life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “Gratitude”

25 Jan 2014

“Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.” – Pema Chodron

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The sky in my rearview
is a huge bowl of rainbow sherbet
the beautiful kind of flavor-ite.
I love eating
that certain shade of raspberry, orange n lime
swatches of lemon, indigo and periwinkle
float in and out
around.
Flaming.
Framing.
Dancing.
Living.
At one point a bold, red-gold-tangerine fills the top of the hilly crest
and head light ‘stars’ of Friday night traffic
blaze brilliant against the backdrop,
indigo stretches wide above,
high, cut-thru mountains frame the sides as I drive,
framing this unending sky-filling masterpiece
– I lose my breath in wonder.
At times I find it hard to keep moving forward
into the matt gray and dirty white
of drudgery ahead.
with so much loveliness going on
right behind me.
How can it be so different at the same time?
How can this reflection be so clear?
how can I keep heading away from it?
How can I not be a part of this splendor?
How can I not be enveloped,
devoured,
consumed by this color?
Eventually midnight blue seizes its moment of glory,
then night falls over all the world I can see on any side,
and I am left
aching with the beauty,
the majesty,
the extravagant display,
the glorious wonder,
of this wonderful world.
The ache gets deeper,
wider.
I go to wondering
if this longing for the kiss,
which should have been,
will ever be answered?
if my whole life
I will wait
for a moment which passed,
never to be realized under this piece of ever-changing sky –
always a whisper in my soul.
This magic of first love,
a thing with wings
hovering over my heart
for another 38 years –
echoing on into eternity.

AL 1/25/14

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gratitude, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, Poetry, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
19 Jan 2014

a morning glimpse

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All human beings are alone. No other person will completely feel like we do, think like we do, act like we do. Each of us is unique, and our aloneness is the other side of our uniqueness. The question is whether we let our aloneness become loneliness or whether we allow it to lead us into solitude. Loneliness is painful; solitude is peaceful. Loneliness makes us cling to others in desperation; solitude allows us to respect others in their uniqueness and create community.

Letting our aloneness grow into solitude and not into loneliness is a lifelong struggle. It requires conscious choices about whom to be with, what to study, how to pray, and when to ask for counsel. But wise choices will help us to find the solitude where our hearts can grow in love.

http://www.henrinouwen.org

waking up alone.
i try to think when i last had
this gift of solitude.
just me
the house quiet.
creating my morning
looking forward to the coming hours
with myself.
don’t know if i’ve ever had quite this
feeling
in the past 48 years.
it’s not my space.
i’m still surrounded
by the energy,
the possessions of another,
but i get a tiny foretaste
of what my home will be
when I finally get there.
i luxuriate in the promise
of this morning.
this slice of freedom
expanding my joy
in my homecoming to be.
i take off all the expectations
and do a little reveling,
soul dancing,
exhale and let a little out.
inhale take a little in.
relax and allow the guard to come down just a bit.
i’m not there yet,
but I’m the closest I’ve ever been.
this moment is a gift.
i can almost smell the soup simmering on my stove top,
the pie in the oven.
i can almost hear the laughter of friends,
maybe even family, around the table.
i can almost touch the softness of the fabrics,
the rich colors,
the art on the walls.
i can almost see the warm light of the fire on the hearth,
already blazing in my heart.
it’s right around the next bend,
the little place
waiting with arms wide open,
saying,
welcome home, beloved,
come on in
and let your hair down –
so glad you’re finally here.

AL 1/19/14

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Posted in Alone, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, determination, Encouragement, Freedom, Gratitude, home, Letting Go, quiet, Solitude, soul and spirit, Sweet, thankfulness | Leave a comment
18 Jan 2014

look at the stars. how they shine for you.

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Strange to realize
on our very worst day of life
someone else is having their very best.
Every death
is countered with birth.
Every grieving tear
with belly laughter.
Our weakest moments
are also our strongest.
Our greatest challenge of faith or doubt
is when true faith is finally began.
The deepest mysteries come clear
as we accept what we don’t know.
On the night we see the stars fall
the sun is rising on the other side of the world.
The human spirit cannot be conquered
we rise from ashes again with each burning.
Tides come in
as tides go out.
With every broken heart
there is an answering new moment of love.
For every first kiss
a final slamming of the door –
figuratively or literally.
For every threshold we cross
we must cross again in a new moment.
We each have moments of glory
moments of defeat.
Worry is the paper tiger
which strips our moments of joy.
Illusions of control hide behind our eyes
always revealed to be a waste of our precious resources.
There is a time for every season.
In all we are to bring the sacrifice of praise.
It is the amazing hat-trick to the healing of our wounds
that in every single circumstance
we stand in the truth of that moment
and we give thanks.

