life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “strength”

the power of broken hearts

 

  

The beginning is such a good place to be. There is much in store. But there is acknowledgment of what came before the beginning to mark this moment as a beginning. And in that place I was there, too. But let’s start where beginning is—the union of Me and you, the awakening of your heart, bit by bit, to Me.

 

I awaken you further, now.

 

These first starts are for you to appreciate the moments that came before them—to see where I was, what I was doing, before you recognized my presence. Let me take you back to where I was when you couldn’t see Me there. Perhaps the definitions of beginning will need to be rewritten.

 

I always begin again in you. 

 

I am the discovery of the beginning—all hope and life in you. I will give you a fresh start this day. I give you new breath, new eyes, new adventures to set out on with Me. But I want to start this beginning by going back to where I’ve always been with you.

 

I have always been with you, even when you couldn’t see it. I want to show you now.

🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠🌠

Loop @ Gather Ministries 

http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=278b78041b94c30f445911b53&id=ae645e9e7d&e=b9eb1d83ef

 

 

 

photo sources found @ www.pinterest.com/al513

 

 

 

tell it


 

 

 

IMG_7587_2

IMG_7450_2

 

Photo sources at www.pinterest.com/al513

memories

Though deep indifference should drowse

The sluggish life beneath my brows,
And all the external things I see
Grow snow-showers in the street to me,
Yet inmost in my stormy sense
Thy looks shall be an influence.
Though other loves may come and go
And long years sever us below,
Shall the thin ice that grows above
Freeze the deep centre-well of love?
No, still below light amours, thou
Shalt rule me as thou rul’st me now.
Year following year shall only set
Fresh gems upon thy coronet;
And time, grown lover, shall delight
To beautify thee in my sight;
And thou shalt ever rule in me
Crowned with the light of memory.
 ________________________________________________

Though Deep Indifference Should Browse by Robert Louis Stephenson

Not Over You by Gavin McGraw

http://youtu.be/kBdarl_Bzbw

 

 

Photo sources at

www.pinterest.com/al513

revealing softness

















The Wind and The Sun

an Aesop Fable

       The wind and the sun argued one day over which one was the stronger. Spotting a man man traveling on the road, they sported a challenge to see which one could remove the coat from the man’s back the quickest.
    The wind began. He blew strong gusts of air, so strong that the man could barely walk against them. But the man clutched his coat tight against him. The wind blew harder and longer, and the harder the wind blew, the tighter the man held his coat against him. The wind blew until he was exhausted, but he could not remove the coat from the man’s back.
     It was now the sun’s turn. He gently sent his beams upon the traveler. The sun did very little, but quietly shone upon his head and back until the man became so warm that he took off his coat and headed for the nearest shade tree.

____________________________________

Gentle persuasion is stronger than force.


Stay soft – for God’s strength is always revealed through our weaknesses and scars. 


Find source photots at www.pinterst.com/al513

preaching to myself today…

 From the place where we are right/flowers will never grow/in the spring./The place where we are right/is hard and trampled/like a yard./But doubts and loves/dig up the world/like a mole, a plough./And a whisper will be heard in the place/where the ruined/house once stood. 

 Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai



On this day of your life  
 I believe God wants you to know…    

…that the best argument you can make 
is no argument
at all.


Do not argue with life, or with anyone in life. Life
presents itself perfectly in every moment, and every
person believes his or her point of view to be valid
and ‘right.’
 
Arguing with any of this is pointless, and a terrific
waste of energy. Simply create what you choose next.

Love,  Your Friend …



Commentary on Community:

Conversations

Every time we gather becomes a model of the future we want to create.

Authentic conversations create a future distinct from the past.

Conversations create possibility.

Show up. Be present.

The more words you use, the less likely you are to be authentic. 

Inversions

These two matter to me at the moment:

The future creates the present. 

The listener creates the speaker.

Taking (emotional) risks creates safety

Changing the Future

The past is only a lesson about the future to be used in the present.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Restorative Justice

This thought is taking from “Community” and “Sitting in the Fire.”

Restorative justice is communal justice (as opposed to individual retribution)

Restorative justice adds a measure of balance to the community.

 

Based on the community conversation practices of Peter Block

http://www.asmallgroup.net

Captured by Eric Hansen – Hansen Resource Development


To be truly alive

is to be fully, freely, lovingly present

in this moment,
drinking in the grace of God
and pouring myself out in love
for God and for all beings.


What do I gain

by abandoning this
to be right,
to get my way,
to be comfortable,
to manage how people think of me?


When I win the argument,

protect my beliefs, defend myself,
when I judge another 
and put them in their place,
when I separate myself from those
who suffer pain or injustice,
when I buy another trinket 
for my heart’s little room
and close the door,
what have I lost?


I am not a body or a reputation

but a soul.
God of love,
open my door.
Let life spill in
and spill out. 
Let me suffer and love,

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

Change is the end result of all true learning.

    – Leo Buscaglia 

photo source tracks found at





It was a very good day…the bravest are the tenderest…it takes courage to bear Light in the world…Beauty, Donna Knutson

2015/01/img_6323.jpg
Go and open the door.
Maybe outside there’s
a tree, or a wood,
a garden,
or a magic city.

