Grab hold,
and take this hand that
reaches out to you.
Look up
into my eye;
my spirit
cries out to you:
Friendship is my thought.
Let us climb the jagged cliff of life
and fight the ascent of Opposition together,
if I can lift you today,
you will look back
and grab the hands of a thousand more.
– Howard Rainer,
by John O’Donohue
When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,
Time takes on the strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On the mind like an endless, increasing weight,
The light in the mind becomes dim.
Things you could take in your stride before
Now become laborsome events of will.
Weariness invades your spirit.
Gravity begins falling inside you,
Dragging down every bone.
The tide you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push yourself back to life.
You have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken for the race of days.
At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.
You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.
Worn
Tenth Avenue North
Album: The Struggle
I’m Tired I’m worn
My heart is heavy
From the work it takes to keep on breathing
I’ve made mistakes
I’ve let my hope fail
My soul feels crushed by the weight of this world
And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left
Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I wanna know the sun can rise from the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause I’m worn
I know I need to lift my eyes up
But im too weak
Life just won’t let up
And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left
Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I wanna know the sun can rise from the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause I’m worn
My prayers are wearing thin
And I’m worn
Even before the day begins
I’m worn
I’ve lost my will to fight
I’m worn
Heaven come and flood my eyes
Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I wanna know the sun can rise from the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause all that’s dead inside will be reborn
Though I’m worn
Yeah I’m worn
Now burn, new born to the world,
Double-natured name,
The heaven-flung, heart-fleshed, maiden-furled
Miracle-in-Mary-of-flame,
Mid-numbered He in three of the thunder-throne!
Not a dooms-day dazzle in his coming nor dark as he came;
Kind, but royally reclaiming his own;
A released shower, let flash to the shire, not a lightning of fire hard-hurled.
– Gerald Manley Hopkins
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
– Ephesians 4:32
Forgiveness. It’s not an easy word for many of us. Ok, I don’t really know about others, but I know my own stubborn self and how hard it is for me to forgive, and then, rest in my forgiveness. I work through painful, difficult issues, I let go, and I think I have won the battle, but all the sudden I round a corner and, it seems, outta no-where, BAM – there it is again, and I realize I haven’t quite reached as far into that forgiveness force field as I had intended to go, and so I start again. I am so glad that I re
alize that life, and this forgiveness thing, is a process, and that I have made progress, and so that encourages me to work through it again…and again…and…!
One day I think I fine, and then the next, unexpectedly, I can plunge down hard – just by driving past a house, having a conversation, getting a glimpse of a something, hearing a song, or melling a familiar smell. I filled with pain, loss, anger, sadness, grief, regret and longing. I get overloaded with these feelings today, additionally I have can also experince anxiety, exhaustion, overwhelm and the battle with the demons inside my head which say things like, ‘I can’t sing, am ugly, fat and undesirable, and I’m just too stupid, vain and like attention too much to know it. That everything that has ever gone wrong in my life is because of me, and that I will never find anyone who can stand being with me because I am weird and unloveable.’
All of this is mixed up and complicated in my head and I have to sort it all out and begin to let go of one layer at a time, as I work to identify the lies and change the story. Then I work at forgiveness, first for myself, others, and the ‘house’ in question. It’s not easy, and I many times, and hours, I just pray, with Anne Lamont, “help me, help me, help me” until the pain eases and I can move forward in a measure of peace.
Like a baby learning to walk, each time I get up from being ‘stuck’, I gain ground, I get a little farther, a little stronger on my feet, and I pray that some day I will have arrived at the goal and will run freely in the yard of freedom! I want to live in the Land of the Free and Forgiven, and in order to do so I know I must let go of any resentment and anger I am still holding to and just breathe love. Just breathe. Just love. I know I am loved and forgiven and so I am called to forgive. I try very hard to be easy on myself, because I realize I will probably be in heaven when that finally occurs completely, and that’s ok! I will run through the golden streets with children and puppies at my heels yelling, ‘wooo hooo! Thank you!!!! I have learned the way of forgiveness!’ Until then I continue to hold myself accountable and keep doing the work!
New issue of the newsletter on this subject of Forgiveness at www.songsfromthevalley.com
It is important to make decisions from a place of balance in your life by taking a breath and checking in with heart and mind.
Each of the myriad decisions we make every day has the potential to have a deep impact on our lives. Some choices touch us to our very cores, awakening poignant feelings within us. Others seem at first to be simple but prove to be confusingly complex. We make the best decisions when we approach the decision-making process from a balanced emotional and intellectual foundation. When we have achieved equilibrium in our hearts and in our minds, we can clearly see both sides of an issue or alternative. Likewise, we can accept compromise as a natural fact of life. Instead of relying solely on our feelings or our rationality, we utilize both in equal measure, empowering ourselves to come to a life-affirming and balanced conclusion.
