I heard the bells, on Christmas Day,
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth,
good will to men.
Henry W. Longfellow
May God be with you
and bless you; May you see
your children’s children;
May you be poor in misfortune –
Rich in blessings;
May you know nothing but
happiness
From this day forward!
There is only one of each of us.
Unique in every way
You can’t be me
and I can’t be you.
Keep this thought right in your mind
As you go about your day.
We are living at this moment,
there are things for us to do.
There are no accidental people
No one is a mistake
We are here to share true love
All along the way
find the full newsletter on my website www.songsfromthevalley.com
Peace is Every Step
Peace is every step.
The shining red sun is my heart.
Each flower smiles with me.
How green, how fresh all that grows.
How cool the wind blows.
Peace is every step.
It turns the endless path to joy.
Thich Nhat Hanh
What do I want?
Where do I get it?
Why are some people successful,
While others wander – lost?
How do Dreams come true?
I believe we can all have the greenest of grass…IF we want it – seek it with passion –
water the grass properly!
Dreams can’t become reality until there is action.
There is a harmony and balance that must be achieved.
Much thought, and planning must be done – then lots of hard work must be accomplished!
We want green grass – but do we want to water it?
Do we have the passion?
Will we wake up and become aware of our gift of our time, our life?
We usually don’t even take notice of our neighbors hard work watering and tending their yard – until they win the ‘yard of the month’ –
then we get jealous and want their green grass!
All things we dream of are possible
If we really want them!
God is love. The One at the heart of all being is love—a desire for blessing, well-being and oneness, a delight in our being woven together. We are children of such love: love creates us, and in our very being we bear love into the world. The purpose of life is to be transparent to this love, to live in the present moment in full awareness of the love of God that is our life and being. We do not fret about how we will be judged or what will become of us, because we know that we belong to this love. The more clearly we see the God of love, the more purely we shine with that very love. God’s compassion, self-giving and delight becomes our whole life. The struggle in life is to shed the things that impede the perfect love that is inherent in us, to become the pure love that is our nature. A saint is not necessarily someone who is extraordinarily “good,” or made holy in some unique way, but someone who is translucent with love. It is not a stretch to become such a person; you were born so. You only have to reclaim it. May it be your prayer always to return to the present moment, to return to the Loving One, to return to the love that is you.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Used With Permission
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
I took a chance
Could have loved you today
But you’re trapped in a moment
Frozen in yesterday
Time standing still from
That moment on
Living in glory days
The worst kind of hell
Everything stopped just for you
While the world kept on turning
Alive yet not living
I can’t live that way
(Cause) nothing is worth more than this day
Loving each minute
A gift
With so much to give
Listen to me
Find the way
To escape from your prison
If you’ll take the key
Unlock that door
Step into your life
Start learning to live again
I can tell where you are
By the clothes that you wear
When you stopped living
By the style of your hair
And what you confess
when you open your mouth
And speak a few lines
You tell me the truth
In spite of your lies
And it breaks my heart
Cause you’re so much more
Then you did back then
It’s all up to you
But you’re missing so much of your life
My friend
Leave it behind
Listen to me and believe
Today is much better
Than all that’s behind you
Try it and see
You’ve just got to believe
Amy Lloyd 2008
Took that leap of faith,
thought I’d learn how to fly.
Lookin’ for rainbows
and dreams passing by.
Searchin’ for answers
to a whole bunch of lies.
Thought that no one
could love the real me.
As I crashed to the ground
Here’s truth that I found:
Learned I must bend,
so I won’t break.
How to get real,
not ever be fake.
It is the best way,
to smile through my pain.
Each moments a choice –
it’s never too late!
These things were so grand,
life was more than I planned!
Now I’m flying so high,
while I’m walking around,
cause the sky doesn’t end
till it reaches the ground.
Living each day now,
each step by faith.
It’s so good to be
right here in this place.
Don’t need all the answers.
It’s time to be free.
I will never be perfect,
I don’t want to be.
Who I am is enough,
yes, it’s great to be me!
I just want to give love –
Cause love’s what we need
Now I’m walking on sunshine
Hooked on the feeling
On top of the world
Yes, I’m one happy girl
Cause I’ve…
Learned to find rainbows –
right in the rain.
Found out I had more,
the more that I gave.
Chose to be happy,
not to complain.
Live life with passion –
I know what it’s worth,
cause life doesn’t start
Till you get down to earth!
Amy Lloyd 8/08
Joy
Julie Cadwallader-Staub
Who could need more proof than honey –
How the bees with such skill and purpose
enter flower after flower
sing their way home
to create and cap the new honey
just to get through the flowerless winter
And how the bear with intention and cunning
raids the hive
shovels pawful after pawful into his happy mouth
bats away indignant bees
stumbles off in a stupor of satiation and stickiness
And how we humans can’t resist its viscosity
its taste of clover and wind
its metaphorical power:
We yearn for a land of milk and honey
we call our loved ones “honey”
all because bees just do, over and over
again, what they were made to do
Oh, who could need more proof than honey
to know that our world
was meant to be
and
was meant to be
sweet?
Joy by Julie Cadwallader-Staub (www.juliecspoetry.com) used by permission, all rights reserved.
life: acoustic & amplified 