Miracles | life: acoustic & amplified

Archive for the category “Miracles”

24 Jan 2015

snow!!! 💞

Photo by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

backyard tree and pig by me 😃

The whole world is a poem today
I walked 2 miles in snow paradise
Hoping I would remember each amazing
Beautiful
Breathtaking
Moment
Even the port-a-potty
Looked romantic
Covered in it’s white cap
With it’s blue door welcoming
the desperate stranger
I found a discarded pair of snow pants
Hoping the loser
Was some place warm by now
It was too wet to use my phone
So it stayed in my pocket
Until…
I made the most amazing snow angel EVER
And couldn’t resist trying to get a quick shot
I was mostly alone in my magical land except for the occasional snow plow doing it’s duty
and one lone woman raking piles off her car
Hoping to get somewhere safely
I tramped through piles of unmarked snow,
Dirty black muddy snow
And Slushy melting snow
splashing on my boots
I followed some footprints
which were so far apart
I had to take two large steps to reach each one
I wondered if it was a yeti getting his snow on?
I felt like I was an explorer off on a great adventure
Like Sir Edmund Hillary climbing Mt Everest
Ha! Visions of grandeur.
I battled the elements
Legs feeling new muscles
not used in a coons age
My gloves got wetter and wetter
From the snow,
and oops,
I forgot tissues again
It was like walking in a just shaken
snow globe world
(Without the dizzy side effects)
I cleared a spot of heavy drift
and sat briefly on a bench until the wet
freezing thru my pants
forced me get up and dance
The water and sky were gray
Meeting about 50 feet from the non-existent shoreline
no beach today in highest tide
Seagulls and ducks floated on the water
Watching the beauty
having conversations about it
I think they were excited to see me
by the amount of chatter between them
On my second mile I stopped back by my brilliant snow angel
Already filling in
I fought my way back up and down
past the river
Where I stopped for another
eye-feast of beauty
making my way carefully
so not to slip
Thinking of another
fun-friend-shared snow day
when I did.
It never gets old
This walk
This view
This gorgeous world
I hear my breathing
In steady rhythm with my steps
My core is as well heated
As my nose is cold and drippy
I make one last snow angel
outside the kitchen window
and then strip in the mud room.
Soaked to my chilled-reddened skin
I laugh as I run up the stairs
for warm dry clothes
Full of joy
and exhausted
I settle in to write it,
then on to a nice book
and a warm cup of potato soup
Buddy the dog
had an adventure in the snow
this morning as well
and is now sleeping off his excitement.
I watch the snow dance
outside the window
as I wash morning dishes
teasing me to come back out and play
the snow angel winks at me
I realize we know each others secrets
It knows my delight in it
I know it’s truth and beauty
We are more than friends
I have just been intimate with this storm
We are lovers
Yes, I have made love to the world
For the last hour and a half
and I am completely satisfied

3/8/13

Beautiful photos by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

Yeats: The world is full of magic things/patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.

Nick Ortner

Posted in Adventure, awareness, beauty, Blessing, find art at pinterest, fun, Glory, Miracles, mystery, nature, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

22 Jan 2015

dark night in a blue sky day

On the day I died
water ran through pipes,
footsteps identified people in the house and
the dogs nails clicked quickly on the wood floors above my head,
insisting it was time to go out for relief.
I still needed coffee,
light with cream,
2 sugars.
The sun was bright
and I remember the sky was that deep blue,
romantically named, azurite.
There was cockscomb,
half alive in pots near the wooden footbridge I walked over.
I used to love them when I was alive.
I touched their red, velvety, blooms seeking to feel something.
I mistook fluttering angel wings for birds,
battles fought,
just beyond where I lay
on the words of Wendell Berry –
the only thread
keeping me tethered to this world.
I sat on benches beside ghosts
of those gone before me.
I could still only feel them beside me,
I was in the world between worlds.
There was darkness, a fire swamp, screaming, clashes of swords,
I could not save myself.
God was everywhere.
I found myself in a boat,
where I stayed for 2 years, until,
in recent weeks,
the call came to step out,
to start walking on water.
Late in the day,
I stood in the bathroom,
accepting the most insulting job offer I have ever received,
then sat on a stool,
trying to act as if I was alive,
pretending to look for puzzle pieces,
slightly aware of the colors and shapes,
singing echoes of songs I used to love,
with my beautiful Robin,
who seemed very much alive.

ACL 1/21/15

In his little boat the fisherman
floats out on a deep
mystery that provides.
His net woven of many strands
is a gathering, for gathering.
He casts it into dark waters
and hauls in light.
Not for himself
but those hungry in the village,
from the unseen he offers
sustenance.

