life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “connection”

26 Dec 2015

be the manger

 

 My Word is made flesh.
This is how I live.

I am born not once long ago, 

but each moment, always.
Will you be my flesh?

Having none of my own,

can I put you on and wear you 

into the world? 

Will you be born for me?
Walk in the woods for me, will you?

Touch what you can touch for me,

touch with gentle fingers.

Listen for me. Hear so that I may hear.

Smell pine and sage, babies and cities.

Smell for me.
Look with my eyes.

See what I long to see,

one thing at a time.
Be with the lonely for me, will you?

Stay close to the suffering,

dance with the joyful, dance

as only a body can dance.

Let your heart be broken,

as only a beating one can. 

Reach out to the despised,

notice the beauty.

Dare to be a child in a rough world.

This is how I come.
You are my flesh now, dear one.

Bear me into this world

and I will always be in you

and in all you meet.

Have an eye for those who don’t know this;

see it in them even when they can’t.
Let me discover

what it is to come to myself

in my own Creation. 

Look— even now

I am coming close,

seeking the manger.

Even now I enter.
__________________ 

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

 

 On the streets of anywhere lives a man.

The same man.
Homeless and alone in the world.
The tears that fill his eyes go by silent, and unnoticed.
Tears that cry out for a simple glimpse of the certainty that he’s a brother to us all.
That he belongs.
But you and I dare not look. Lest we catch such a glimpse.
A glimpse that might show us the frailty of our own humanity.
A glimpse that might admit that we are, and always have been, more than brothers.

   – Nic Askew

  

Posted in action, attitude, awareness, be, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Choice, commitment, community, compassion, connection, courage, Faith, find art at pinterest, friendship, Glory, Gospel, Gratitude, Hope, Imagine, Letting Go, People, soul and spirit, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
25 Dec 2015

merry happy

   
    
    
    
    
 
  
I wish you love 🎄❤️🕯🎄

   
   
So very thankful! 💞

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, beloved, Blessing, connection, find art at pinterest, grace, Happiness, Happy Holiday!, Joy, Love, Miracles, mystery, receiving, Reflection, Relationships | Leave a comment
24 Dec 2015

each piece 

  
I am struck by the otherness of things rather than their sameness. 

The way a tiny pile of snow perches in the crook of a branch in the

tall pine, away by itself, high enough not to be noticed by people, 

out of reach of stray dogs. It leans against the scaly pine bark, busy

at some existence that does not need me. 
It is the differences of objects that I love, that lift me toward the rest

of the universe, that amaze me. That each thing on earth has its own

soul, its own life, that each tree, each clod is filled with the mud of

its own star. I watch where I step and see that the fallen leaf, old

broken grass, an icy stone are placed in exactly the right spot on the

earth, carefully, royalty in their own country

❄️
Looking for the Differences by Tom Hennen

❄️

top photo found at http://www.pinterest.com

   
    
    
    
    
    

photos by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT 

❄️

O come thou Mystery,

unseen, unbidden, unfelt,

but so madly needed here.
Come to us 

who push you away with our despair,

snare us with wonder.
Come to us, the lonely and broken,

O Small One,

not to solve but to be with.
Come to us who grieve 

place or worth or hope,

and find it with us.
Come to us in our smugness

and lay yourself down in the manger

of our secret wounds.
Come to us in our privilege

and let us hang our lives

on a poor little peasant child. 
Come to us in our violent fear

and calm us with your tiny voice.

Ask us to love you. 
For us who find it hard to love each other,

come and gather us in a circle,

have us care, have us sing. 
Come to us, too afraid to need, 

be fragile among us, 

and let us fall in love.
Neglect our neglect, Emmanuel,

come and be a tiny flame of love among us,

and light our own.
__________________ 

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

   

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, community, connection, create, grace, Gratitude, Happy Holiday!, intimacy, light, Love, Miracles, mystery, nature, Peace | Leave a comment
22 Dec 2015

gift

 

 Longest night.

Darkness falls like snow,

falls and falls, 

deepening.

Older than the universe,

here before it,

and will be after.

Wraps an arm around us

as if we’re old friends.

We are.

Darkness lives in us,

radiates from us.

We speak it.

Darkness is the velvet cloth

where you cherish the gem

of your presence among us,

darkness the womb,

darkness the manger

that cradles your light,

this holy being

that becomes us,

births us.

In the darkness

you do not come to us,

we come from you.

Because you are with and not apart,

even the darkness

is you.

Because you shine in it

the dark is our dark,

none of it unchanged.

Your being our light,

your hereness our life,

shining in the longest night.

__________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

 

 To go into the darkness with a light 
is to know the light. 

To know the dark, go dark. 

