life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “community”

one small part

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There are hundreds of thousands of people,
maybe even millions,
holding the world together,
each doing one act of goodness today,
one righteous act of peace,
one unpopular voice against the status quo,
one simple smile of grace,
one starfish thrown back in,
one pie to a neighbor,
one vow upheld,
one stepping into the breach,
one punch in the face,
to bring one giant, defiant action against evil.
Somehow we hear just a few names in history…
Abraham Lincoln
Mother Teresa
Martin Luther King, Jr
Gandhi
Great names of great people,
they inspire us, yes.
Somehow, it seems, we make our ordinary everyday efforts seem less. They are not.
We seem to have come to believe only in celebrity, yet,
if we would just look around us each day,
we would see them,
hundreds of thousands of people,
maybe millions,
sprinkled in every place,
holding the world together,
every day –
keeping us sane.
one small prayer for each of us,
setting fire to the rain.

ACL 2/21/15

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We are not masters of this world, we participate in its life. – Thomas Moore
for Michael Harris, whom I respect and admire

photo source tracks found at

I see you there on your cloud…will you see me?

Next to grace, I bet God thinks making us need each other was one of his best ideas.
– Bob Goff

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There’s this progressive shedding that has happened as I walk into my own being. Being responsible for ONLY my own life is an ever challenging, evolving process.
Several years ago, much to my surprise, I found some people just didn’t like me. No real reason even, just a vibrant dislike vibe when I walked in. I am super sensitive and my nature is to want to be liked. Yup, I’m a giant people pleaser! My progress has evolved over years of learning, and is still a work in process.
Many years ago I would twist myself into weird shapes and do anything to make the other like me, then I slowly learned to allow it to be and not prove myself, or force anything. It has been a gradual, sometimes extremely painful, learning.
Parallel to that, there has been this great and mighty internal work going on, and as I have shed yesterday and baby-step by baby-step learned tiny, mind blowing truths about what love really looks like, I have also been growing into my own voice.
It’s a rather unexpected thing for me, it’s scary and challenging, and yet essential for me to step into my calling. my purpose here.
I am being called to share my experiences in walking this path. Called to be vulnerable and speak as myself. Now, when people don’t like me, I can’t fully say, ‘Well, they really don’t know me at all. They haven’t encountered the real me’, because, more and more of myself is becoming visible.
I feel very alone. I feel unprepared. I feel unworthy. I feel I’m not good enough. I feel afraid of many things, rejection is one of the biggies.
What I know for sure is…none of these feelings matter. This is bigger than me and I cannot say no. What I have gained is too valuable not to share.
Anyway, this has come out different and longer than I expected when I started writing. I am crying so I know it is what I need to say.
I just ask you to pray for me.
If you are reading this, you are a fellow pilgrim. Thank you for sharing this moment on path with me.
As we say in Kentucky to friends as we go our separate ways for a moment, ‘Ya’ll come see us soon, don’t be a stranger.’

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photo source tracks found at

clearly I will see you

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Become That Which You Aspire To Be
Life is not a race-but indeed a journey. Be honest. Work hard. Be choosy. Say “thank you”. “I love you”, and “great job” to someone each day. Take time for prayer. Be thankful. Love your life and what you’ve been given, it is not accidental. Search for your purpose and do it as best you can. Dreaming does matter. It allows you to become that which you aspire to be. Laugh often. Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them. Some of the best things really are free. Do not worry. Forgive, it frees the soul. Take time for yourself. Plan for longevity. Recognize the special people you’ve been blessed to know. Live for today, enjoy the moment. — Bonnie Mohr

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listen to the day

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Beautiful photo by Kerri DeBlasi
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
Today we woke up to a revolution of snow,
its white flag waving over everything,
the landscape vanished,
not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness,
and beyond these windows

the government buildings smothered,
schools and libraries buried, the post office lost
under the noiseless drift,
the paths of trains softly blocked,
the world fallen under this falling.

In a while, I will put on some boots
and step out like someone walking in water,
and the dog will porpoise through the drifts,
and I will shake a laden branch
sending a cold shower down on us both.

But for now I am a willing prisoner in this house,
a sympathizer with the anarchic cause of snow.
I will make a pot of tea
and listen to the plastic radio on the counter,
as glad as anyone to hear the news

that the Kiddie Corner School is closed,
the Ding-Dong School, closed.
the All Aboard Children’s School, closed,
the Hi-Ho Nursery School, closed,
along with—some will be delighted to hear—

the Toadstool School, the Little School,
Little Sparrows Nursery School,
Little Stars Pre-School, Peas-and-Carrots Day School
the Tom Thumb Child Center, all closed,
and—clap your hands—the Peanuts Play School.

