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Archive for the category “Freedom”

07 Jan 2014

ahhhh, the warmth of presence

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

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

31 Dec 2013

New Year. turn the page.

Why not grow roses in your soul?

Don’t try to invent them,
it’s been done.
Don’t labor over making them,
it will happen.

Ask what the Beloved is doing in you,
ask again and again,
slowly,
until you see.

Ask what you can do to help,
to clear the space,
to hold the light,
and that will be your path.

And promise that no matter
how disappointingly plain
or outrageously beautiful the results,
you will husband the fruits
of God’s work in you.

Even if you spend the whole year
simply wondering
it will be a splendid year.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, beloved, Blessing, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Happy Holiday!, Life, time, Today, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

23 Dec 2013

Christmas is a good time to look beyond the wrapped gifts and find your treasure

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, beloved, Encouragement, Freedom, Life, Love, thankfulness, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

29 Oct 2013

how’s the diet?

if we are what we eat,
then I have eaten slamming doors
and too much sunshine
and not enough rain
with every way to say goodbye
in every language that has ever existed
and I have eaten every
way to ignore love
and every form of leaving.
if we are what we eat,
i have eaten cowards
and regret
and i have eaten the way people
rely and rely and rely and rely
but I have also eaten trust issues in
the form of rotten apples
and peaches without pits.
I have starved myself when the only thing
on my plate has been
to fall into something greater
than I could understand
and something that could make
the wholeness I feel,
not alone.
If we are what we eat,
I must have eaten
my worst enemy.

Amanda Helm
http://amandaspoetry.tumblr.com/post/59253380196/if-we-are-what-we-eat-then-i-have-eaten-slamming

Changing our lives is possible.
One step at a time. We must be brutally honest with ourselves and then break patterns one at a time.
One step, one choice at a time!

Posted in action, Adventure, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, courage, determination, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Letting Go, Life, Love, Poetry, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

18 Oct 2013

climb

We climb mountains.
We get back up when we fall.
We keep fighting for our dreams.
We refuse to die, while there is breath within our bones.
We stare our suffering in the eye,
and walk straight through the dark forest with courage,
trusting our steps will not fall.
We will not fail.
We are warriors.
We are aware of the value of the soul.
We are strong yet soft.
We know ourselves.
Acknowledge our weaknesses,
seeking for truth.
Bow in humility when we make a mistake.
Easily say the words –
forgive me
and
I forgive you
Light glows within us.
We are the children.
We are the beloved.
We are the followers,
of this man Christ,
who comes to us right where we are,
but never leaves us there.
From glory to glory
we are learning to be holy.
As we walk the mountains
and valleys
listening for the call,
thirsty for grace,
abandoned to love,
eyes to the sky.
Lifting up the man
who gives us all good things –
peace unshakable,
Joy unending,
Patience to wait for a drop more of this un-understandable mystery,
Love unconditional and unlimited.
We become free to be who we were created to be.
We do nothing from guilt or manipulation.
Our love songs come from gratitude,
expressions of love pour out unfettered,
joy-full.
We speak with authority,
not to judge,
but from experience.
nothing can rip our faith from our hearts
we Know that we Know
because of the practical living of our faith,
because we wear trust like a garment,
because we have seen with our eyes,
heard with our ears,
touched with our own hands,
been moved,
sometimes in spite of ourselves,
in direct opposition to our own selfishness.
And so we climb,
ever upward and outward,
towards the stars
toward the heavens.
They say God saves his best work
for the inside of things.
May it be so, Lord.
May it be so.

