life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the month “January, 2014”

13 Jan 2014

not in vain

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I said, “I have labored in vain,
yet surely my cause is with the Lord.”
The Holy One says,
“I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
—Isaiah 49.4, 6

Beloved,
you do not see your own face,
nor can you hear God’s delight in you.
You can’t hold your work in your hands.
You can’t know the whole tapestry
into which you are woven.
God’s grace works within, unseen.
Go with the mere faith
that you are God’s thread.

No star can guess its place in the heavens,
which are nonetheless glorious.
The Beloved is continually making this world,
saying, “Let there be light:”
and you walk out into the darkness,
and God says, “It is good.”
The miracle rolls on to the end of the earth
until all is mended, all is beautiful,
all is blessed.
________________________
Weather Report

Low lying fog,
with visibility often reduced
so that you cannot see
the good of your life,
dissipating later;
clearer at higher elevations.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

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Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Choice, confidence, connection, determination, Encouragement, Faith, Freedom, giving, Gratitude, Growth, Habits, Patience, Proof, Seasons, success | Leave a comment
12 Jan 2014

remember…

You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay? Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.
– Jim Rohn

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Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Relationships, Uncategorized, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
11 Jan 2014

being human

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I spot one.
a coin laudro-mat
I feel blessed to be able to wash my clothes.
towels and unmentionables.
a small bag.
I walk into the familiar,
yet for a while now,
Blessedly Unfamiliar.
I remember the years of this in my life
my most missed luxury in all of life
was washing and drying clothes
at home.
So hard this part of life became.
So challenging and humbling.
$4.50 to wash
a quarter for 5 minutes to dry.
I struggle to adjust.
I hadn’t planned on this.
I don’t look the part today.
I have to ask questions to reacquaint myself with this system.
Here in the midst of
hard working and living men,
tired mothers and crying babies,
the immigrants and struggling,
These to whom I belong.
those who make their living
through making clean the dirty.

I stand and watch the circle go round
Hot tears stinging my eyes
I remember.
Those days.
Those tough as nails days.
Plunged from luxury to poverty
in a heartbeat break of life.
So soon we forget…
So quickly we remember…
I watch the water rise –
I didn’t put in enough soap.
There are no suds.
I pray that hot water I chose
for those 2 extra, hard earned quarters,
will do it’s work
and my clothes will smell good.
I will not prolong my stay –
or use more of my precious coins.

I pray each of our guardian-laundry angels
will bless each of us
doing laundry every day
in all types of conditions.
This would be pure luxury in parts of this world.
I pray for grace.
I pray to remember.
I pray to be grace.
I pray to be The Words of God to heal the broken.
I pray for grace.
I pray for the crying baby,
and the tired man,
whose current outfit could use a good washing itself.
I pray for the immigrant family,
quietly folding together,
speaking Spanish in hushed voices.
I pray for the fabulous girl at the dryers,
with the faux Burberry scarf flung jauntily over her shoulder,
I hope to carry myself with such flair and dignity.
We are all here –
Bearing the high cost,
and inconvenience,
of poverty in our society.

I pray as quiet tears run.
I stand in my washer’s corner hoping nobody sees my memories.
I blow my over-productive nose.
and give thanks for all things.
Especially that I have known these struggles.
That I know how this feels.
That I am part of this humanity.
Not separate
I am one with all God’s created people.
All seeking clean clothes,
washing machines
and hope.

The crying baby starts to laugh
I smile as well.
God is always good
I am always blessed –
If I am willing to see the blessings –
even if it takes years to see them.

AL 12/22/13

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, Beginning, Beliefs, beloved, Blessing, Choice, Encouragement, Faith, perceptions, Poetry, Prayer, Trust, Vulnerability | Leave a comment
09 Jan 2014

in the boat

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Art by Duy Huynh

Posted in action, attitude, awareness, Faith, soul and spirit, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
08 Jan 2014

God is unwaveringly good — and we are unfathomably loved. That slays demons. -Ann Voskamp

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Gratitude isn’t only a celebration when good things happen. It’s a declaration that God is good no matter what happens.

This is brazen. In a cynical world, this is blatant and bold and subversive. This is Truth.