Balance within and balance without go hand in hand. When you are called upon to choose between two or more options, whether they are attractive or distasteful, you should understand all you can about the choice ahead of you before moving forward. If you do not come to the decision from a place of balance, you risk making choices that are irrational and overly emotional or are wholly logical and don’t take your feelings into account. In bringing your thoughts and emotions together during the decision-making process, you ensure that you are taking everything possible into account before moving forward. Nothing is left up to chance, and you have ample opportunity to determine which options are in accordance with your values.
Though some major decisions may oblige you to act and react quickly, most will allow you an abundance of time in which to mull over your choices. If you doubt your ability to approach your options in a balanced fashion, take an extended time-out before responding to the decision. This will give you the interlude you need to make certain that your thoughts and feelings are in equilibrium. As you practice achieving balance, you will ultimately reach a state of mind in which you can easily make decisions that honor every aspect of the self.
Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It’s a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment.
– Eric Butterworth
In receiving we heal others
In giving we heal ourselves
– unknown
Both sides of giving are equally as important and this truth is one of the most important parts of healing – ourselves, others and our world. We are here to help each other. It takes understanding of both parts and the willingness to be both the healer and the healed. Vulnerability and tenderness. This is community. This is my path of learning today – my dear friends, so many God has brought into my life right now – are teaching me so much! God is definitely in the neighborhood. 🙂
Give our leader your justice, O God, 
and your righteousness to those in power.
May they judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
May they defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.
—Psalm 72.1-4
God of eternal justice and mighty grace,
may your gentle healing and fierce compassion
overthrow those in power, and fill them with your love.
May your care for your littlest ones
invade our desires, sweep up our leaders,
overtake all greed, and transform the power in our hands.
May justice be our passion and love our courage.
May our leaders guide us in generosity
with gentleness, humility and truth.
By the self-giving of your grace,
may we overthrow all greed and oppression,
that none, in using power, may cause another’s suffering.
We give ourselves to the healing of the earth,
that we may be tender with even the mountains and hills.
God of mercy, may justice prevail:
not that we decide one another’s deserving,
but that we defend one another’s needs,
that all may have life, and have it abundantly,
in the spirit of your almighty tenderness and grace.
Amen.
_________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone,
but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.
– Kalu Kalu
Ann Voskamp’s writes on her blog yesterday over at A Holy Experience was her thoughts on Bucket Lists –
I’ve never had a bucket list, and I’m thinking that I don’t want a bucket list as much as I want a poured bucket list. I’m thinking:
The best lives don’t have Bucket Lists as much as they have Empty Bucket lists.
Because the thing is when I kick the bucket, I don’t want there to be anything left in my bucket. When I kick the bucket, I want the bucket right empty.
I don’t want my life to be how I took experiences — but that I gave exceedingly.
That I gave every last drop, that I poured it all out, that I held nothing back. Because the way to really live is not to try to fill your life up — but to spill your life out.
“Where do you want to go?” the editor urges.
“What do you want to see — and, most important, with whom? Then just do it! Figure out a way to make it happen, and 20 years from now, you will not be disappointed. As we have the opportunity to check items off the list, not only are we given fantastic stories to share, but we also gain memories that will last a lifetime.”
This is what has changed me: writing thanks down on the list — and who can hoard their life when they see the abundance of His grace?
I hold the magazine in both hands and it’s unexpected — how wild I feel to rewrite this whole thing:
The question is really is not what you want to see — but who do you want to serve — and yes, most importantly, for Whom. Then do that!
read the full post at http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/08/best-bucket-list/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HolyExperience+%28Holy+Experience%29
I concur!
The secret to life is to begin living with thankfulness for a glimpse of grace – and then finding that EVERYTHING is grace!
How then can we not pour out our lives for this gift, this love beyond our human comprehension, we have been so richly and freely given?
This is my living faith, an 
active faith, a faith of verbs:
To questions, explore, experiment, experience, walk, run,
dance, play, eat, love, learn, dare, taste, touch, smell,
listen, speak, write, read, draw, provoke, emote, scream, sin,
repent, cry, kneel, pray, bow, rise, stand, look, laugh,
cajole, create, confront, confound, walk back, walk forward, circle, hide and seek.
– Terry Tempest Williams
Thank you to
A Small Group Community
Peter Block, Ward Mailliard & every participant!
A Small Group Intensive Learning Opportunity
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. It is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
life: acoustic & amplified 