AL 10/17/13

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Choice, commitment, determination, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, forgiveness, Freedom, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

04 Oct 2013

curiosity

One day, many years ago,
I realized how little I knew
about life
about the world
about God
about love
about relationships
about nature
about cultures
about people
about learning
about how things work
about myself
about pretty much everything.
Yes, one day the full impact hit me
of how small my understanding
really is,
and it changed my life.
I became aware.
I became aware that I could choose,
even though no one gave me permission.
It hit me – that all the people,
who had told me they had the complete truth,
and so I should just believe them,
couldn’t possibly ALL be right.
I also realized, very importantly, most of them were not people I wanted my life to emulate.
So, maybe, living wasn’t about being right, or perfect.
Maybe life was about being open, learning about each other,
about helping each other.
Maybe love really was about unconditional,
whatever that truly meant.
Maybe life was about trying…
anything…everything
that I found intriguing,
or felt my soul drawn to.
And so I opened myself to this new way
of thinking,
of being,
of seeing.
I became curious.
I became open.
I became dogmatic –
about NOT being dogmatic.
I removed the words,
‘I’m right’ and ‘I can’t’ and ‘impossible’ from my vocabulary.
I fought my automatic judgments….
still one of my biggest daily battles….
I keep making that choice.
I fought to improve only myself,
to forgive myself,
to keep learning the hard way,
it is my choice.
I sought to tell, and live, my ever-evolving truth,
holding that truth lightly in open, adoring hands,
always allowing myself to be wrong without shame,
allowing for changes without despising the learning,
I am ever-so-happy when I make that choice!
I battled to take responsibility
for my thoughts and actions,
Always adjusting, making new choices.
Staying aware.
Being honest.
Making lots of mistakes,
Life is very messy at times.
I’ve lost a lot.
I’ve gained more than I lost.

At some point, along the way,
I became convinced, at least for me,
this was the only way to truly live.
The mystery keeps getting bigger.
I continue to do war with my desire to shut down my heart,
in the face of constant hurts and disappointments.
I keep letting go.
Opening, always opening.
Each step has become a miracle moment.
Each opening leads me to open more.
I have come to see everything is grace.
I have come to understand the extreme value,
of each human soul,
of being vulnerable,
of being human,
of just being.
I have made the commitment to the path of curiosity,
not because I will ever learn it all,
but because I won’t.
Yet, I am aware, that there is infinite learning at my fingertips,
and I want as much as I can get,
to go as high as I can go,
to know as much
of God,
and Mystery,
and life itself,
as I am able.
One day, not very long ago, I found the words of poet, Mary Oliver.
She gives these brilliant life instructions,
pay attention.
be astonished.
tell about it.
Yes, that has been my path.
As Einstein said,
I have no special talents –
I’m just passionately curious.
I add to that:
I have completely fallen in love with life!
I’ve grown fabulously addicted to seeing the holy miracles all around me.
I am so blessed, so full, so grateful!
I can’t help wanting to share
the path of this glorious adventure,
with others who love it too –
and so,
though I’ve been accused of talking too much,
more than a few times, in my life,
I’ll just keep on…
because, I’ve found,
all voices are beautiful –
in their own way.

10/03/13

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, grace, Gratitude, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, nature, People, Relationships, soul and spirit | Leave a comment

02 Oct 2013

treasure

Your faith is not a strength or accomplishment,
a possession or a quality of yours at all;
it is a gift from God.
In your surrender to the love of the Beloved,
whose heart beats in yours,
you are given God’s own love,
for God and for the world.
Your faith is divine love alive in you.
Be thankful. Guard this treasure.
You don’t need to protect it;
it can face the worst of the world.
Don’t hoard it, or hide it.
But attend to it, care for it.
Don’t abuse it or forget it
or take it for granted.
Water the plant and give it light.
Let it live in you, strong and clear.
Even when your faith is a mystery,
all darkness and struggle,
it is still a gift:
God’s love in you, for your sake,
for the sake of the world.
Let the Loving One, who is in you,
help you guard this treasure
with humble joy and gratitude,
and give it away all the time.

