Many years ago In an abbey's silent space These were words I wrote. Once again I need, What I wrote those years ago We are all enough. In this morning gray, I pray for compassion still Open to it all.
We are All Enough
New Year
I Believe
Yesterday I read the words “I Believe” and the song kept coming to mind. Perry Como? Elvis? Frankie Laine? I’m delighted to find out it was actually commissioned in 1952 by Jane Froman and sung on her TV show. All of what I discovered, including Pierino “Perry” Como’s story as child of Italian immigrants, to be told in another blog.
Today Daily Word from Unity is Pray for Others. I am praying for a dear friend of mine who is very ill with pneumonia.
Pray for others now Seeing them so filled with light Spirit’s love infused. Grateful for ER’s, But it’s home she longed to be Now she’s in her place. Seeing how our breath Is the key to life each day With each morning’s dawn. Sleep, she must, and dream, Turning nightmares into clues Of her gift on earth. Fever, fear but faith, Knowing she is meant for more Sharing gifts of love.
Composers: Al Stillman, Ervin M Drake,
Irwin Graham, Jimmy Shirl,
Commissioned by Jane Froman,
sung by Frankie Laine,1953.
Thank you, God of All, For this Being we all love, Healing her each day. Once again her laugh, Echoes through our hearts and minds, As she sees her path. Grateful, all, are we, For the faith we all do share, In the pow’r of Love.
Jan. 4, 2022: Genius Among Us
It was January 20, 2021, that many of us were introduced to the young wordsmith and change-maker, Amanda Gorman.
My heart is deeply moved to recognize the powerful light of a young woman who seems to already understand how love and compassion can heal us. As with all who seem to channel wisdom beyond their ken, Amanda is a leader for all of us, elders and youth.
I am not on twitter, so I will not be witnessing the constant depth, breadth and evolution of her manifest old soul. But in times of national anguish and personal seeking, I am relieved and joyful to know that Amanda Gorman brings us words of solace, brilliance, and leadership.
In this challenging new year of 2022, she brings hope with a new poem for a new day. Thank you, Amanda.
“New Day’s Lyric” May this be the day We come together. Mourning, we come to mend, Withered, we come to weather, Torn, we come to tend, Battered, we come to better. Tethered by this year of yearning, We are learning That though we weren’t ready for this, We have been readied by it. We steadily vow that no matter How we are weighed down, We must always pave a way forward. This hope is our door, our portal. Even if we never get back to normal, Someday we can venture beyond it, To leave the known and take the first steps. So let us not return to what was normal, But reach toward what is next. What was cursed, we will cure. What was plagued, we will prove pure. Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree, Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee, Where we weren’t aware, we’re now awake; Those moments we missed Are now these moments we make, The moments we meet, And our hearts, once all together beaten, Now all together beat. Come, look up with kindness yet, For even solace can be sourced from sorrow. We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday, But to take on tomorrow. We heed this old spirit, In a new day’s lyric, In our hearts, we hear it: For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne. Be bold, sang Time this year, Be bold, sang Time, For when you honor yesterday, Tomorrow ye will find. Know what we’ve fought Need not be forgot nor for none. It defines us, binds us as one, Come over, join this day just begun. For wherever we come together, We will forever overcome.
Jan. 2, 2022: Seeking Clarity
Tumbling back to earth,
Clarity is not so near,
But it is assured.
As the skies of night,
Wisdom comes from dark and light,
Testing patience, yes.
Now the sun is gone,
Hidden in the mists of morn,
But I know it’s there.
Like the dim lit mirror.
I can only know in part,
But I will know more.
Clarity calls now,
In these days of winter cold,
Trusting in the Sun.
It is in the Stillness
I am home once more.
It is still again,
Quiet in the morning fresh,
I can see the light.
Weeks of busy gone,
Now the stillness opens me,
Heart within can soar.
In these days of age,
Light comes more than darkness does,
Blessings of these times.
Soon I’ll write much more,
Planted now in fertile soil,
By the sea as well.
I am grateful here,
For the beauty, for my friends,
Future not a thing.
In the stillness green,
Nature right outside my door,
I can leave or stay.
Now my things are here,
Mirror and table, chairs and lamps,
Settle in, be still.
Open to the world,
But leave negative alone,
Find the spots of joy.
Claim your own light, too,
All the joy amidst despair,
Good is always there.
Now my mind takes hold,
Can’t be fiddling, must get up,
Things to do, to find!
Heart has reasons too,
Reasons which the mind can’t know,
Stronger reasons, yes.
Still the silence goes,
And I stand to greet the day,
What will this day bring?!
How, Then, Shall I Live?
It has been a trip,
Driving over all the land,
Little car so safe.
Out to Wilmington,
I had set out soon to move,
There were other plans.
Sickness in the lungs,
Fever, coughing, hearing gone,
Staying in hotel.
