Human beings are made of water.
we were not designed
to hold ourselves
together,
rather run freely
like oceans,
like rivers.
Beau Taplin, Run Freely
Tag: Be fully present
Off to work
The place God calls you to
is the place where your deep gladness
and the world’s deep hunger meet
Frederick Buechner, born 1926, American writer, preacher, and theologian
There are no wrong seasons.
It didn’t behave
like anything you had
ever imagined. The wind
tore at the trees, the rain
fell for days slant and hard…
I watched
the trees bow and their leaves fall
and crawl back into the earth.
As though, that was that…
But listen now to what happened
to the actual trees;
toward the end of that summer they
pushed new leaves from their stubbed limbs.
It was the wrong season, yes,
but they couldn’t stop. They
looked like telephone poles and didn’t
care. And after the leaves came
blossoms.
For some things
there are no wrong seasons.
Which is what I dream of for me.
Mary Oliver, Hurricane (excerpts)
Today
I do not want to step so quickly over a beautiful line on God’s Palm
As I move through the earth’s
Marketplace
Today.
Something has happened
To my understanding of existence
That now makes my heart always full of wonder
And kindness.
I do not want to step so quickly
Over this sacred place on God’s body
That is right beneath your
Own foot
As I dance with
Precious life
Today.
Today from Daniel Ladinsky, The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master
Three greatest treasures
I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures:
Simple in actions and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, 67, Stephen Mitchell trans,
As is
My daughter, Gina, and I like to shop in consignment stores for vintage clothing. There are great finds in such shops, a silk paisley scarf, a retro leather jacket, sequined heels. Many of the clothes have a small stain, a missing button or a slight tear in the fabric. I noticed in one store, all the clothes carried a cardboard tag with the price and the disclaimer “As Is”
I like these tags. I think we should hang them on ourselves and each other like Christmas tree ornaments. What a beautiful gift to accept ourselves, others and our circumstances “As Is”, with all the beauty, imperfections and challenges that make up this very human life of ours.
Frank Ostaseski, The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully
Mindfulbalance 