gift

by

Energy

So many

have responded-

Energy

is striking

a  reflection

that

I share

in hopes

of re-energizing

and taking care

for each who read.

Sometimes

when I am

tired,

I realize

this weariness

is the result

of having given

my energy

to others,

usually

lovingly.

Then,

what

I need

is to give

myself

quiet to restore.

There are different

ways

to recover from

fatigue.

For me,

it isn’t always

a matter

of needing

more sleep,

but having

enough time

to read,

to think,

to meditate,

or just sit

in a comfortable chair.

Watching

the patterns of

leaves

blowing in the wind,

listening to

chattering birds,

feeling

a cool breeze

or the warmth

of the sun-

all have restorative

power.

For me,

physically,

emotionally,

overstimulated,

at a crossroads,

I have

learned to welcome

the

tiredness

as

a protective gift.

How do you

feel

in this moment,

today?

by

Healing

Trying to

restore

our emotional health

can be

exhausting,

particularly if we have

neglected it.

No wonder

people sometimes

choose

to numb their pain.

It takes courage and energy

to dig deep

to help

emotional wounds heal.

We can

heal

only if we

know

what the wounds are.

Our bodies hold

emotional hurts,

sometimes for years.

There are many ways

to help

the healing process-

prayer,

meditation,

yoga,

reiki,

 therapy,

asking for forgiveness

and forgiving-

that strengthen

the body

along

with

the mind

and the soul.

Are you ready

to begin,

slowly,

with awareness.?

Living Lines

by

Bucket List

Do you have a

Bucket List?

Or do people

tell you what

is on theirs?

Places to go,

people to meet,

relationships

with family and friends.

For me,

my real answer is

I no longer

make a plan

for myself,

but respond to

the things and people

in my life

that are

part of

a plan

I cannot see.

That response

is not

passive

but

is more about

life

unfolding,

some

sense of

adventure,

being open

to surprise

and

a longing

for fullness.

Some describe

longing

as the underlying

desire

for the divine.

There are times

when I am aware

of a longing;

other times,

not.

I do begin

most days

with a prayer

to take me

where

You want me to be,

Meet who You

want me to see,

Say what You

want me to say

Help me stay out of

Your way.

So,

as I close my eyes

at the end of each day,

I smile,

realizing

that what

was in my bucket

for the day

had

some unexpected

experiences

encounters.

Some might have

been painful

yet

each day

has a spark

of light

for my dreams

to process

into the

longing

for the next day.

by

Milestones

Tomorrow

is

my birthday.

Decades declare milestones.

At certain ages

there can be

the realization

that there are fewer

years ahead

than

already lived.

Mid-life

it is called.

Demographers

and cultural observers

 now offer

more gradations than

young,

middle aged

and old.

Early middle age,

middle age

late middle age.

At what point

does your category

become early old age?

Are you in

middle old age

and when

really old age?

For some,

lifespans

extend into the ninth and

even tenth decade.

When Social Security

was made available

at 65,

people weren’t

expected to live

much beyond that.

For some,

there can be

many decades

beyond

that mark.

How to live

these years,

whatever they are called?

Wisdom

offers

the suggestion

to shed

as we age.

Things,

images of ourself,

expectations,

hopes,

dreams,

disappointments.

Shedding

seems to say

that

growth stops

at some point.

Adults

we are.

Approaching

this birthday,

I am beginning

to understand

that letting go

is a better perspective

of what no longer

serves me.

Traveling

lighter,

I

hope

I

am

Growing

Into

Older

Age.

Learning,

growing.

Shifting gears,

slows me

to follow

the Inner Light

to savor

each moment,

each friend,

loved one

and stranger.

Sometimes the

Light

offers

a clear path.

Sometimes

intuition

brings

me on the path

I cannot

see

in this moment.

by

Savoring

Savor

Senses

Sensual!

Our brains

receive information

from our senses

seeing

hearing

tasting

touching

smelling.

Our brains are particularly

sensitive

and respond

to direct

experience.

This is our

basic

form of  learning.

Virtual

learning

and habit

dull

our senses.

Our brains respond

to new

input.

Routine

Repetition

dulls

our senses.

We are not enjoying

and experiencing

the sensuality.

When we have

fixed ideas

of things

-we miss

so much.

When we encounter them

we want to experience

with new eyes,

real awareness.

Take a strawberry.

Enjoy the redness,

the fresh

green leaf and stem.

Smell the berry.

Feel its shape.

