life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the month “September, 2013”
changing grace
this was the reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little you may know me better there.
– Aslan (The Chronicles of Narnia)
– C S Lewis
I recently read the book Proof of Heaven by Dr. Eben Alexander http://www.lifebeyonddeath.net/ and enjoyed it so much, I also related to much of it, not because I have had a return from death experience, but because I have met and talked to God in some unusual places over these past years and have had glimpses of God and mystery which have changed me, and opened me, forever.
We are brought to these places so that we may know God, just a little, better here in this broken world. We are given glimpses, shaded bits of glory, the pieces we are ready to receive, come to us, changing our lives forever, as we attempt to absorb the brilliance, so far beyond our human understanding. As Ann Voskamp says, ‘We can have as much God as we want in this life’. I believe that is true. We are given a guarantee that what we ask for and seek will be opened to us.
We grapple and try, to open our minds ever wider. We try to share, in ways we are able, this new understanding, this life changing knowledge, knowing how difficult it is to understand. We could never have understood these things happening before we went through them for ourselves, yet we also know it is too important to keep to ourselves, and we understand that, IF we, who are just ordinary people, have experienced these earth shattering moments, (and we cannot deny we have) then it is possible for others as well.
And so, we try. We put it into inadequate words and we share it however we are called, this unexpected knowledge we have been given, even as we are just a bit embarrassed at the position it puts us in. Sometimes it seems like it was a little simpler before these revelations. Yet it is also the best gift we have ever experienced and we just want others to know, to share it, to open to amazing grace. As Anne LaMotte says, ‘God’s grace comes to us right where we are, but never leaves us there’. Slowly, gloriously we are changed into glory ourselves.
When we find fellow travelers, who have experienced similar things, it is rare, joyous and wonderful to share. It gives us strength, hope and allows us to open ourselves to even more of the unlimited possibilities which are ever present and possible as we move through this place and into the place where we are so intimately known and connected.
I am so grateful for Dr. Alexander sharing his story and I am grateful I was able to read it and relate to such an un-understandable mystery and unconditional LOVE – which is our creator.
words are life…or death…use with care
To bless means to say good things. We have to bless one another constantly. Parents need to bless their children, children their parents, husbands their wives, wives their husbands, friends their friends. In our society, so full of curses, we must fill each place we enter with our blessings. We forget so quickly that we are God’s beloved children and allow the many curses of our world to darken our hearts. Therefore we have to be reminded of our belovedness and remind others of theirs. Whether the blessing is given in words or with gestures, in a solemn or an informal way, our lives need to be blessed lives.
– Henri Nouwen
www.henrinouwen.org
find your green canoe…
Green Canoe
by Jeffrey Harrison
I don’t often get the chance any longer
to go out alone in the green canoe
and, lying in the bottom of the boat,
just drift where the breeze takes me,
down to the other end of the lake
or into some cove without my knowing
because I can’t see anything over
the gunwales but sky as I lie there,
feeling the ribs of the boat as my own,
this floating pod with a body inside it …
also a mind, that drifts among clouds
and the sounds that carry over water—
a flutter of birdsong, a screen door
slamming shut—as well as the usual stuff
that clutters it, but slowed down, opened up,
like the fluff of milkweed tugged
from its husk and floating over the lake,
to be mistaken for mayflies at dusk
by feeding trout, or be carried away
to a place where the seeds might sprout.
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
completeing the gift cycle…how to change the world
Yesterday my post was how to find your life. The quote I used was, “You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” I believe it is true, yet all day as I looked at that quote, I realized it was just one side of this thing called a gift. Giving feels great! We all want to be in a position to give. It has been proven through research, that even watching someone give makes us feel good. Yet, many of us don’t think about the other part of the cycle of giving is receiving a gift from someone who you can never repay. The part of receiving is for losers, homeless people who should be grateful if we give them our change, people down-on-their-luck (which we never intend to be), etc. Receiving has become a dirty word. We all claim we want to help heal others, yet, being needy is not part of the equation for most of us. We don’t need anything, or anyone. WE are better than that. We are the givers, don’t ya know. How then will we receive God’s grace?
This past year has been a learning experience for me in both these valuable lessons in the ‘gift-cycle”.
I found a really important quote about giving, a few years ago, which has allowed me to complete this very important circle.
