Within the Circles of Our Lives

 Within the circles of our lives we dance the circles of the years, 

the circles of the seasons within the circles of the years,

the cycles of the moon within the circles of the seasons,

the circles of our reasons within the cycles of the moon.//

Again, again we come and go, changed, changing.

Hands join, unjoin in love and fear, grief and joy. 

The circles turn, each giving into each, into all.//

Only music keeps us here, each by all the others held.

In the hold of hands and eyes, we turn in pairs,

that joining, joining each to all again.

And then we turn aside, alone, out of the sunlight,

gone into the darker circles of return.

by Wendell Berry 

Words from Jeff

THE GIFT OF YOUR SENSITIVITY

You are awake.
 You are sensitive.
 You feel everything.

Sometimes you wish you didn't feel everything.
 But you do.

The depths of loneliness.
 The heights of joy.
 Sometimes it feels like it's too much.
 Sometimes you dream of numbing yourself.

It's a lot, living this close to life, this close to death, this close to yourself.

But then, you realise, numbing the pain would also numb the joy.

And you refuse to be numb like the others.

So you walk, your heart exposed all day, every day, every damn day.
 Great sorrows ploughing through.
 Bliss cascading like a waterfall.
 Unable to switch it off.
 Unable to run.
 (Where would you run to?
 There is only you.)

You, and your raw, broken open heart.
 You, and the thrill and dread of being alive for another day.
 Another whole day!
 Sensitive to the tiniest little flicker or flutter of experience.
 To the breeze on your face.
 The cracked glass in the old window.
 The spider web in the half light.
 The contraction and expansion of each sacred breath.

A morning shifting into afternoon.
 A secret or promise kept or not.
 A plan crumbling into shiny Unknowing.

You will take this intensity, yes.
 You will commit to this living, yes.
 You will walk this path, of course.
 Even though you will doubt it, often.
 There is no other path for you.

You feel everything.
 You are sensitive.
 You are awake.

And our noisy world needs you,
 now more then ever.

Aaaaah...

IN HIS SANITY

St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

If all the tenderness in this world could reflect

from my eyes, would you accept

that love?

If all

the forgiveness

the heavens have known could be offered

from one

face,

would you accept that

divine pardon?

In His sublime sanity--

every moment God offers

that to us:

anything that might

comfort.

If you want a life you love, 

love the life you have.

 
 Receive the moment as a gift.  

 Bow to what is given, 

embrace what is coming.

 

And you will be wealthier 

than all the creatures
 on this sacred Earth.

 

- Jeff Foster

Those Kids!

Feel your feelings, yes, but don't indulge them. They are wild children, longing for an empathic parent. Don't push them away, but don't cling to them either. Nor do you need to act on them. Like rain, they will fall and stop falling. Like thunder, they will explode, falling again into silence. Like waves in the ocean, they will surge then rest.

Give feelings space. Breathe into them. Let them tingle and burn. They will pass soon enough.  Trust this. And trust that sometimes you cannot trust! Simply feel your feet on the ground. Feel your belly rise and fall. Know your home is here, in presence. And know that something within you is fearless.

Let the children play, yes, but don't let them control you. Let them dance, but don't get lost. Let them be, but know who you are.

Feelings can be strong, yes. But your greatest power lies in your courage. And you ARE courageous, no matter what they say, for you are constructed out of stardust... :)

Father, forgive them...

From Mary Oliver's poem,

 "A Summer Day":

 

 "Doesn't every thing die at last,

and too soon?  

Tell me,

what is it you plan to do

with your

 one

wild and precious

 life."

January 2, 2016

WHEW!

I have spent the better part of this morning retrieving

my BlogSpot account information

AND

doing it on this itty-bitty-laptop!

It seems my old computer is infected with a nasty virus

(as have been so many friends and family...

must be catching!)

I am waiting for my spanking new, 21st century computer

to be selected by the

GEEK

and eventually installed, with all of my old "stuff" back on and where

I can resume life as I knew it.

Who would have thought I would ever be this dependent on a

MACHINE!

I hate to admit it, but I am.

I guess I can look at it another way

 and be shocked and amazed that I am that

COMPUTER-SAVVY.

Anyway, it is a new year--

WHEW!

&

HOORAY!

 

And the Travelogue continues...

M.E.

 

Pictures to follow; they're on my old computer!

I guess I am learning abstinence.

: )