Go without light and find that the dark too, blooms and sings 

and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings. 

– Wendell Berry 

  
Black. out. black. 

Black. on. black. 

Dark. on dark. on dark. 

I was simply looking for home. 

Not knowing the current alley would lead 

to where the sidewalk ended 

I stepped off the edge 

out of the world of light 

waking into morning night 

a banished sun 

no stars 

or moon 

or streetlights 

or fireflies 

or lighters 

in pitch darkness 

I lay, unable to move, 

senses adjusting 

to what is my new reality 

hearing the life 

that lives here 

wondering if I’ll make friends 

while I’m here 

learning this new space. 

🌌

AL

 

 Gift suggestions: 
To your enemy –  forgiveness. 

 To an opponent – tolerance. 

   To a friend – your heart. 

     To a customer – service. 

       To every child – a good example. 

          To all – love. 

💞

           – Oren Arnold

  

Posted in action, Adventure, Alone, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, connection, courage, dark, Death, determination, Dreams, find art at pinterest, fragile, Glory, Gospel, grace, Gratitude, healing, home, Letting Go, Love, Miracles, mystery, nature, power, Prayer, quiet, Reflection | Leave a comment
21 Dec 2015

let 

 

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

   
 

  

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beloved, connection, Encouragement, Faith, Freedom, grace, healing, Hope, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, Reflection, Relationships | Leave a comment
18 Dec 2015
1 Comment

brothers and sisters 

 

 My soul sings praise to God, 
                  who has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 

         God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, 

                  and lifted up the lowly; 

         God has filled the hungry with good things, 

                  and sent the rich away empty. 

                           —Luke 1.46, 51-53

 

  

This dance is not the wrecking ball it sounds like.

It’s only that we’re startled that it’s love not might.
The blossom bursts the stone we live in. 

The Almighty naked and small, always, always.
In our vacancies the overwhelming Presence,

granting what we so firmly withhold,
saving what is beyond hope,

undoing our undoing,
lifting up what you despaired of,

putting to rest your own despotic king.
The righting of our upended minds.

Evil we can’t stop, stopped.
The mending of our grasp, and our failure to grasp.

Looking for love in all the right places.
In darkness thick as stone let there be life.

The truth of what is made of dust, or light.
Tyrants spew nightmares,

throw heavy shadows, heavy sounds,
but the poorest child defeats them.

A woman alive in her body shifts mountains.
She sings,

earth trembles.

__________________ 

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

   

  

  

  

  

  

 there are kings in this world
and relatives of those who claim the title ‘king’

distant and weak

who still claim they are special

some call them ‘blue bloods’ 

some pretend that’s important 

that being of supposedly royal linage

is to be desired. 

Thing is, it’s an illusion,

a fake. 

Mean and ruthless men,

brutal thugs,

willing to kill and subject others for their own gain,

grasp power,

name themselves kings,

and we gladly make them into celebrities. 

Truth is each soul weighs the same. 

Truth is, the only king is Christ,

and he came to set us free from such brutal horror –

because love is the true royalty,

and love always sets us free. 

Truth is, we are each the 

Beloved, special unique creations of God. 

Truth is, many times we delight in bondage,

power is an interesting thing. 

we love our idols 

especially when we can claim to call 

ourselves,

our children,

princesses and princes –

no matter how diluted the shade of ‘blue’ we want claim as our own,

no matter how delusional we are,

how vain and arrogant.

how we have been tricked.

we have traded our true royal birthright

for a small bowl of beans –

which is sure to make us gassy. 

when will we realize the truly triumphant need no slaves?

love comes simply through our helpless infant self

and rides on donkeys 

through the streets of our world

God simply wants to be with us

Jesus loves all the little children

our hearts tell us so

if we will just look past the golden tiaras 

and listen 

we will hear the angels singing

The Hallelujah Chorus!

we all bleed from the same source

we are all true nobility 

we are all children of God

😇

AL

   

  

 
 

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, connection, find art at pinterest, Freedom
17 Dec 2015

finding center

 

 I think that I shall never see 
A poem lovely as a tree. 
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest 

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; 
A tree that looks at God all day, 

And lifts her leafy arms to pray; 
A tree that may in Summer wear 

A nest of robins in her hair; 
Upon whose bosom snow has lain; 

Who intimately lives with rain. 
Poems are made by fools like me, 

But only God can make a tree.

🎄

Trees by Joyce Kilmer

   
photo by Jen Lemen

🌳

 The simplest things in life 

Are the most extraordinary 

Let them reveal themselves. 

– Paulo Coelho 

🌲

There is magic in every little thing. 

Your very breath is magic 

You, showing up on this tiny planet, 

at this very time in history. 

The way the sun glints off your hair. 

