life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the category “Blessing”
extreme faith-living
It’s a fascinating way to live
living on the very edge of faith
stepping out on the spot directed
when there doesn’t even seem to be a rope
trusting in a net
or wings
or something
walking on water
without care
to what others believe
or even what my fearful mind has to say
I walk on the bridge of the faithful
reaching for the strawberries
growing in the mountain cliff
after all, I’ve gotten this far on miracles alone
why should I waste time on worry at this point?
God is always faithful
AL 4/16/13
movies at the beach
cinema of clouds
moving across the sun
I search for words to describe
this glory
indescribably beautiful
breathtaking
movement
colors deep to light
like a huge floating kaleidoscope
pinks
yellows
blues
greens
melting into each other
dark and light shades
turning back to shades of
whites and grays
movement as sun
circle of light
changing every instant
from a shadowy ball
to a blinding blaze of glory
the clouds thick, thin, open
separate then reach thin strands,
arms
melting like lovers into each other
the blue sky like pie crust
around the edges of
the most beautiful meringue
piled on a pie
made by Willy Wonka
strawberry
lemon
blueberry
lime
ever changing
from one second to the next
I lay in this world that is God
open my heart
breathe in mystery
watch in wonder
at this show that feels
like it’s just for me
I am the Beloved Song of Christ
I am so in awe of this majesty
a single purple winged gull
flies side to side
right above me to the left
so breathtakingly graceful
making the kites being flown
a ways down the beach
look cheap and awkward
the waves come and make
tiny waterfalls
right off shore
rolling up on the beach
a lullaby of magical proportions
hypnotizing me in loves embrace
It is my gift
It is my church
It is my soul food
It is intimacy with my creator
I replay it now
head on my pillow
trying to
find words to match my experience
I read back my description
maybe it seems beautiful to you
but I know I have failed
there are just no words to convey
the extravagant
exquisite
nature of God
the richness of his glory
the vast array of Yahweh
I give up in gratitude
just let my heart speak
in words of angels
I can’t even understand
but know they are understood
AL 4/14/13
trust
The woods this morning didn’t look any different from autumn: trees bare, grass brown, dead leaves on muddy ground. But spring is happening. The woods were thick with bird song. I saw the beaver who hides in the brook. I came upon a little marsh where some little critter was singing away, a single frog proclaiming its news. Others joined in, in a great chorus of peeping and screeching. I couldn’t see any of them. I stood there a long time and looked, but I couldn’t find one. I came nearer—and of course they all stopped. They knew I was there. And though I could not see them, I knew they were there.
Most of what goes on in this world is unseen. Planets orbit, flocks migrate, cells and organs work in the darkness. And love does its work. Skeptics look for proof of God, as if God were Bigfoot, as if The Holy One were any more provable than love or humor, as if paparazzi could somehow catch Spirit taking out the trash. No, God is The Unseen One. The closer we come the more there is only mystery. Fools never realize that when we stop knowing and can only wonder, we are seeing God.
We learn to tune our hearts to the invisible, to see with our souls, not just our eyes, to know that we live in a world and in the company of a Presence whose power and grace so far exceeds our capacity to know or see or understand that all we can do is wonder and trust. The world sings its song. God is at work. We come near, and listen with gratitude, and wonder and trust.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net
Fools come and go
As does life
but we are still here,
you and I,
living this dance
between the two sacred spaces
of our eternity,
birth and death,
connecting our living
with the whole
of what was before
and what will come after
the unbroken tread
the unbreakable thread
the circle of Love
unending
the blind Father
who welcomes us
as He does all his children
to this glorious celebration
because we are all equally
his beloved
AL 4/2/13
Divinity School
Come forth into the light of things,
Let nature be your teacher.
– William Wordsworth
I sit and open my mind
to the learning of the ocean
the gulls in flight
have been my most excellent teachers.
I have been learning from their instruction
for the past two months.
Their movement in the air and water
have taught me more about trust in these moments
than sitting for years
in a classroom somewhere.
This is my Divinity School.
The movement of the elements
wind, snow, sand, rain and sun.
The conversations with
rocks, trees, shells, spring flowers.
The water teaches me
intimacy with my creator,
and the true breadth
width and height of God.
Who is all
through all
above all
under all
beside all
inside all
around all
We humans walk on and through
God himself
so mostly unaware
the earth is made of His word
the air and sea are His breath
we are made of all three
clay, water, air
Trinity
I cannot help but be
astounded,
overwhelmed,
overjoyed
by this majestic love.
I experience it in every step I take.
Of course I must sing
(a melody like this
will not be contained)
in harmony with the glamorous gold sparkly rocks
filling my pockets.
How could I possibly keep quiet?
4/6/13
as You are
May I know You in intimacy
So that I walk only in Your love
May the stone of my heart
Melt like lemon drops
May the jagged edges of my soul
Become soft like the clouds of the spring sky
May the thorny barbs of my speech
Melt into honey as they touch the air
May the harsh judgements of my willful mind
Become mushy like the mud of the spring snow
preparing for the new growth and rebirth of love and hope in this
amazing watercolor world
May I be a part of new and abundant life
Melting and becoming everyday the hands, heart and soul of my savior
May I truly be
light and salt
in this hard, jagged, barren world
As You are
So let me be
AL 3/23/13
trusting yourself
Developing self-esteem requires an act of revolution, or several mini-revolutions, in which we begin to separate from group thought and establish our own sense of authority. We may suddenly; realize we hold an opinion different from our family or our peers, but in either case we will have difficulty freeing ourselves from the group’s energy, whose strength depends upon numbers and opposition to most expressions of individuality The act of finding our own voice, even in mini-revolutions, is spiritually significant. Spiritual maturity is measured not by the sophistication of a person’s opinions, but by their genuineness and the courage necessary to express and maintain them. By courage, I do not mean the intractable stubbornness of two people locking horns, Spiritual maturity in contrast, is the capacity to stand one’s ground as a reflection of a genuine inner belief.
– Caroline Myss
it’s about BEING, not doing
Many of us go through getting what we “think” we want, only to see that it wasn’t what we were really asking for. I wanted to get Love from significance; it was a long and painful road that taught me that we get significance from being Loving.
This is why, “Thy will, not my will, be done” is such a powerful and potentially scary prayer to say. We have to let go of the ideas of how we will get the things we think we really want.
– Mastin Kipp
The Daily Love
thedailylove.com
She knows the Jesus is comfortable with broken people who remember how to love. – Brennan Manning
Ruthless trust is the way for this ragamuffin.
If it be your way, the sign you can trust will be the slow, steady, and miraculous transformation from self-rejection to self-acceptance rooted in the acceptance of Jesus Christ.
– Brennan Manning
life: acoustic & amplified 