my own stumble forward.

Mostly, it helps to be held.

To embrace the mysteries

in the comfort of your arms

feels like the home

you made for me.

I am a baby looking for your eyes

as you love me.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Catching Myself

July 10, 2019July 10, 2019 becomingandbeholding5 Comments

There you are.

I see you now in the burst of the flower,

the color yellow blessing my eyes

with new and fresh joy.

Instantly, the lift is back

and I rest in the wonder of Presence.

My heart quickens with the reminder that

you are everywhere…

ready to be seen with

a never-ending invitation to

wakefulness.

I am finally learning how

the one who leaves

is never you.

You are as close as my in breath –

that breath that gets neglected

in the constant pant

of unnecessary busyness.

When I catch my breath,

I catch you.

Life is always instructing me.

Just yesterday, I read these words:

Worry is a misuse of imagination.

It was just the right message at

just the right time.

I am glad I noticed it.

It could have just slipped past me…

and it made me question

what else I might have missed

along the way…

I thank you for these reminders.

So simple they are

once grasped.

I realize once again,

and repeatedly,

that you are never far away

and that the barriers

to my learning and freedom

are of my own creation.

There is no blame for this –

I do understand.

As blame is just another unhelpful distraction –

another layer blocking me from you.

To live this precious life,

I must stop piling on the layers

so I can unfold into the naked beauty

of a fully bloomed flower

basking in the glow of the sun.

And where you are,

so will I be.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

We Are Needed

June 5, 2019July 13, 2021 becomingandbeholding4 Comments

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.