The best artists discipline themselves to practice their art. The best life artists practice the discipline of gratitude — which makes their life art. It is an aching miracle — how true masterpieces are always painted in the dark. – Ann Voskamp
http://www.aholyexperience.com

Posted in action, attitude, awareness, beauty, beloved, Blessing, Choice, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Habits, soul and spirit, thankfulness, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
07 Jan 2014

ahhhh, the warmth of presence

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Yes, these days come, too:
gray, banal, post-epiphany,
the child in hiding,
the gold spent,
the myrrh lost on the way to Egypt,
the wise men long gone
to a country too far to hail,
the wailing over but
the sadness not,
the road leading
nowhere in particular,
starless.

Remember
it was often this way,
the star lost in fog,
the road drifted over
by weariness.

Still, something led you on.
Someone walked in you
those miles, bore your heart
deep in their robes,
safe from the swirling,
deadening sands.
That is how you have come
to this dreary day.

The promise is not glory,
not certainty, but presence.

This gray
is the inside of God’s robes,
bearing you,
without your guiding,
by another road.
________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

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Posted in Adventure, Alone, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Choice, determination, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, soul and spirit, thankfulness, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
06 Jan 2014

closing doors

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Saying goodbye
to Short Beach
at Lighthouse Point.
This has been my sanctuary
these past two months.
My place of learning with God.
A pure divinity school,
with sparkly rocks,
seagulls named Lefty
and water that reflects
the face and moods of God.
It is time to say goodbye
time to fly –
like the cranes have taught me –
time to go to work,
co-creating with God,
all the things I’ve been taught
during these years of learning.
The truths of intimacy
and the extreme possibilities
of love manifested.
Which is the only thing that has changed my heart.
The only medicine which has bound up my wounds
and healed my broken places.
The Love, which is God,
I have come to know this truth –
it is the one, and only, thing
that will change the world.
AL 4/16/13

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I spend the day
Moving into
ruthless
radical
Trust.
I confess.
I weep.
I let go.
I praise.
I let go more.
I move into new areas –
Of hope
and faith.
I walk to the shore.
Every rock glitters
I talk to my favorite seagull,
Lefty –
I can tell it’s him
when he moves
his empty leg evident.
My seagull friend, Speckles, I know immediately
those red-brown dots on his cheeks
stand out among his fair faced brothers.
They move over as I get too close –
I am not a seagull after all –
They must keep some distance
Not trusting humans
as they trust their creator.
I cant resist glittering rocks,
Colorful shells.
The sparkling glory of God
Is everywhere.
How do I not remember all this glitter in the sunshine?
I walk back with heavy pockets –
Grateful for gravity,
which will keep me on this earth
after I have emptied my treasure.
I am aware of the world –
Connection –
Trusting all of life.
As I live trust
into this new moment.
of life.
of spring.
Signs are everywhere –
Flowers and buds
appearing before my very eyes.
All of nature trusting.
Always.
Only we humans
Struggle to trust.
Only I –
think I can handle my own life.
Think I am separate.
Think I must earn my living.
Earn my worth.
Prove my value
Hide who I really am.
Allow my ego to rule my delusions.
Like I have done anything to put myself here.
Like I can pretend that I don’t need,
or that Im not enough.
that I can be someone Im not.
what arrogance have I been taught?
What Foolishness have I held on to?
What silliness, and damning lies, have I refused to let go of?
I fall on my knees in humble thankfulness.
I am not my own.
I am the beloved
Lord, I trust –
You.
Open my eyes.
Renovate my heart.
I am Yours.
3/15/13

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Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Choice, connection, soul and spirit, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
05 Jan 2014

it’s about focus

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Posted in action, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, commitment, confidence, courage, determination, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Habits, soul and spirit | Leave a comment
04 Jan 2014

do you see the prayers made of everything that some people call ordinary?

Mindful
by Mary Oliver

Everyday
I see or hear
something
that more or less

kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle

in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for —
to look, to listen,

to lose myself
inside this soft world —
to instruct myself
over and over

in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant —
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help

but grow wise
with such teachings
as these —
the untrimmable light

of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?

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Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, courage, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, Glory, Poetry, Prayer, thankfulness, words, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
03 Jan 2014

Being Loving doesn’t mean that you just let people walk all over you and be “nice” all the time – far from it. Being Loving means having boundaries, standing up for what you believe in and not letting people walk all over you. There is a fine line between standing up for yourself and being a jerk. And it takes some time and some mistakes to understand the difference. – Mastin Kipp

Being Loving does not mean you are weak – au contraire! Being Loving means that you are STRONG! Strong in your conviction, strong in your compassion, strong in your vulnerability and strong in your forgiveness. – Mastin Kipp

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Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, compassion, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, strength, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

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