Go and open the door.
Maybe a dog’s rummaging.
Maybe you’ll see a face,
or an eye,
or the picture
of a picture.

Go and open the door.
If there’s a fog
it will clear.

Go and open the door.
Even if there’s only
the darkness ticking,
even if there’s only
the hollow wind,
even if
nothing
is there,
go and open the door.

At least
there’ll be
a draught.

The Door by Miroslav Holub, from Poems Before & After, translated from the original Czech by Ian Milner et al. (Bloodaxe Books, 2006). Text as posted on Scottish Poetry Library.
http://www.ayearofbeinghere.com

2015/01/img_6217.jpg

2015/01/img_6325.jpg

2015/01/img_6327.jpg

2015/01/img_6328.jpg

2015/01/img_6334.jpg

2015/01/img_6332.jpg

2015/01/img_6335.jpg

2015/01/img_6216.jpg

2015/01/img_6211.jpg
Sunrise @ Branford Point, CT this fine chilly morning! My challenge was to get out of the nice, warm covers! SO worth it!! xo

homecoming

2015/01/img_6111.jpg
But tired of land, we open ourselves to oceans, tired of time
we give back all that we’ve taken, tired of ourselves
we open ourselves to ourselves at last, sensing the waves
and great abyss of the sea beyond,
the ocean stretching on sand
and the long view on the still sea that leads to another life.

We go out as the fish go out, leaving the taste
of the rivers we know, joining the dark, invisible weight
of what we would become, the calm sense of movement
seeing the others forming our shoals, and the scales
on our sides filling the depth with trembling stars.

In that depth, return’s instinctual, the moon harvests
the long years and binds them in sheaves in a circle,
and we return too, for home from the sea we come to the river,
turning the oceans face toward land
opening to silence
as the salmon opens to the sweet water in a saltless stream…

Time Left Alone by David Whyte

2015/01/img_6095.jpg

2015/01/img_5926.jpg

2015/01/img_6095-0.jpg
I spend this day
Moving into
ruthless
radical
Trust
I confess
I weep
I let go
I praise
I let go more
I move into new areas
Of hope and faith
I walk to the shore
Every rock glitters
I talk to my favorite seagull
‘Lefty’
I can tell it’s him
When he lets his empty leg down
Speckles I know immediately
From those red-brown dots on his cheeks
They move over as I get too close –
I am not a seagull after all –
They must keep some distance
Not trusting humans
as they do their creator.
I cant resist glittering rocks
Colorful shells
The sparkling glory of God
Is everywhere
How do I not remember all this glitter?
I am aware of the world
Connection
Trusting all of life
As I live trust
into this new moment
of life
of spring
Signs are everywhere
Flowers and buds
appearing before my very eyes
All of nature trusting.
Only humans, like me,
Struggle to trust.
Only I
think I can handle my own life
Think I am separate
Think I must do it all on my own
Earn my worth
Prove my value
By hiding who I really am
Like I have done anything to put myself here
Like I can pretend that I don’t need
or that Im not enough
that I can be someone Im not –
what arrogance have I been taught?
What Foolishness have I held on to?
What silliness and damning lies have I refused to let go of?
I fall on my knees
in humble thankfulness –
I am not my own
I am THE beloved
Lord, I trust
Open my eyes
Renovate my heart
Help my untrusting
Bring me home

ACL 3/15/13

2015/01/img_4456-0.jpg

the right thing

2015/01/img_5954.jpg
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
2015/01/img_5959.jpg
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

2015/01/img_5964.jpg

renewal

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/ed9/21335673/files/2014/12/img_4903.jpg

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/ed9/21335673/files/2014/12/img_4887.jpg

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/ed9/21335673/files/2014/12/img_4886.jpg

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/ed9/21335673/files/2014/12/img_4817.jpg

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/ed9/21335673/files/2014/12/img_4760.jpg

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/ed9/21335673/files/2014/12/img_4712.jpg

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/ed9/21335673/files/2014/12/img_3530.jpg

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/ed9/21335673/files/2014/12/img_4906.jpg

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/ed9/21335673/files/2014/12/img_4896.jpg
Photos without words by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/ed9/21335673/files/2014/12/img_4888.jpg
Cross and picture by Vinnie @ Branford Point. Vinnie’s cross and deer (picture above) made as a memorial to his mother, Alice, who passed over Dec 5, 2014
How quietly I
begin again

from this moment
looking at the
clock, I start over

so much time has
passed, and is equaled
by whatever
split-second is present

from this
moment this moment
is the first

Be Still in Haste by Wendell Berry

in the fullness of time

IMG_3979.JPG

IMG_4452.JPG

IMG_4427.JPG
The authority of God made all creation. But it was the affection of God that made all His children.
You are made of the dust of this earth, and you are made of the happiness of heaven. You are flesh and you are spirit, and you are of two worlds longing for the home of forever and Him.
No matter your story before, this is your beginning now: you were formed by Love…for love.
– Ann Voskamp

IMG_3667.PNG

IMG_4401.JPG

Post Navigation