All nature’s wildness tells the same story: the shocks and outbursts of earthquakes, volcanoes, geysers, roaring, thundering waves and floods, the silent uprush of sap in plants, storms of every sort, each and all, are the orderly, beauty-making love-beats of Nature’s heart. – John Muir
All Hallowed Eve:
before All Saints Day comes,
before we recognize the holy among us,
in the dark before I myself am taken up in glory,
I have permission to dress up in my deepest fear,
my greatest hope, my truest self.
I am a dragon, a dead man, a princess.
But of course beneath the costume I am actually
a king, a zombie, a magician,
an alien, a prostitute,
a child.
This one night, this Hallowed Evening,
we all are evened out:
everybody’s a true soul wrapped up in illusions,
disguised in fears and fantasies—
we’re all beauty queens and monsters—
and for once everybody knows it
and we’re OK with that,
because we know within we’re humans all alike.
This is so we know that on all other days
all who come to us and we as well
can be ourselves
and be accepted at stranger’s doors
and be given delights.
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
23 years ago I began, what I have recently begun to understand, is a pilgrimage. I didn’t know it was a pilgrimage – in fact words like pilgrimage and manifesto make me a bit uncomfortable. Radical people with more than a little crazy mixed in seem to be the ones who go around using those words. That’s certainly not me…right? 🙂
I feel like I am the most unlikely ‘pilgrim’ you will happen across (you’ll know me because I will have on cute shoes…no matter what). Yet here I am all these years later recognizing that when I stepped off the edge of all I had ever been taught and then decided (with more than a few ways ‘out’ for myself – it was a very doubtful and conditional experiment) that I would try to live like Jesus taught in Matthew chapters 5-7. Not knowing the consequences of my decision, I decided I would stay as close to those chapters as possible (btw, I knew it would be impossible – the only way to choose any of those counter cultural and unnatural ways to live was with the help of a very Holy Spirit that was ‘other’ than my own natural ego – I was very materialistic and wanted desperately to be popular and beautiful – Truthfully, I had little clue about who God really was, and really believed it would be all about me getting what I wanted.) and so I began to live a secret life – internally. I began to think about my decisions. I began to be purposeful in my choices. I began to build a new house for myself.
I certainly had no idea it would take me through years of devastating loss and pain, poverty and hardship, broken relationships and darkness. Years of paying attention and making choices towards healing. Years of learning to be honest about where I veered off the path and to learn the warning signs that would lead me there. Years of discovering the truth and difference between the shadow of what the world calls love, beauty and intimacy and what God offers so freely to us. I had no idea my house would become a traveling one, and I would dwell in tents and followed the cloud and the fire for 16 years. No idea that there wouldn’t be an instant miracle lightening strike and everything would ‘be fine’ for me. No, I didn’t have a clue that it would take me 21 years to realize that I was on a pilgrimage and to realize that 99.99999% commitment is no commitment at all and, when I did realize it, that I would make that choice to step ALL in and commit 100% to such a path. I had no idea that God wouldn’t just fix everything as I WANTED IT, but if He had, I would never have learned these lessons which are so very valuable.
Maybe I’m a slow learner, but it has taken me all of this time to learn, little by little, to trust and to walk in faith and I am so blessed to know this path and here I am, still following this glorious path where every bush is blazing holy. I realize maybe I am going so slow because every other step I have to take off my very cute shoes and bow in thanks for all that has been done, but then I have come to enjoy this path very much and have no wish to run ahead…
Check out the new issue of the Songs from the Valley Newsletter on faith:
http://songsfromthevalley.com
by Madisyn Taylor
For a more grounded life, choose not to get caught up in the fast-paced world around you.
1. Live simply and live deliberately. By choosing not to get caught up in the details of this fast-paced world, you are doing your part to slow down the . You will also discover that you have more time to enjoy being alive.
2. Stay in touch with yourself. Soul searching, meditation, and journaling are just a few of the many activities you can take part in to stay aware and learn as much as you can about your emotions, reactions, likes, dislikes, dreams, and fears. Having a solid sense of self gives you a firm foundation for living in this world.
3. Support or teach others as often as you can. This can help you form connections with people while also giving you an opportunity to make the world a better place.
4. Consciously choose what you will allow into your being. The media bombards us with visions of hate, war, and pain. Be judicious about what you read, watch, and listen to.
5. Acknowledge the beauty that resides around you. Whether you live in a sprawling metropolis or a stereotypical suburb, there are natural and man-made wonders just waiting to be discovered by you.