Small

or gigantic?

Skirted with chocolate?

Think of the

earth the plant

grew in.

Feel the rain

needed to

bring

that sweetness.

Feel your saliva

wetting

your mouth

to receive

this beautiful

single strawberry.

by

Synchroncity and Opportunity

I see

synchronicity

In

the shocking murder of

nine people

in a Bible class

at the AME Emmanuel Church

in Atlanta

by a young white supremacist ,

many retailers no longer

selling Confederate flags,

the decision in Georgia

and other states

to remove the

Confederate flag

from public display.

President Obama’s

moving eulogy,

words moving into

singing

Amazing Grace with

all joining in.

Conjecture, publicity

To Kill a Mockingbird

 Harper Lee’s beloved book and movie

told by young Scout

seeing her father Atticus

through a child’s eyes.

The much anticipated

release of the

old, discovered

first book

taking place twenty years later.

Go Set A Watchman,

portraying Atticus

in a segregated  town,

challenged by a

climate, calling, demanding

equal rights for blacks and white.

An Off Broadway show

Hamilton

moves to Broadway

full of hip hop

historical characters played by

multi-racial cast.

Another play

Amazing Grace 

opens on

Broadway,

its writer, leaving his job

compelled to write this story

and produce it.

Publisher of Between the World and Me

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

moves up release date

so we can read

his words written to

his fifteen year old son.

Growing up in Baltimore,

he feels the same

fear for his son

as week by week

there are

unnecessary murders

by police of young black men

barely adults.

Whatever events, words, books, musicals

might stir you,

move me,

the convergence

is an opportunity.

In the words of Amazing Grace

that forgiveness and redemption

are possible

regardless of sins committed,

“Amazing grace!

How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost,

but now am found,

Was blind,

but now I see.”

What can I see now

that I did not see before?

What do you see

that you did not see before?

“‘Twas grace that taught

my heart to fear,

And grace my fears

reliev’d;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed!”

by

White

Only four weeks

since

white covered

every surface

with snow,

ice

mountains called

snow farms

to remove

snow from the streets.

Hint by hint

of color,

shoots of green first,

snow-bells

tiny crocus.

Yellow daffodils,

forsythia,

fairy pink little

tree blossoms.

Now tulips

in bright array.

Two weeks ago,

as I opened my front door,

a hint of flutter.

Oh yes,

my first petite

white butterfly.

In my guide book

described as ghost butterflies,

for me

always

Spirits.

Then in the park,

sitting with my sister,

the second Spirit white.

A week later,

at the beach,

the third.

Today,

waiting for a traffic light to change,

another.

Each time

I pause.

These white

simply colored

butterflies

appear earlier than

the fancy dressed

colored Monarchs.

During Spring and Summer

there are many more.

Later in the Fall,

the last hurrahs,

 on a warm day.

Always, I pause.

Each,

like a prayer of presence

for me.

I am not startled

by their brilliance.

They calm me

into a

prayerful thanks.

by

My Mediation Healing Ritual

With my hands on my head,

I say;” Lord heal my mind so that I may think clearly.”

With my hands on my eyes,

“Lord heal my eyes,

so that I may see others with compassion and myself as well.”

With my hands on my ears,

“Lord let me hear and truly listen.”

With my hands on my throat,

“Lord, may I speak the truth and know when to be quiet.”

With hands on heart,

“Lord may I be more open to your love,

nurture others and myself as well.”

Holding lower abdomen,

“Lord let me go of what I don’t need anymore.

Let it be released by the power of your love so I may reflect Your Light

more clearly.”

It helps me to breathe and pause at each line of this visualization prayer. I don’t change the words, but I find that I do change the way I say them or turn them over in my mind. Sometimes I linger longer at one part or another, taking an extra breath or two. I do so in compassion for myself, as I quietly release what I don’t need to hold anymore.

by

Ritual

Ritual

Tradition

Out of the darkness of winter

Primal celebration

Holy Week

Passover

Easter

Some continue to come together

Honor

those who have gone before.

Some are too busy

or don’t believe rituals and traditions

are important anymore,

at least to them.

Have we lost a gift of community

leaving rituals and traditions

in the past?

Can we find a way to be grateful for the gifts

of life, light, new growth?

Seeing beauty

All around

Can bring dissonance

into harmony.

Seeing beauty, being grateful

for a bird’s song,

green shoots poking through layers,

for the smile of another.

Love is the ritual we can

all share.