By giving we heal ourselves. By receiving we heal others. – Unknown
Both parts of this are extremely important and, if we are going to change the world, must be understood. This is not about mistreating, manipulating, holding something over someone’s head, or taking advantage of others. This is a lesson in the value of the human soul and equality. Every soul, every person, every creature, every piece of creation is a part of God and in so being, has the same value. We are all beloved, and we must treat each other and help each other from that place of recognition. This is why Christ told his disciples to go out ‘without any money or clothes’ – you can tell a whole lot about a person by the way they give, and by the way they receive.
Most of us are good at giving in some respects, we are not as good at receiving, especially as proud Americans. We want to be the givers, we want to be what we think is the most important part of giving – feeling good, and healing, ourselves. We are proud of ourselves that we give so much charity to others. What about humility? Not really a part of our country, or our citizens any more. What we fail to think of is the other person and the value for them in feeling good, and for their healing, as well. We are especially reluctant in receiving what cannot be repaid. Mostly we don’t want feel vulnerable and we don’t want to be in debt to anyone, I understand this, probably more than most, and what I have come to believe is, so many people have used gifts in the wrong way, it has skewed the truth. All of that is because of insecurity. People manipulate and misuse power because they don’t realize their own intrinsic value. We must see ourselves as we truly are – loved beyond measure, in our imperfect state chosen, created by the creator for good works. and then we must share this same gift to each person we meet. We are all needy, so we must also receive this same gift from everyone we meet. This full gift-cycle will change the world. Grace is everything and everything is grace!
Lovely, lovely to give and to receive. I am healed by these truths. I am healed by giving to you and also by allowing your healing. How cool is that!
how to find your life
What you cling to is not household goods,
that’s not likely what you need to let go of.
What you carry is not the silver cross, stylish,
matching your outfit, fitting well with your life already.
Not the wooden one, stained with blood and drama,
not the annoyance, the “cross to bear.”
No: enter the suffering of the world;
bear it one person at a time.
Accept the weight of powerlessness, and its power;
surrender your own way that you want to get.
Let the potter reshape you
into a form not of your choosing,
a life that’s not yours,
a struggle not for you to win.
What you let go of may seem as life itself.
Let the new life be given to you.
The little cry of grief
is the weight of the hand on the clay.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
New Newsletter Issue at Songs From the Valley
every choice matters…one small step at a time
Petit à petit, l’oiseau fait son nid.
Every little bit helps.
“Little by little, the bird builds its nest.”
kindness is always right – mastin kipp
The apostle Paul writes to the Romans: “Bless your persecutors; never curse them, bless them. … Never pay back evil with evil. … Never try to get revenge. … If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if thirsty, something to drink. … Do not be mastered by evil, but master evil with good” (Romans 12:14-21). These words cut to the heart of the spiritual life. They make it clear what it means to choose life, not death, to choose blessings not curses. But what is asked of us here goes against the grain of our human nature. We will only be able to act according to Paul’s words by knowing with our whole beings that what we are asked to do for others is what God has done for us.
– Henri Nouwen
www.henrinouwen.org
time to fall in love
Aimless Love
by Billy Collins
This morning as I walked along the lakeshore,
I fell in love with a wren
and later in the day with a mouse
the cat had dropped under the dining room table.
In the shadows of an autumn evening,
I fell for a seamstress
still at her machine in the tailor’s window,
and later for a bowl of broth,
steam rising like smoke from a naval battle.
This is the best kind of love, I thought,
without recompense, without gifts,
or unkind words, without suspicion,
or silence on the telephone.
The love of the chestnut,
the jazz cap and one hand on the wheel.
No lust, no slam of the door—
the love of the miniature orange tree,
the clean white shirt, the hot evening shower,
the highway that cuts across Florida.
No waiting, no huffiness, or rancor—
just a twinge every now and then
for the wren who had built her nest
on a low branch overhanging the water
and for the dead mouse,
still dressed in its light brown suit.
But my heart is always propped up
in a field on its tripod,
ready for the next arrow.
After I carried the mouse by the tail
to a pile of leaves in the woods,
I found myself standing at the bathroom sink
gazing down affectionately at the soap,
so patient and soluble,
so at home in its pale green soap dish.
I could feel myself falling again
as I felt its turning in my wet hands
and caught the scent of lavender and stone.
The Writer’s Almanac
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
life: acoustic & amplified 