“The very attention that gazes into this vastness is itself this vastness, luminous depth gazing into luminous depth. You are the vastness into which you gaze” M. Laird The ache in the soul is God calling from the deep. And we must call back. We can never give up seeking the one we love, the […]
Luminous Depths, Indwelling Presence Read More »
Begin with crisp-water bite of sun-green cells. Swallowing the light captured in time and space Then raise up a libation, and let the golden fields of grain flow into me. The Sun-grown grain distilled down and absorbed into my cells. It takes teeth to tear at the flesh of things, to get to the root,
The author of the Cloud of Unknowing defines humility as true self knowledge. But goes on to make a distinction between perfect and imperfect humility. To to see clearly our wounds, faults, and imperfections is a key step toward humility, but it’s imperfect humility. The author states: ” perfect humility is meeting the unfathomable love
What is it about a dogs face that makes us laugh and loosen up? Is it our own minds that project human personalities into them? The other day I was taking a walk, and lost in thought, and here comes a fat little dog trying to keep up with it master. Its Tongue hanging out,
Dogs, Laughter, and Present Moment Read More »
We live in a culture of distraction and over stimulation, where it becomes all to easy to just flee from our afflictive emotions but unfortunately this prolongs and deepens the agony by opening up further the wound of alienation from ourselves and others. The path to healing is through the door of presence. Being present to ourselves, to others, and to God. In his book,
I have this image of faith as the words on a page, and doubt as the unwritten space around the words. Both live together in contrast, and the emptiness of doubt allows the word to stand out. I no longer fear doubts. They do not trouble me as they did in my younger years. How
Earthen Waves in rolls and folds Crusty stalks and hedge rows Trees naked, pencil sketched On the canvas sky Grasses golden and glowing In the angled and thin winter light Tweed-coated field wrap me up In a warm breasted embrace The winter silence of the earth is alive in me. A fresh presence crunches under boot.
Brother Oak and Sister Pine I walk through a winter scape of hard and soft woods. The Oaks and Elms are defending their place and holding space. Barren, angular forms, tense and tight-celled inside. The old ones thick with wisdom, trunks gnarled with knots, covering past wounds. Their presence commands respect, and deep down they go, into the ground of truth. Deciduous, discursive, defining the forest space. And by their
Fatherhood and Mother Nature Read More »
“Light exists. But light can not be seen on its own. It can only be seen when there is something else to reflect it, as if light needs a place to rest amid our lives. God is similar. We can’t see Him, we only see where he rests amidst us” J. S. Behrens OCSO
Up at 4AM for Vigils. Still night. Cold stone church. Vaulted ceiling with columns arched in a ribbed pattern like the hull of a great ship. The white hooded men stand at their stations, waiting for the bell to prayer. They are cloaked in solitude, a white army entrenched together in the watch of the night. Their chant is soft
