What a wonderful day I’ve had A quiet morning waking when I chose to a still quiet room and world Brunch made by Wendy eggs, bacon, bread coffee and tea the quiet clean up time with Wendy and I moving softly around each other in her small kitchen afternoon with other friends listening to music in a kind of bar a kind of blues, gospel, zydeco, rock, whatever mix back to Wendy’s for a quiet time then with Wendy back to Sharon and Tom’s for their delicious dinner wine & salad roast & horseradish mashed potatoes & gravy green beans & creamed corn fruit & merinque poetry on the table an hour more of relaxed conversation then back to Wendy’s A perfect day with special friends in a special place under it all lies the children and adults of Gaza The uncertain frightened people of Israel I would write prayers for peace if I felt worthy
Month: October 2023
Rage, Prayer, Peace, Love
Rage fills me. Rage fills me with unease. Rage fills me. With unease, I try to pray. Rage fills me with unease. I try to pray for peace. Rage fills me. With unease, I try to pray. For peace, not rage, brings Love.
Two Ducks
Two ducks we saw them Male and female We saw them Unperturbed By the suddenly snowy river Around them Snow white Ripples whisper Waters shimmer We walk past They take no notice Nonetheless We give them thanks With our appreciation
i am me and more
It began, for me, with the reading Irina chose for our morning contemplative prayer group. Well, that is, the contemplative prayer group that happens for me in the morning, but as it is a Zoom group, it happens at many different times for the participants. Which is kind of wondrous in its own right, isn’t it? Our centering prayer group happens at the same time, and simultaneously at many different times, for the participants.
So what was this reading that so impacted me? Well, Irina told us it was from a book by Thomas Keating, and she told us the name of the book, and she promised to email the quote and reference to us – which is good because all other specifics are lost to me.
But this i do remember – the reading made me think that maybe if we did not capitalize the word “I”, maybe if it were always lower case, like me and you and us, like mine and yours and ours – maybe then we would find it easier to sometimes give up our preferences, our angers, our grievances and accept i as having no more – or less – importance than you. (And so i now have even more appreciation for the poetry of e.e. cummings.)
At that point i realized that i had just felt my own way around to the second great commandment, which is, we are told, like unto the first, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31).
And it seems to me that once i give up that isolated, over-powering “I”, then it is so much easier to know myself to be so much more than an isolated “I.” Lower case i is marvelously part, with you, of an uppercase Unity.
Namaste
Elusive Peace
If you want peace in the world, be peace. Thich Nhat Hanh
I am become her Hamas She, my Israel How is it that we are family To all others Yet enemies to each other Launching blame like bombs Though it seem pure hubris Blind, self-centered hubris To abrogate to our petty fight The horror of this new old war Yet this is the only way I can begin to grasp The terrifying reality of grievances That barricade love And murder forgiveness I cannot judge the world harshly Without knowing myself Part of the holocausts we create.
Envy
Does summer begrudge spring its newness? Does autumn envy summer its brightness? Does winter covet autumn’s crispness? Does spring resent winter’s cold? Ah, no - Nature is not that foolish. Summer knows There is no brightness without new birth. Autumn knows There is no crispness with bright growth. Winter knows There is no cold without crisp color. Spring knows There is no rebirth without cold death. Ah, yes Only humans are so foolish To begrudge the other To envy the different To covet the younger To resent the strange To divide life into seasons And worth into measures
Living: A Nested Meditation
I live now. I live now. But I worry about the past and the future. I live now, But I worry. About the past and the future, I can do nothing. I live now. But I worry. About the past and the future, I can do nothing, So I seek deep divine stillness to drown worry. I live now. But I worry about the past and the future. I can do nothing, So I seek deep divine stillness to drown worry, And bless my life with the eternal now.
Mother of Sorrows
Generations call me Mother of Sorrows My son was betrayed, Tortured - murdered On a criminal’s cross Generations call me Blessed among women Believing God grew In my womb Generations come to me Hail Mary, Holy Mary Pray for us Now And at the hour of my death Abraham Ishmael Isaac Moses Mohammed Solomon Jesus Jesus My son My bright-eyed boy Born in Bethlehem A toddler in Egypt Growing strong in Nazareth Sneaking off to stay in Jerusalem Baptized by his cousin (who was holy but a little weird) In the Jordan River Making friends among the fisherman Along the Sea of Galilee Beloved of Mary Magdalene She with those far-seeing eyes My son’s feet knew the dirt Of only one place on earth My son’s native love belonged To only one place on earth My son’s mustard seed Was planted In only one place on earth My son, my husband, and I Knew only one place on earth As home Truly, I am Mother of Sorrows Weeping As battles rage As slaughter abounds As injustice breeds injustice As horrors breed horrors In the land we love My son, my husband and I
Raindrops: A Nested Meditation
We are raindrops. We are raindrops. God sends us falling on Her vast creation. We are raindrops, God sends us. Falling on His vast creation, we are Divine tempest and gentle shower. We are raindrops. God sends us. Falling on Her vast creation, we are Divine tempest and gentle shower. God uses our smallness.
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