life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “Miracles”

30 Jun 2013

then sings my soul

There are things that make my soul sing –
Like hay bales in a newly mowed field.
Corn with tassels as far as the eye can see.
Tobacco hanging straight on rods drying high in a barn.
Farms fenced with white wood, their pastures dotted
with cows, horses and John Deer green.
Coming down a hill to see
city skyline soft in rainy mist,
or night-time lights.
Fog draping anything.
Crossing a body of water on a brilliantly engineered bridge.
All make me hold my breath with the sight of so much beauty.
The lines and shades of green from the tree farm pine trees looking like Christmas all year.
Small deli’s with homemade sausage and hand cut meats,
where the owner takes care of getting your order,
then comes out to ring you up.
All of these are miracles of extraordinary proportion.
These have fed my soul today.
So much more in store for me tomorrow.
The lavish gifts life brings are many and varied.
I am blessed to be awed by a few on my way.

AL 6/28/13

Posted in Adventure, America, art, attitude, awareness, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Miracles

29 Jun 2013

1 Comment

faith allows for grace in everything

Little Summer Poem Touching the Subject of Faith

by Mary Oliver

Every summer
I listen and look
under the sun’s brass and even
in the moonlight, but I can’t hear

anything, I can’t see anything—
not the pale roots digging down, nor the green stalks muscling up,
nor the leaves
deepening their damp pleats,

nor the tassels making,
nor the shucks, nor the cobs.
And still,
every day,

the leafy fields
grow taller and thicker—
green gowns lifting up in the night,
showered with silk.

And so, every summer,
I fail as a witness, seeing nothing—
I am deaf too
to the tick of the leaves,

the tapping of downwardness from the banyan feet—
all of it
happening
beyond all seeable proof, or hearable hum.

And, therefore, let the immeasurable come.
Let the unknowable touch the buckle of my spine.
Let the wind turn in the trees,
and the mystery hidden in dirt

swing through the air.
How could I look at anything in this world
and tremble, and grip my hands over my heart?
What should I fear?

One morning
in the leafy green ocean
the honeycomb of the corn’s beautiful body
is sure to be there.

Posted in awareness, courage, Death, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, grace, Gratitude, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, nature

28 Jun 2013

1 Comment

doing all things well

Have you considered the time of life when you face death? In America, we tend to deny that we will die. Deny that we will not live forever, but the truth is it is appointed unto man to die. No one is exempt and we will all face the transition into the next place (whatever that looks like) and we will be gone from this dimension, this time shall pass and so shall we.

I have always known that, I spent time growing up around death and a lot of funerals as my dad was a pastor and my family sang, but I still remember when I read Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and did the exercise of going forward to my death and looking back – what would I want my life to be about? What would I want to be able to say and hear from others about my life? That exercise helped me in so many ways and I have continued to do it at least once a year – it keeps me growing and also helps me let go of things that I do not want to have in my life if I die tomorrow.

As I read books about The Art of Dying and The art of Being a Healing Presence I realize how important it is to live with the reality of death. Not wishing death, but aware of death. Taking care of the business of my call to live today in the best possible way. I believe the way to die well is to live well.

The colors blend
I think about
life
and
death
the importance of doing both well
how does it happen?
how do we live and die with grace?
the longer I live I am more and more convinced
It centers around our
thoughts
which lead us to
choices
our choices are all important
to both our living
and our dying
if I want to die with grace
I must live with grace
to live with grace
I must choose my thoughts wisely
I must listen to the wisdom which tells me,
Guard your heart, child, for everything you do flows from your heart.

AL 6/26/13

Posted in attitude, awareness, Choice, Death, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Life, Love, Miracles, moment, People, soul and spirit

22 Jun 2013

the number one reason for gratitude

Posted in awareness, Becoming Yourself, Change, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, grace, Gratitude, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, soul and spirit | Leave a comment

19 Jun 2013

focus

Messenger
by Mary Oliver

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

Posted in action, attitude, awareness, beauty, Choice, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, nature, Passion | Leave a comment

16 Jun 2013

Few delights can equal the mere presence of one whom we trust utterly. – George MacDonald

There is a spot that has become me
A small spot in the world,
yet it brings me great delight –
and even a whiff of wonder –
that it is mine.
I have this 4 feet of place
looking out to the trees
which are mine to borrow.
A place to dream.
A place to create.
Bringing pieces of me
into being,
to share with the world
from this tiny new place
filled with love.

AL 6/15/13

Posted in art, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, beloved, Blessing, courage, create, find art at pinterest, giving, inspiration, Life, Love, Miracles, soul and spirit, success, thankfulness, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

08 Jun 2013

Peonies by Mary Oliver

This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
to break my heart
as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open–
pools of lace,
white and pink–
and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes
into the curls,
craving the sweet sap,
taking it away

to their dark, underground cities–
and all day
under the shifty wind,
as in a dance to the great wedding,

the flowers bend their bright bodies,
and tip their fragrance to the air,
and rise,
their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness
gladly and lightly,
and there it is again–
beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.
Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly,
and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness
to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
nothing, forever?

Posted in attitude, awareness, Blessing, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, Miracles, nature, Poetry | Leave a comment

07 Jun 2013

1 Comment

opening to the day

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, Faith, find art at pinterest, Life, Love, Miracles, Relationships, soul and spirit, Trust

23 May 2013

some things are hard to spell

How do you spell
the sound you make
when you have an orgasm?

Now you see the difficulty of poetry.

Take a scale and calibrate it
to exacting standards, and tell me
which weighs more: Mozart’s requiem
or your feelings when your mother died?

Now you see the problem with art.

Tell me: what did God mean
in creating the sea?

You see, don’t you,

the temptation of prayer,
and its pure and holy uselessness?

People say, “Father, Son and Holy Ghost”
as if that explains something.

The Spirit said to me:

“Understanding is a pair of sunglasses.”

What then can we do,
but pray without ceasing,
and write poetry until our eyes close?
What can we do but lay down our shovels

and come home?
What can we do but touch
the children we love as if for the first time,
and lay our hands and eyes tenderly,
like newborns, upon this world,
until all that we know of the world
disappears into the world,

and God escapes our imagining,
until we are raised from the tomb of certainty
into the glorious rainbow light of awe?

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