from Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.

At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.

We listen carefully as it gathers strength.

We hear a sweetness.

The word is Peace.

It is loud now. It is louder.

Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.

It is what we have hungered for.

Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.

A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.

Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.
We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.

We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.

We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.

Peace.

[Maya Angelou]

from Pastor Brooke Willson:

In this season of Advent,
I encourage you to step out back some cold and starlit night,
Go visit your barn -
the place where you keep the forgotten debris of your life.
Far away from the lights, and the presents,
and the endless rounds of parties;
out in the silence of the barn,
among the simple creature of the earth
who can hear heavenly music when we can't.

You just might here a baby cry.

If the cry sounds familiar,
it may be because it's the child in you,
asking to be fed,
to be cuddled,
to be rocked to sleep,
to be sung to by the One who loves you more than life.

If you hear the baby cry,
then Advent will have happened
despite all the forces arrayed against it.
We worship a persistent and sneaky God,
who shows up despite our best efforts to keep him out.
Thank God.

Dag Hammarskjold:

For all that has been
THANKS


For all that will be
YES

Happiness Runs

Little pebble upon the sand
Now you're lying here in my hand,
How many years have you been here ?

Little human upon the sand
From where I'm lying here in your hand,
You to me are but a passing breeze.

The sun will always shine where you stand
Depending in which land
You may find yourself.
Now you have my blessing, go your way.

Happiness runs in a circular motion
Thought is like a little boat upon the sea.
Everybody is a part of everything anyway,
You can have everything if you let yourself be.

Happiness runs, happiness runs.
Happiness runs, happiness runs.
Happiness runs, happiness runs.
Happiness runs, happiness runs.

[from Donovan's song "Happiness Runs"]

Stage Four: Chemo and Radiation

In all the streams we have fly-fished chest-high
we have felt the water's apathy in being
a stream as if it would be just as at-home
in a mountain mist or a glacier or an elephant.
Being seventy-five percent water
you now have that same feeling:
should this stream of a body dry up
you could be just as happy in another place.
But think of all the campfires we have watched,
the last blue flame tussling with the embers
drawign from, say, Polaris, wanting to stay
fire--not light nor heat nor smoke--
as if a heart were beating inside it.
Sitting dizzy in a drizzle of a dream
we always stayed awake, never doused a flame.

[Joseph Caruso]

Ignatian Freewriting

Using stream of consciousness writing, I let my pen and spirit guide me without worrying about forming complete thoughts or sentences. Before starting, I ask God for the light of the Holy Spirit to see through God's eyes and feel with God's heart.

1. Jesus, thank you for loving me through these gifts of today...

2. Jesus, these events/experiences have affected me in a real/significant way today...

3. This is how I have been attentive to you...

4. Jesus, I'm sorry for the following ways that I have not been responsive to you...

5. Jesus, this is how you'd like me to be attentive to you, and to work with you, in the coming day...

Tiny Candle

Tiny candle,
speak to me of the love of God.

That love, that flame
dances upward and outward,
yet is rooted deep within.

Now it warms and tenders,
Now it sears and pains,
but always it is Light.

Light that sometimes burns so
brightly it blinds -
and is called "Darkness."

Yet, when welcomed, it
transforms, impels,
embraces all of life
and everyone.

[Jeanette Schutte, PHJC]

Rainer Maria Rilke:

I would like to beg of you, dear friend, as well as I can, to have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart.

Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language.

Do not now look for the answers.

They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them.

And the point is to live everything.

Live the questions now. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers.

Parker Palmer:

"Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths you embody, what values you represent. Let your heart speak."

Let Your God Love You

Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be silent.
Be still.
Let your God
Look upon you.
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you
With an enormous love,
And only wants
To look upon you
With that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.
Let your God -- Love you.

[Edwina Gateley, VMM]

Life is paradoxical.

I don't know about you, but many times in life I find that if I stop trying so hard to make something happen, it happens. If I spend a little time away from my loved ones, I learn how I can improve those relationships.

I invite you to make some space in your life. Allow a spot for some quiet here, some stillness there. No matter what your religious affiliation or spirituality, we all need that.

I will post an activity, reflection, or prayer from time to time, but if you are interested in a personalized retreat, please email me your request and concern. I can design a short retreat text, retreat-on-CD, or an online retreat for you, as an aid to creating a little space in your life. The only cost I'd request would be if you want a CD mailed to you. That's only a few stamps.

Paradoxically, the fastest way to make a change in your life... is to just be.