Mindless

How does it happen? How do we mute the song sung into our hearts from eternity and plug into a mindless drone? How do we give up the dance to fall into line with shadows in a lifeless trudge?

But some would turn back...
perhaps it's a fresh breeze...
...the call of a bird...
...the laughter of a child...
....the song of iridescent wildflowers
alone in a barren expanse
............or the stillness of silence...
Mindlessness morphs into presence...
that compels us to step out of line...
... and return to the song...
...............to the dance.

Let Us Run Together

"Draw me. Let us run together..."
Song of Solomon 1:4

I've been thinking a lot about relationships lately. A while ago, I realized that I pretty much have the same objective in all my relationships. As a wife, mother, or friend, I basically have the same goal: to come along side the other person to encourage and support them in becoming the person God created them to be as they seek to discover and fulfill their purpose and calling. It sounds lofty and I guess it is, but what else matters? Sometimes it's not at all clear...and yet, there is an intuitive knowing from the Spirit that guides us if we allow ourselves to be drawn. And there is always choice...will they accept the invitation to run together?

Broccoli Tree

This is one of my favorite trees as a child.

What fun
peering into the foliage
exploring every limb and leaf and flower
delighting in the games
shadow and light play
chasing each other along the trunk
flitting across the crown
hiding in the secret places
surrounded by emerald treasure...

Until mother says,
"Stop playing with your food."

Sitting With Trees

I'm working on a new book. I had been working on another book (called My Heart Opens which is mostly formatted and written) but I've set it aside to attend to Sitting With Trees. Trees have been calling to me for a while...I've been on a "tree jag" for about 6 months with my art but it goes back farther than that: I've had a life-long love affair with trees.

As a child, I spent hours playing in the woods, climbing trees, and making tree forts. Later as a graduate student, I took courses in Botany and Plant Ecology and did research on the Oak trees and Acorn Woodpeckers of Oregon. As an adult, I’ve regularly retreated to the woods for silence and prayer.

Only recently have I learned to sit with trees and listen to what they had to teach me. Sitting With Trees is a collection of the images and words that have come from my time sitting with trees. (I'm not sure when Sitting With Trees will be available...it still seems to be developing so I'm not sure of the "due date" for the birth of this new one, however you are getting a preview of some of the art and writing on my blog.)

End of Season

The last of the grapes have been gleaned by the jays. The dangling vine stretches out it's silver leaves to take in the waning light and warmth. Time to gather and pull in. It's the end of the season.

We surrender to the rhythm and wait...the grapevine and I.

Life and Death

I was intrigued by the dead snags on the bluff above the monastery...beautifully polished by the wind and sun. They reminded me of drift wood at the beach only these stood proud and purposeful...still full of life in death. Birds, insects, lizards, and snakes found shelter and substance...desert flowers, fungi, and lichens nestled in the organic debris that collected in the crooks and crevices. In death, it was teeming with life.

I'm reminded of a couple of quotes that I'll pass on...I'm still cogitating on both of them but beginning to see the truth in them.

"Until we see life and death as equal, we live in fear."
Byron Katie
"Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no opposite.
The opposite of death is birth.
Life is eternal."
Eckhart Tolle

Coming to Faith

"The functional definition of faith is accepting reality". (Unknown)

I was confused by this statement when I first heard it 5 or 6 years ago. I could see that it took faith to accept or face reality, but faith being "an acceptance of reality" didn't make sense to me. I actually was a bit resistant to the idea; something about it agitated me. I still can't say that I understand it but but for some reason, the statement now is intriguing and hopeful to me. Perhaps it has to do with coming to a new understanding of faith that makes me feel as though I am coming to faith for the first time.

a free fall
vulnerable yet unafraid
clarity in uncertainty
knowing
all that is needed has been freely given
no longer contending
without resistance, without striving...
open and receptive
embracing this place, this time
all is gift
untethering beliefs
opening to true faith
ultimate, daring trust
sustaining, upholding
all that is...
one with God...
coming to faith for the first time.

Back Home With Me

A certain man had two sons. The younger son said to his father, "Father, give me my portion of the inheritance." So the father divided what he had and gave the son his share. Not long after that, the younger son gathered up his portion and took a journey into a far country. There he wasted what he had with riotous living. After he had spent all he had, bad times hit and he was in great need. The only work he could find was feeding pigs who ate better than he did. No one would help him. Then he came to himself and said, "How many hired servants of my father's have more than enough to eat, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go to my father, and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.'" So, he traveled back home to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, and am no more worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Bring my best robe, and put it on him; put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet: And bring the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry."
Luke 15:11-24
I have come to see that I do the same thing as the prodigal...I'm not sure why, but over and over, I leave home in a similar manner. I leave that place within where I am loved and nurtured and filled, where I am connected to the Source of all goodness and life. But for some reason, I regularly leave this place to travel to a "far country" and end up losing myself in "riotous living"...personally destructive and diminishing. It isn't really living since I lose touch with who I am and become disconnected from the Source of true life. Thankfully, when the hunger hits, I "come to myself" and know what to do: I must return home. And there, back home with me, I am met with compassion and joy...I reconnect to the Source of all that I need and all that I am. The Kingdom of God within is restored...until I wander again to a far country...

Yes, Dear One, do you see that when you look to others for affirmation or attention, you have turned away and abandoned yourself (home) for a far country? With love and compassion, turn back to home and gaze upon the wonder and beauty of your own Being in God's presence.

"Trees Have A Lot to Teach Us"

“We can learn a lot from trees:

they're always grounded

but never stop reaching heavenward.”

~Everett Mámor

Mom's Tree

Life has

slowed and narrowed…

so it seems…

Mom’s tree silhouettes the sky…

here and there…

leaves,

brown and gold,

silently quiver.

Lying in her bed,

resting in her chair,

sitting at her table,

she gazes at her tree,

through the seasons.

I worry…

Is she withdrawing

from life?

Then I wonder…

maybe it’s

the other way around…

Is she embracing life

in a way I have not?

So we sit together

with her tree.

Like A Child

"You need to turn and become like a child in order to enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

To become like a child is about living in the present moment...free of ego, open and receptive and unencumbered by thoughts and worries. A child doesn't live in the past or the future but enters fully into life in the present moment.

When we become like a child in this way...free of ego...living in the present moment...we enter the kingdom of heaven.

Walking Through the Crowd

"All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way." Luke 4:28-30

Here's the key, Dear One. Don't allow the angry destructive thoughts or the desires or intentions of others possess you. Don't resist, don't become defensive or guarded...if they are insistent, let them take you to the brow of the hill...above the pettiness, above the illusions, above thought, above ego...and there, go your way, walking through the crowd.

"Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp." John 10:39

And remember: When angry destructive thoughts come (either through you or others) to seize you, you also can escape their grasp.