Then the guidance came,
Near my fam’ly north or south,
On the West Coast go.
Logic was not there,
Just the knowing, all was clear,
Go to Sister Cher.
Neither nun nor blood,
We grew up as family,
Gathered ‘round in love.
With her tragic loss,
Father gone, but kids and wife
Had to carry on.
Church fam’ly were we,
Swaveleys, Curtins, Terbeeks, Links,
Then together all.
Cheri was my bud,
Like our cousins all K’s were,
Spiritually still now.
So I bid adieu,
To my friends, Soul Sister too,
On our East Coast side.
Off I drove, fatigued,
Starting just with two brief hours,
Then to four or five.
Farms spread out each side,
Lakes and rivers, gorgeous land,
Our United States.
I did not watch news,
Did not want to know divides,
Loving each new state.
This divide shall pass,
Like all things, both good and bad,
So I felt great joy.
Now I start afresh,
In the Northwest beauty here,
Thankful for the love.
Everything Works Out
Could I really say,
“Ev’rything works out for me”?
I can simply try.
Here this sunny morn,
On the screen Mont St. Michel
Makes me smile in joy.
Downstairs in hotel,
Real hot breakfast, not “go bag,”
Things are looking up!
Yesterday I mourned,
Expectations turned around,
Now I just give thanks.
When I trust the gods,
All good things return to me,
If I just can see.
Where it goes from here?
Not to worry, just to trust,
All works well for me.
Sitting quietly,
In the dark or in the light,
Shows me what I need.
Gratitude for sure,
From it springs the rest of life,
Knowing life’s a gift.
Problem seemed so hard,
Then I let go, did step one,
That was all it took.
Broke stuff or my life,
Steps are all the same it’s clear,
Let go and let God.
Now I must needs go,
To the day which lies ahead,
Filled with joy and light.
Can I really say,
“Ev’rything works out for me”?
Yes, I can and will.
Monticello, This Day
Slowing ever down,
Not for age but for the joy
Being present brings.
Monticello near,
Years of fam’lies living lives,
I could never know.
Sally Hemmings here,
Once in Paris, coming back,
Fam’ly bonds too dear.
Freedom was right there,
But no one knows what her heart
Knew and why she stayed.
Last time I was there,
with my parents, long ago,
I knew nothing then.
Beauty of green hills,
Majesty of columns white,
Presidential world.
Now I know the truth,
Never simple, always more,
We are so complex.
Black or white is false,
In us each are seeds of all,
Bringing us to now.
Problems I can’t solve,
Hurts and cruelty, sapping life,
Hunted say “No more!”
On this day of sun,
Nearby hills so green and lush,
I can only speak.
Write my truth today,
Honor dark and light within,
As they blend outside.
Patience, Compassion
Here this Monday morn,
Patience I am called to have,
With this friend, now crone.
Like the rest of us,
She has lost some of her mind,
Compassion key now.
Ah, the veils of youth,
Hiding all the secrets tight,
That old age reveals.
Wisdom comes with years,
Bringing wrinkles, sagging, yes,
But new views as well.
Thank you, God of all,
For the beauty of this earth,
Kindness can win out.
Not the God of Men,
But a force some know so well,
Loving without end.
“What a fool!” she says,
“Look at all the lies and dark,
Killing, hating, all.”
I still look to light,
And the dawn of each new day,
Bringing hope again.
Yes, the darkness is,
Seeming sometimes all there is,
But that is not truth.
Out beyond the clouds,
Moves the sun beyond our view,
Bringing light one day.
In youth and in age,
One can think that hope is lost,
But it’s still out here.
Hidden by a fear,
Gone from view with some deep loss,
But it’s still out here.
Here this Monday morn,
Patience I remember now,
Bringing hope with joy.
Focused on New Story
I commit to telling the new story, despite a strong need to keep retelling the old.
I am so grateful my spirit has caught up to my body again today. I have been able to let go of doubt, worry, confusion. I embrace gratitude, helping others, seeing even my own light.
As I searched for inspiring quotes by women this morning, I met a new woman by her work, Mary Anne Radmacher. I came to find her by way of another unknown woman, Beth Buelow of The Introvert Entrepreneur.
What a gift to discover these women, writers, artists, introverts. They are each living out their own dreams and adventures, famous to some, unknown to most. I begin to listen to Beth Buelow’s final podcast from a series from 2010-2018, entitled “Endings and Beginnings.” I love Beth’s sentences about her personal evolution. She echoes my own knowing that we all are creative, creating not only expressions of art but our lives themselves.
Even as I age and evolve myself, I may express that Self in different ways. But I am always the same Self, just pivoting in different ways.
This is where having compassion for ourselves is so necessary as well as our compassion for others. No one can see inside. No one knows our true selves. By allowing ourselves to pivot and go in new directions or begin new things we discover more of who we have always been.
Light and Dark: Riding the Waves 