6. Nurture your ties to your tribe. If you don’t have one, create a community that you can belong to. Modern life can be isolating. When you have a tribe, you have a circle that you are a part of. Its members – loved ones, friends, or neighbors – can be a source of support, caring, guidance, and companionship.
7. See the larger picture. Remember that the way that you choose to live is not the only way to live. Widen your perspective by exploring other modes of being through research, travel, and discussion.
8. Embrace the challenges that life presents to you, and challenge yourself often. After a time, even the most exciting jobs or lifestyles can seem routine. Never stop assimilating new knowledge about whatever you are doing, and your life will never seem dull.
9. Move your body. In this busy world, it can be easy to live a sedentary life. Movement reacquaints us with our bodies and connects us to the earth in a visceral way. It also restores our vitality.
10. Make time for stillness, silence, and solitude. The world can be noisy, and we are subject to all kinds of noises nearly every waking hour. We are also often “on the go” and unable to relax. Being alone in a peaceful place and making time for quiet can help you stay in touch with yourself.
http://www.dailyom.com/
Trees
by Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is press’d
Against the sweet earths 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.
Check our this 98 year old MS Pixel painter! Really wonderful –
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http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19890#sthash.WEL6bt1t.dpuf
Edgar Allan Poe
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
I went to visit my sister, Nancy, yesterday evening at her home. On Tuesday she went through a 10 1/2 hour heart procedure. Much of the time she was awake. She was strapped down during this, and for 8 long hours afterward, as it was imperative that she didn’t move due to them going into her heart through both sides of her groin in both of her main arteries. Can you imagine?
My sister is a rock star! Not only does she look fantastic (you would truly never know she was one bit sick) but she has a huge sense of humor about it and the best attitude ever. I am so grateful for her example and, I know, if I ever experience anything like this, and as an aging human I probably will, I will make every effort to follow the example my sister has shown me. What an amazing and beautiful person she is. I am so grateful for her. So grateful for life and love and sisters.
Big thanks to all my readers for all the prayer, for the Doctors and staff who worked so long and hard, for her amazing husband, Richard, for loving her so much, and for family. I am truly blessed and so grateful to God for peace and rest during this time.
Having God in my life does not mean I will never have a problem, it does not mean that my life won’t be messy or that bad things won’t happen to me. My faith means that I have help during these times, that I can trust there is more going on than my small slice of the picture, that I don’t have to worry or be anxious, because I am able to trust that this life unfolds just as it should and there is always love enough to get me through the dark. That’s what makes all the difference to me. Peace in the storm – it’s the most amazing way to live and anyone can have this gift. Where ever I am, Jesus will still be there. Best thing ever? Love such as this is free to all who choose it. Good stuff, my friends, very good stuff.
Green Canoe
by Jeffrey Harrison
I don’t often get the chance any longer
to go out alone in the green canoe
and, lying in the bottom of the boat,
just drift where the breeze takes me,
down to the other end of the lake
or into some cove without my knowing
because I can’t see anything over
the gunwales but sky as I lie there,
feeling the ribs of the boat as my own,
this floating pod with a body inside it …
also a mind, that drifts among clouds
and the sounds that carry over water—
a flutter of birdsong, a screen door
slamming shut—as well as the usual stuff
that clutters it, but slowed down, opened up,
like the fluff of milkweed tugged
from its husk and floating over the lake,
to be mistaken for mayflies at dusk
by feeding trout, or be carried away
to a place where the seeds might sprout.
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
Aimless Love
by Billy Collins
This morning as I walked along the lakeshore,
I fell in love with a wren
and later in the day with a mouse
the cat had dropped under the dining room table.
In the shadows of an autumn evening,
I fell for a seamstress
still at her machine in the tailor’s window,
and later for a bowl of broth,
steam rising like smoke from a naval battle.
This is the best kind of love, I thought,
without recompense, without gifts,
or unkind words, without suspicion,
or silence on the telephone.
The love of the chestnut,
the jazz cap and one hand on the wheel.
No lust, no slam of the door—
the love of the miniature orange tree,
the clean white shirt, the hot evening shower,
the highway that cuts across Florida.
No waiting, no huffiness, or rancor—
just a twinge every now and then
for the wren who had built her nest
on a low branch overhanging the water
and for the dead mouse,
still dressed in its light brown suit.
But my heart is always propped up
in a field on its tripod,
ready for the next arrow.
After I carried the mouse by the tail
to a pile of leaves in the woods,
I found myself standing at the bathroom sink
gazing down affectionately at the soap,
so patient and soluble,
so at home in its pale green soap dish.
I could feel myself falling again
as I felt its turning in my wet hands
and caught the scent of lavender and stone.
The Writer’s Almanac
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
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