So this is where the children hide all day,
These are the nests where they letter and draw,
where they put on their bright miniature jackets,
all darting and climbing and sliding,
all but the few girls whispering by the fence.

And now I am listening hard
in the grandiose silence of the snow,
trying to hear what those three girls are plotting,
what riot is afoot,
which small queen is about to be brought down.

Snow Day By Billy Collins

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let’s be friends

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If I could see you
and you see me too
look straight into my eyes
cause I’m dying inside
If we could wait for a moment
pause in the crowd
smile at another
say good morning out loud
Well, what would that matter
at the end of the day?

There’d be one less stranger in the world
tonight
one less stranger looking for light
If we would just shine
as we walk through our day
there’d be one less stranger in the world

If you would just speak right from the heart
and let me do that right at the start
If you could allow me my point of view
I’d try to do the same thing for you
If we both ask questions
of answers we seek
Then sit in silence allow each one to speak
Well, what kind of world would these words create?

There’d be one less stranger in the world
tonight
one less stranger looking for light
If we would just shine
as we walk through our day
there’d be one less stranger in the world

see beyond the fear
see both far and near
shine your little light
shine with all your might

ACL 1/25/15

When an iceberg gets flipped over…

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Projects


http://www.liftbump.com/2015/01/36523-iceberg-flips-breathtaking-beauty-hidden-underneath-revealed/

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everybody’s an artist

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It seems to me that
paralleling the paths of action, devotion, etc.,
there is a path called art
and that the sages of the East would recognize
Faulkner, Edward Hopper, Beethoven, William Carlos Williams
and address them as equals.
It’s a matter of attention and discipline, isn’t it?—
combined with a certain God-given ability.
It’s what you’re willing to go through, willing to give, isn’t it?
It’s the willingness to be a window
through which others can see
all the way out to infinity
and all the way back to themselves.

The Way of Art by Albert Huffstickler

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what then should we do?

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Spirit of the Mighty, Gentle One,
come upon me, anoint me.
I see the oppressed.
I name them; I hold them close.

Make my life into good news for them.

I see the brokenhearted.
I name them; I hold them close.

Give me gentle grace to bind up their hearts.

I see the imprisoned.
I name them; I hold them close.

Give me true words and deeds to release them.

I see the ruined cities.
I name them; I hold them close.

Make me a part of their building up.

Spirit of God, be upon me.
I see my own ruins, my chains.
Hold me close
and set me free, that I may be
your good news for others.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

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Thanks-full for you

Ever meet someone who immediately fits right into your bones? Someone you just want to talk to for 5-10-unlimited days straight, just to see where the conversation could take you? Someone who speaks your language, makes you laugh AND gives you chill bumps in that brief encounter? sigh…I hope you have…cause it’s really good!

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Friendship is like a garden. -Al

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Never put a period where God put a comma… – Al

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
-Marcel Proust

don’t wait…do it yourself!

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I am so tired of waiting,
Aren’t you,
For the world to become good
And beautiful and kind?
-Langston Hughes
Dr. Chuck DeGroat’s blog on Ferguson is so important! Please read it!!! Jesus always challenges us to break the chains that bind. We are never allowed to stay comfortable, but to go!
http://chuckdegroat.net/2014/11/25/ferguson-a-gospel-issue/

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find your place

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In the Breach

Wander wonder restless
Amidst the novels
Autobiographies
Travel and Mystery

Search seek anxious
Through aisles of Philosophy
Religion, Science Fiction

Table nooks filled with laptop fingertips typing
Comfy chairs hold readers’ captivated eyes

Where do I belong?
(Do I belong?)

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A solitary empty table, alone, waiting
Waiting for my laptop fingertips and captivated eyes,
Waiting for my restless anxiety
Waiting for dress-up dreams
And therapy themes

The only open space here-
-here with Maya, Rumi, Berry and Bertoldt Brecht, Love Poems.
Poetry, of course,
For (I’ve been told) I am a poet.

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I settle scatter my stuff
(Stuff stuff, soul stuff)
Upon this table
Organically absorb the whimsy, truth, courage
Filling all these crisp closed silent
pages, pages, pages….
in book after book after book….
shelf, shelf, shelf… self

Shhh…they whisper nudge, silent
while, in the breach,
Jackson Browne sings.

~ro, 11/18/14

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