We Are Needed

June 5, 2019 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.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

That Part of Me

May 29, 2019May 29, 2019 becomingandbeholding5 Comments

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.

“Secret work is being done in us of which we have no inkling.” John O’Donahue

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

When the Poems Do Not Arrive

April 29, 2019 becomingandbeholding4 Comments

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.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Big Love

March 31, 2019March 31, 2019 becomingandbeholding3 Comments

When one of us is lost,

all that is needed is the touch of another

whether to tender skin or the wounded heart.

For none of us are perfectly on track

all the time, are we?

So we help one another to steer and soften.

When one of us is sick,

it is time for a cup of Big Love –

we fill it with grace mixed with empathy

so the sickness cannot take root,

causing the soul to wither,

in a feeling of aloneness.

If disconnection broadens,

it is time to seek your teacher –

that wiser one who loves as God loves,

without measure, and

while nurturing the current lesson to birth.

A good teacher mirrors your imminent Spring

as you struggle to blossom

and see.

This is what Big Love looks like –

its embrace feels like freedom on the wing.

Its presence is grace realized

as sibling souls open and

reach out to you,

sparking Truth and Light

so you can be healed.

Photo credit to Gary Stanton, my husband, who also gave me the mug recently when I was sick – the inspiration for this poem. Thank you, Honey! xoxo

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

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

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.