The fly fisher admires the river,
runs her eyes along its surface
like her hands on fine furniture.
She sees beneath into the depths
and sees unseen the beauty flashing,
knows without knowing
the life given there.
Not with will to overpower
but adoration of the holy
she casts, she works the fly
and waits
for the communicating tug,
the splendor rising.

With this focus,
not to catch but to evoke,
not to control but to connect,
she loves people,
and seeks out the grace
flashing beneath their eyes,
the love
rising in them.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, courage, dark, Death, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, healing, Impossible, Letting Go, Life, Miracles, mystery, soul and spirit, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

19 Jan 2015

1 Comment

do the best you can until you know better. when you know better, do better. – Maya Angelou

Too many people live their lives believing in false sense of perfection. Like there is a right way and a wrong way, or a more or less ideal way to go. But to our souls, every circumstance we go through is only a lesson and every choice we make has the ability and potential to lead us to healing and wholeness.

Among other wonders of our lives, we are alive
with one another, we walk here
in the light of this unlikely world
that isn’t ours for long.
May we spend generously
the time we are given.
May we enact our responsibilities
as thoroughly as we enjoy
our pleasures. May we see with clarity,
may we seek a vision
that serves all beings, may we honor
the mystery surpassing our sight,
and may we hold in our hands
the gift of good work
and bear it forth whole, as we
were borne forth by a power we praise
to this one Earth, this homeland of all we love.

In observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day: “A Prayer Among Friends” by John Daniel, Text as presented on The Writer’s Almanac (10/19/2012).

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, determination, find art at pinterest, Happy Holiday!, healing, Life, light, Love, Miracles, Passion, Peace, Today, touch, Trust, www.pinterest.com

18 Jan 2015

go slow. be safe. – Joanna Ober

Posted in Adventure, awareness, find art at pinterest, Miracles, mystery, nature, Poetry, Seasons, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

15 Jan 2015

just knock

In Matthew 7:7 Jesus told us to ask, seek and Knock and the door will open. It’s written as a guarantee.

Our only responsibility is to want the door to open.

25 years ago I came to that door. I raised my hand and I knocked.

I began an adventure, which is healing my life and has lead me right here. I have found that the secret to curing both my insecurity and my arrogance is to seek who God is – and I have come to be humbly aware that even my seeking is because He sought me first and the ability to want Him, somehow comes from His wanting me.

My relationship with Love (because God = Love) has steadily changed and grown, as has my awareness of the mystery, magnitude and wonder of who He is.

Along the pathway I have been granted the tiniest of mind-blowing glimpses, which are almost more than I can comprehend. They always take my breath away and I stagger when fiery glory becomes visible, as only God can reveal, because only a moment before it looked to me like another ordinary bush. These glimpses always reveal the ridiculousness of my own desire for self-importance, and free me to release any need for performance or perfection.

As I have discovered grace, I see just how little this great God needs me, or you – but, oh, how much He wants me and you! It is the desire of God to know and be known by us and He was willing to become helpless and give His very life to enter into that intimacy we call relationship. We are each His most beloved and as I began the journey of accepting myself, warts and all, as truly loved and worthy of belonging, I find I can also love you, with your warts, as I do myself.

These things blow my mind, This great love pours over me and gives me courage and passion. It allows me to share myself, my life and songs with you. I believe it is the only thing that could possibly allow someone like me to fall so deeply in love that I lay aside my personal desires, to become transparent and vulnerable, willing to endure the shame of the cross of Christ. I surrender to a plan I really can’t even understand, much less have any control over, yet know for certain is so much more valuable than I could ever even imagine!

Every day, I am surprised to find myself here. I am the most unlikely pilgrim ever, and I gratefully think about these strange things and say, along with every other person who has ever experienced this amazing love,

WHO AM I, that You would love someone like me? I am not much, but I am yours, please help me be all You have created me to be, take me, use me. Your will be done on earth as in heaven. Yes, here am I, send me.
ACL 1/14/15

God does not change, but He uses change—to change us. He sends us on journeys that bring us to the end of ourselves. We often feel out of control, yet if we embrace His leading, we may find ourselves on the ride of our lives.
– Jen Hatmaker

Posted in Adventure, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, beloved, Change, Choice, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gospel, Gratitude, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, nature, Reflection, soul and spirit, thankfulness, touch, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

