Grace Shower

August 16, 2019August 16, 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 your 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

God’s Reach

August 11, 2019August 11, 2019 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.

Uncategorized

Let Go

August 3, 2019 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

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

Uncategorized

Our Larger Belonging

July 17, 2019 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

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.