Goods
It’s the immemorial feelings
I like the best: hunger, thirst,
their satisfaction; work-weariness,
earned rest; the falling again
from loneliness to love;
the green growth the mind takes
from the pastures in March;
The gayety in the stride
of a good team of Belgian mares
that seems to shudder from me
through all my ancestry.
by Wendell Berry
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
I walked a mile to school today
In the snow
Uphill both ways
Not my favorite type of snow,
But still beautiful and exciting.
Wind gusts blew me around
Making me fight to keep my ground
Snow spitting in my face
Felt like salt or sand
I pulled my hat down and squinted
As I walked I sang the old hymn
The prayer of my heart
Open my eyes
That I may see
Glimpses of truth you have for me
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free
Silently now I wait for Thee
Ready my God
Thy will to see
Open my eyes
Illumine me
Savior divine
When I reached my school,
Branford River,
I grew silent and allowed my soul
To open to the beauty
the wonder
it continued as I walked my return path
returning
I felt again the birds flying above me yesterday
Free falling
Catching the wind
So graceful
and sure
and I realized my fear
the fear I had learned
Fear of falling
All my life
Taught I was clumsy
that I would crash if I tried
That I couldn’t fly
Couldn’t dance
my problem identified as
Not very graceful
What if that was not true?
What if?
I picture myself jumping from an airplane
Soaring like those birds
I float and fly
smoothly and gracefully in my head
then I dance
Gliding across the floor
with the man I love
and am surprised
I enjoy this feeling
of my grace
my freedom
School has been amazing today
You just never know
What you will learn in
God’s life class
3/7/13
In the space between breaths.
The silence between two notes.
It can be gone –
A month’s worth of words
erased with a fingertip.
Gone for
forever.
A 12, 30 even 63 year marriage over
With 4 simple words spoken:
I want a divorce.
A home with all its possessions
destroyed in a matter of minutes
in the fury of nature –
Fire,
storm,
or selfishness
Life!
so fragile,
with no guarantees
of longevity
or comfort,
begs to be lived
now.
In the middle of it all,
the song must be sung
or forever silenced.
Living a lifetime a day
is the only way
to count
for the sake of goodness.
This moment
is the only moment that counts.
The thing eternal
are these moments
that don’t wait.
Take a deep, deep breath
of the spirit that is giving it all.
Breathe your thank you’s
in and out.
Slowly.
Wholly.
Holy.
Allow this new air change the world,
to light up the inner rooms of darkness,
for the only gift that matters,
the only thing that remains.
All else can be destroyed.
When nothing else remains,
what is this eternal gift?
Love, and love alone
is why we exist.
AL 12/22/12
Discerning God’s Presence
The Gospels are filled with examples of God’s presence in the word. Personally, I am always touched by the story of Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth. There he read from Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
for he has anointed me
to bring good news to the afflicted.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to
captives, sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord.
(Luke 4:18-19)
After having read these words, Jesus said, “This text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening.” Suddenly, it becomes clear that the afflicted, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed are not people somewhere outside of the synagogue who, someday, will be liberated; they are the people who are listening. And it is in the listening that God becomes present and heals.
The Word of God is not a word to apply in our daily lives at some later date; it is a word to heal us through, and in, our listening here and now.
The questions therefore are: How does God come to me as I listen to the word? Where do I discern the healing hand of God touching me through the word? How are my sadness, my grief, and my mourning being transformed at this very moment? Do I sense the fire of God’s love purifying my heart and giving me new life? These questions lead me to the sacrament of the word, the sacred place of God’s real presence.
Henri Nouwen
Excerpt from Henri Nouwen’s With Burning Hearts: A Meditation on the Eucharistic Life
http://www.henrinouwen.org/
I would like to have engraved inside every wedding band,
“Be kind to one another.”
This is the Golden Rule of marriage and
the secret of making love last through the years.
– Randolph Ray
But the fruit of the Spirit is
Love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
Maritta Terrell
Thoughts are also posted at:
http://thoughtsaday.blogspot.com/
Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, “Prove that you are a good person.” Another voice says, “You’d better be ashamed of yourself.” There also is a voice that says, “Nobody really cares about you,” and one that says, “Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.” But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, “You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you.” That’s the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen.
That’s what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us “my Beloved.”
Henri Nouwen
For while all things were in quiet silence and the night was in the midst of her course…
– wisdom of Solomon 18:14-15
When all things lay in the midst of silence, then leapt there down into me from on high, from the royal throne, a secret word. – unknown
I will sit in silence and harken to what God speaks within me, said the prophet.
I am heavy
Stepping with sand-bag feet
Slow
Hello life
In this dark day
I look for beauty
It’s always there
I wonder if I would have jumped
or just gone back to die
If I had really known how hard it would be
year after year
on and on
with no relief
If I had known this day would be waiting for me
Do I really believe it will ever get better?
No answer comes
I move away from the question
I made my choice –
it was the harder one
I go curl up in fetal position
In the Legacy Garden
On the round plaque with Wendell Berry’s words of understanding
I part the out thrusting branches
And come in beneath the blessed and the blessing trees. 
Though I am silent
There is singing around me.
Though I am dark
There is vision around me.
Though I am heavy
There is flight around me.
– Wendell Berry
I lay on the words
feel them
seeping in to my body
connecting me
comforting me
Life continues to flow
There is goodness right here in the dark
I can acknowledge it
I look up at the roof of the gondola
branches of painted ever-green summer leaves
Who cares if someone sees me?
P.S. there ought to be a raven here somewhere
AL 12/3/12
Wherever I am is wherever I am meant to be, whatever I am doing is whatever I am meant to be doing and whatever everyone else is doing is exactly what they are meant to be doing – this is contentment. If you do want to change where you are, or what you are doing, the first thing is to be content with wherever you are and whatever you are doing right now! Paradoxically that’s what attracts opportunities and invitations to be somewhere else! Why? Because you are a living magnet, and contentment is one of your most attractive qualities. And the law of attraction says that according to your dominant thoughts so you will attract the people and circumstances into your life. Being content right now attracts the best possible future.
– unknown
Take a closer look at what movies, TV, news, books and music you consume and how they affect you. Look at how the people closer to you too such as friends and family affect your thoughts.
Then take small steps to change things. Take action to over time reduce or cut out the most negative sources as best you can and replace that void in your life with more time with the positive influences.
– Henrik
http://premium.positivityblog.com
Don’t pray to escape trouble.
Don’t pray to be more comfortable in your emotions.
Pray to do the will of God in every situation.
Nothing else is worth praying for.
-Samuel M. Shoemaker
help me, help me, help me…
life: acoustic & amplified 