The way the trees recognize you. 

The way a child can turn their head 

and plunge you into grief. 

it’s all about perspective. 

Einstein reminds us 

We have a choice in how we live. 

One of two ways – 

As if nothing –

OR

As if everything –

Is miraculous. 

I’m so glad I choose to see the enchanted pathway. 

It’s always a fine day here. 

No matter what circumstance I find myself in. 

Magic abounds.  

🌳

AL

  

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Choice, connection, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Life, Love, Miracles, moment, mystery, nature, trees | Leave a comment
04 Dec 2015

peace places 

A sense of place results gradually and unconsciously from inhabiting a landscape over time, becoming familiar with its physical properties, accruing history within its confines.- Kent Rydon

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
Photos by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

 🌀

I have abandoned the dream kitchens for a low fire 

and a prescriptive literature of the spirit; 

a storm snores on the desolate sea.

The nearest shop is four miles away— 

when I walk there through the shambles 

of the morning for tea and firelighters 

the mountain paces me in a snow-lit silence. 

My days are spent in conversation 

with deer and blackbirds; 

at night fox and badger gather at my door. 

I have stood for hours 

watching a salmon doze in the tea-gold dark, 

for months listening to the sob story 

of a stone in the road, the best, 

most monotonous sob story I have ever heard. 
I am an expert on frost crystals 

and the silence of crickets, a confidant 

of the stinking shore, the stars in the mud— 

there is an immanence in these things 

which drives me, despite my scepticism, 

almost to the point of speech, 

like sunlight cleaving the lake mist at morning 

or when tepid water 

runs cold at last from the tap. 
I have been working for years 

on a four-line poem 

about the life of a leaf; 

I think it might come out right this winter. 

🌀
The Mayo Tao by Derek Mahon
Curator’s note: “Mayo” refers to the County Mayo, in western Ireland. 

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, community, connection, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Glory, Happiness, healing, intimacy, Letting Go, mystery, Prayer, quiet, Reflection | Leave a comment
03 Dec 2015

timing be everything…just wait and see  

 

 walking while waiting…not holding onto the breath…finding the shallow end of the pool, gliding full body under the water…raising expectations while others wonder , slightly wandering , forgetting to remember is not an option while the day is so bright…finding fashion foolishly delightful, while taking ones shoes off …holy hours become …earth and flesh blown open , .birthing beyond time and space, then settling into the sunroom for hot peach tea and a tiny croissant…such a simple remedy while walking and waiting…
Beauty,

Donna Knutson

   
    
    
  

  
 

Posted in attitude, awareness, beloved, Blessing, Change, Choice, commitment, connection, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Growth, Habits, Happiness, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, nature, Patience, soul and spirit, strength, touch, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
01 Dec 2015

love beyond reason. trust without borders

   
  

photos by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT  
 We develop grace as we learn with the guiding hand of the universe, life will unfold exactly the way it should.

The idea of trusting the universe is a popular one these days, but many of us don’t know what this really means and we often have a hard time doing it. This is partly because the story of humankind is most often presented as a story about struggle, control, and survival, instead of one of trust and collaboration with the universe. Yet, in truth, we need to adhere to both ideas in this life. 
On the one hand, there is much to be said about exerting control over our environment. We created shelter to protect ourselves from the elements. We hunted for animals and invented agriculture to feed ourselves. We built social infrastructures to protect ourselves and create community. This is how we survive and grow as a civilization. However, it is also clear that there are plenty of things that we cannot control, no matter how hard we try, and we often receive support from an unseen force – a universe that provides us with what we cannot provide for ourselves. 
It is a good idea to take responsibility for the things in life that we can control or create. We work so we can feed, clothe, and shelter our loved ones and ourselves. We manifest our dreams and visions in physical form with hard work and forethought. But at a certain point, when have done all that we can, we must let go and allow the universe to take over. This requires trust. It requires a trust that runs deeper than just expecting things to turn out the way we want them to. Sometimes they will, and sometimes they won’t. We develop equanimity and grace as we learn to trust that, with the guiding hand of the universe, life will unfold exactly the way it should. We are engaged in an ongoing relationship with a universe that responds to our thoughts and actions. 

🌀

dailyom.com

by Madisyn Taylor

 

   

  

  

  

 Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half heard, in the stillness

Between two waves of the sea. 

Quick now, here, now, always – 

A condition of complete simplicity

(Costing not less than everything)…

    – T. S. Eliot

🌀

‘What if it were so much

simpler than that’

said the wiseman. 
‘But …’ said the fool

🌀

But Said the Fool by Nic Askew

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, be, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, commitment, confidence, connection, courage, create, Faith, find art at pinterest, grace, Gratitude, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, strength, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

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