______________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Posted in attitude, awareness, find art at pinterest, Freedom, giving, kindness, Life, Love, soul and spirit, thankfulness, Thoughts | Leave a comment

20 Sep 2013

surrender

Mid-September. The sunrise is getting late, creeping around the side of the house a little farther each day. Garden leaves are curling. A new set of kids are waiting for the bus now. This morning they are finally willing to wear coats. A sheet is draped over the morning glories on the mailbox against the night cold. In the meadow the rising sun lays its yellow fan among the trees, the grass the color of the rising sun. Trees begin to emerge from the solid green of summer into different shades of yellow and ochre, some reds. Here and there a tree goes ahead, a single branch flames out. Overhead a squiggle of geese pass by, schoolgirls chattering on their way south, only at the moment they’re headed east. The Panellis have built a ramp up to their front porch. The flowers in the pot that I broke are doing OK in the new pot I stuck them in, though it’s too small. The old pieces are still lying there, behind the corner of the porch. I need to call my sister. In the early morning the ornamental grasses wear little crowns of light.

Surrender looks different for each of us.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

Days of wine and focus
of hanging on
of seeking strong
of keeping faith
of sitting still
of being silent
of standing in my own shoes
of letting go
of allowing the mystery
of hearing the call
of accepting what is
of not crossing borders or boundaries
of opening and opening
of trusting the journey
of seeing the face of God
of surrender into something bigger than I can know
of making the daily commitment
of acknowledging the grace
of thanking for everything
of looking for the miracles
of talking to trees
of taking time to prepare
of expressing my love
of helping in time of need
of following my own path
of obedience rather than sacrifice
of taking my shoes off for the holy
of love and love and love
of all things love

AL 9/17/13

Posted in attitude, awareness, Blessing, Choice, courage, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Gratitude, Letting Go, Life, Love, nature, Poetry, Seasons, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

19 Sep 2013

2 Comments

Grace is the backbone of every woman (and man) still standing. – Ann Voskamp

My strength did not come from lifting weights. My strength came from lifting myself up when I was knocked down.
– Bob Moore

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If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going. – Harriet Tubman

I woke with words from The Lord’s Prayer in my head. Over and over it came, in the form of a song, “Lead me not into temptation, deliver me from evil”. It is my prayer today…all day. I am writing it, thinking about it, studying why it is in my head. It is an exciting prayer for me and one which, I believe, is grounded in my years of making mistakes, walking through brokenness and learning to have faith in this mystery, the LOVE which is so much more than I will ever understand in this life.

As I was thinking about these words this morning, I remember my prayer, many years ago now, for God to give me a REAL faith. If I was going to embrace this whole thing, I wanted to experience it. I wanted to know for sure it was for me and about me. I began to ask, seek and knock on purpose, but it was always one of those things that was somewhat conditional – IF it didn’t bring me what I wanted – if I didn’t really know for sure, even a nibble of doubt, I would say, ‘There is no God.” and walk away for something better. Easy, right?

For 22 years I lived in that ‘testing’ period where God became so much more, where Christ became my partner in life and where the Spirit of God moved and poured grace over me, slowly moving me from where I was into a place where I could no longer stand on the sidelines. I went through some devastating years. HARD stuff, and through it all God was there. Over the years of struggle God became real, intimate, more than I could ever hope, dream or understand. So, in October of 2011, when God came to me and asked me to commit or walk away, there was only one way I could respond. Only one thing I could do. I could only fall on my humble face say,’ YES, Lord, I know You. I am Yours. Not my will, Yours be done.”

I no longer need to ask for my faith to be real. It is real. A guy asked me one time if I project I was writing was “faith-based” to which I replied, “everything about my living is faith-based”. There is no division in my life any more. Commitment means ALL in. 100%. If there is even a hang nail that is not committed, then there is no commitment. It took me many years to learn this, I hope others are not such slow learners. haha

Soooo, here I stand, all in, singing a new song, “lead me not into temptation, deliver me from evil. ooooo-o oooooo-o” and I say thank you, because I have received the promise that what I seek I will find, and I move through the day knowing grace is my path, because everything is grace.

and I read the words of those who encourage me to get back up when I fall, and the words of heroes like Harriet Tubman, “Keep Going. If you want freedom – keep going. Don’t ever stop!” and the daily words of Ann Voskamp, which always move me and break me open:

She wasn’t afraid of swimming in the deep end, way out of her comfort zone.

When you can’t touch bottom, you touch the depths of God.
– Ann Voskamp
http://www.aholyexperience.com/