14 Jan 2015

find your wonder

The moon, half dressed,
slips out of bed with me.
Earth holds me in her palm,
each step, carries me out of the house.
First light leans easy against the trees,
lays an arm around my shoulders
and walks with me.
The air, the breath of the world,
cold and hard but willing,
wants to plunge deep into me,
and plunges. The morning,
wearing nothing but the universe,
opens her robe and wraps it around me.
The creator of all things,
the world gathered in her hands,
looks at this day and smiles
and leans a little bit forward
and says, “Let’s do this.”
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net

There are no words for the deepest things. Words become feeble when mystery visits and prayer moves into silence. In post-modern culture the ceaseless din of chatter has killed our acquaintance with silence. Consequently, we are stressed and anxious. Silence is a fascinating presence. Silence is shy; it is patient and never draws attention to itself. Without the presence of silence, no word could ever be said or heard. Our thoughts constantly call up new words. We become so taken with words that we barely notice the silence, but the silence is always there. The best words are born in the fecund silence that minds the mystery.

…When the raft of prayer leaves the noisy streams of words and thoughts, it enters the still lake of silence. At this point, you become aware of the tranquility that lives within you. Beneath your actions, gestures, and thoughts, there is a silent tranquility.

When you pray, you visit the kind innocence of your soul. This is a pure place of unity which the noise of life can never disturb. You enter the secret temple of your deepest belonging. Only in this temple can your hungriest longing find stillness and peace. This is summed up in that lovely line from the Bible “Be still and know that I am God.” In stillness, the silence of the divine becomes intimate.

…When we pray, we pray to that space in the Divine Presence which absolutely knows us. This could be what is suggested in the New Testament when it says of our return to the invisible world: “On that day you will know as you are known.”

– John O’Donohue, Eternal Echoes (p. 206-207)

Posted in attitude, awareness, Faith, find art at pinterest, Habits, intimacy, Life, Miracles, music, mystery, nature, Relationships, Solitude, soul and spirit, Thoughts, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

13 Jan 2015

the right thing

We are here essentially to risk ourselves in the world; we are a form of
invitation to others and to otherness, we are meant to hazard ourselves for the
right thing, for the right woman or the right man, for a son or a daughter, for
the right work or for a gift given against all the odds, and to allow ourselves to
be happy may be the greatest, most courageous act of all.
– David Whyte

As I approach,
it comes to me quickly –
all four seasons have converged,
are visible residents
of this mornings beach.
Here are bands of snow from this spell
we call Winter.
Here, layers of leaf-surf to shuffle through the memories,
we called Fall.
Which, seems to me,
was just yesterday?
The sands dna carries the Summer sun,
still warm,
within its restless, shifting soul.
It whispers promises of returning warmth and sunshine as I stand, here and now, in cold, driving rain,
working through markers of time,
arriving at my favorite season,
Spring!
Grief, death and hope are front and center,
as Vinnie’s beautiful, driftwood cross
still stands as a memorial to his mother’s recent passing,
as well as, the hope of springs sure arrival!
Easter carries the sharp winds of death,
alive with the eternal mystery of resurrection.
I realize there are many symbols of spring,
on this mixed media stretch of grainy life.
The all-weather gulls floating, trusting,
eternally free.
The rhythm of the waves forever dancing with,
continually kissing,
the shore.
Then there’s me,
aware and alive,
with possibilities
of love,
music,
even that slippery word,
happiness,
surrounding my steps!
It doesn’t matter
that I haven’t even heard your voice yet.
Knowing I am worthy of this is enough.
As hopes awaken,
rising strong on mended wings,
trusting the healing path taken,
the work continues.
Allowing the
shy, twinkling lights
to glow and illuminate
the most fearful, secret corners
of the darkest rooms
of my heart.
I smile and silently shout, Yes!
I promise to love and be loved!
Can you hear me, wherever you are?
Is your heart shouting out as well?
I can’t stop smiling.
Courage,
that fearless lion,
who will lead us all home
right where we belong.

ACL 1/12/15

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Choice, connection, courage, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, healing, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, nature, Relationships, Seasons, soul and spirit, strength, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

04 Jan 2015

gratitude

miracles. everyday,
floods of riches,
handfuls of Jewels ,
purest gold and silver,
pour through my hands
all around me
I ask. I receive.
I seek. I am given.
I knock. and gain entrance to the magical kingdom.
invisible. appears. visible.
I begin to write on blank sheets of paper. Poems appear.
I take a step. The hidden way opens and I find a path prepared.
I open my heart and mouth. Ripe music, melodies erupt in time and space.
I breathe in perfume of fresh air and flowers fill my being.
I breathe out and trees greet me with waving branches of thanks.
My way is effortless. Life flows easily with all this vast abundance.
These miracles go on and on. Every minute. Every day.
I am in awe. I smile.
I am here. I am full.