AL 1/18/14

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Posted in attitude, awareness, Blessing, Choice, Death, determination, Dreams, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gratitude, Grieving, Letting Go, Life, Losing, Love, Miracles, Prayer, soul and spirit, strength, thankfulness, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
13 Jan 2014

not in vain

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I said, “I have labored in vain,
yet surely my cause is with the Lord.”
The Holy One says,
“I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
—Isaiah 49.4, 6

Beloved,
you do not see your own face,
nor can you hear God’s delight in you.
You can’t hold your work in your hands.
You can’t know the whole tapestry
into which you are woven.
God’s grace works within, unseen.
Go with the mere faith
that you are God’s thread.

No star can guess its place in the heavens,
which are nonetheless glorious.
The Beloved is continually making this world,
saying, “Let there be light:”
and you walk out into the darkness,
and God says, “It is good.”
The miracle rolls on to the end of the earth
until all is mended, all is beautiful,
all is blessed.
________________________
Weather Report

Low lying fog,
with visibility often reduced
so that you cannot see
the good of your life,
dissipating later;
clearer at higher elevations.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

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Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Choice, confidence, connection, determination, Encouragement, Faith, Freedom, giving, Gratitude, Growth, Habits, Patience, Proof, Seasons, success | Leave a comment
08 Jan 2014

God is unwaveringly good — and we are unfathomably loved. That slays demons. -Ann Voskamp

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Gratitude isn’t only a celebration when good things happen. It’s a declaration that God is good no matter what happens.

This is brazen. In a cynical world, this is blatant and bold and subversive. This is Truth.

The best artists discipline themselves to practice their art. The best life artists practice the discipline of gratitude — which makes their life art. It is an aching miracle — how true masterpieces are always painted in the dark. – Ann Voskamp
http://www.aholyexperience.com

Posted in action, attitude, awareness, beauty, beloved, Blessing, Choice, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Habits, soul and spirit, thankfulness, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
05 Jan 2014

it’s about focus

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Posted in action, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, commitment, confidence, courage, determination, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Habits, soul and spirit | Leave a comment
28 Nov 2013

Thank FULL living is the very best way to live every day

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Happy. Happy. Happy.

Posted in attitude, find art at pinterest, giving, Gratitude, Happy Holiday!, inspiration, Life, thankfulness, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
21 Nov 2013

permission granted by David Allen Sullivan

You do not have to choose the bruised peach0315c81fd0c0611caf80ae4ba38bdb3a
or misshapen pepper others pass over.
You don’t have to bury
your grandmother’s keys underneath
her camellia bush as the will states.

You don’t need to write a poem about
your grandfather coughing up his lung
into that plastic tube—the machine’s wheezing
almost masking the kvetching sisters
in their Brooklyn kitchen.

You can let the crows amaze your son
without your translation of their cries.
You can lie so long under this
summer shower your imprint
will be left when you rise.

You can be stupid and simple as a heifer.ff27f07deb00adb5433bdd4ad7b760eb
Cook plum and apple turnovers in the nude.
Revel in the flight of birds without
dreaming of flight. Remember the taste of
raw dough in your mouth as you edged a pie.

Feel the skin on things vibrate. Attune
yourself. Close your eyes. Hum.
Each beat of the world’s pulse demands
only that you feel it. No thoughts.
Just the single syllable: Yes …

See the homeless woman following
the tunings of a dead composer?
She closes her eyes and sways
with the subways. Follow her down,
inside, where the singing resides.

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Poetry, Purpose, Songs from the Valley, touch, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
18 Nov 2013

worship is simply giving God his breathe back. – Lou Giglio

Prayer,
which is breathing with the Spirit of Jesus,
leads us to this immense knowledge.
– Henri Nouwen

6fc7ebb34faa31a13472f5e04663ef3cYou breathe different in a room
when you know it’s not about the good you can accomplish
but about the grace you can accept.
– Ann Voskamp

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I am the cloud of your mercy,
a thunderhead of your grace.

Fields are thirsty,
the river is dry.

Let it go,
let it go.

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

Posted in action, Adventure, awareness, beauty, beloved, Faith, find art at pinterest, grace, Gratitude, Letting Go, soul and spirit, thankfulness, Trust, Uncategorized, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
15 Nov 2013

in the middle

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The White
by
Patricia Hampl

These are the moments
before snow, whole weeks before.
The rehearsals of milky November,
cloud constructions
when a warm day
lowers a drift of light
through the leafless angles
of the trees lining the streets.
Green is gone,
gold is gone.
The blue sky is
the clairvoyance of snow.
There is night
and a moon
but these facts
force the hand of the season:
from that black sky
the real and cold white
will begin to emerge.

http://www.patriciahampl.com

Posted in awareness, beauty, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, fun, Gratitude, inspiration, Life, nature, Poetry, Seasons, thankfulness, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

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