Setting The Table

Visions of days past loom like distant memories
When I would gather them

Songs of passion, dreams of a different shore – a way for us to be – that seemed within reach

A heart that beat with affect and hope, open and seeking – dashed – yet like the phoenix,
Rising from the ashes
Flying again into your heart.

The gravity of ashes now speak: “lay here”
Rebirth – a distant belief
Voices of sunrise silenced
Visions of setting the last table become the heart’s
company

Visions. Songs. Dreams. Heart.
Has the Song found it’s end? Is the table to be
set?

The Vision still has its time. Here . . . A spark.

Coming Home

I haven’t written in a very long time, largely due to the fact that I’ve been in the midst of a very stressful process of selling my house and buying another.  In the midst of this drawn out upheaval I have felt very much off center.  In the midst of the mess of boxes and dust all around me my spirit had difficulty finding any sense of equilibrium.  Now that things are pretty much in place in the new house, I feel my spirit coming home.

Isn’t life like that sometimes?  The ultimate goal of spirit, faith, a path, is to be at center even in the midst of the mess.  I wish I could say that I was there, but I am not.  Ask any of those who were around me in this process and they will tell you the disjointed, different person I was. Yet, again, isn’t that so often the case with us?  That being said, life gets messy sometimes and our hearts seek home – a place of equilibrium – good “fung shui.”

No matter how disjointed I felt in the midst of this process though, I knew that at the end of the road home awaited.  I suppose that’s a good thing to remember in the midst of the messes that can befall us in life.  In the midst of it, no matter how disjointed we feel – know that in the end, home awaits.

Even as my spirit settles into this new physical space that I will call home, I am aware that on this side of life we live in a mess, disjointed, our hearts seeking equilibrium.  “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee” said St. Augustine.  Our hearts so fear the end of this life.  Yet, I wonder if, when being born into the next life we will discover the ultimate place of equilibrium and our hearts will finally feel like we’ve come home?  That’s our hope.  And the good news is this, we can begin to taste eternal equilibrium now.

Thy Kingdom Come

I have, of late, been extremely focused on and busy about the details of selling a house, buying a house, moving and all that entails. 

 

Today, I, along with a large community of people, lay to rest a bright, compassionate young man who was killed in an auto accident. 

 

In the presence of such an event I am again reminded that the building of our “kingdoms” here don’t matter a great deal.  What matters is the building of hearts, the building up of people.  This is true wealth, the creation of true beauty – and it is only this that gives joy and meaning to life. 

 

I realize that this is one of those seasons of transition in life; yet it begs me to ask the question:  How much time do I give to the care of “things?”  Conversely, how much time do I give to the care of people? 

 

Thy kingdom come.

Like a Sack o’ Bones

Ezekiel 37: 1-14

We continue today with the image of the possibility of new life emanating from absolute death.  “My people have been saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.’”

We are cut off.

When I stop doing what I need to do to keep growing, I cut myself off from the Energy which gives me Life.  When I begin listening to the negative thoughts in my mind, when I allow myself to be affected by another’s negative behavior, when I stop watching my thoughts, when I get stuck in thinking of the past or the future, when I stop taking care of the body temple, when I stop reading, praying and meditating, I cut myself off from a flow of Energy which gives me life and hope.

Again, we have this marvelous imagery from Ezekiel of a field of dry bones.  The author even comments: “how dry these bones were!”  We’re talking absolutely dead. Completely lifeless.  In the words of Sophia Betrillo from The Golden Girls (God how gay am I??), “picture it! . . .”  Picture yourself walking all alone in a field of dry bones and skulls as far as the eye can see.  The picture would seem pretty bleak indeed.

Sometimes life is like that.  You find out your partner cheated on you.  Out of the blue your girlfriend, whom you’re absolutely in love with, breaks up with you.  Someone you dearly love gets sick.  A friend betrays you.  Your husband who’s been sober for years, starts drinking again.  . . . And the list goes on.  Even though life can get like that sometimes, we are assured that this IS NOT THE END!  New life will come!

“I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life. . . . I will open your graves and have you rise from them!”

We always have hope.  We always have hope.

Chill Out! Start Your “Final Vacation” Now.

An elderly woman that I know and have visited in the Nursing Home at various times passed away yesterday. She simply willed herself to die. She was tired and she was finished here. So, she literally laid down in bed and willed herself to die. A couple of weeks later, she was dead.

She and I would have various conversations about life, love, religion, God and the Universe. Although not well educated, she read a lot and would often muse about where we all came from, why we’re here and the awesome reality of time and space. Was there anything beyond this world of form in which we find ourselves? As I look at the incredible expanse of time and space, the millions of years of just our planet’s evolution, the expansiveness of just our galaxy, not to mention the millions of other galaxies that exist, I am left speechless and in absolute AWE of Whatever got this going!

My friend has begun her final and eternal “vacation” as it were. What came to me this morning as I was reflecting was that all of us are going to take this final vacation someday. Remember what it feels like when you’re looking forward to a time of vacation? Suddenly life’s issues, work, etc don’t feel as heavy a burden because you know that soon you’re going to have some time to kick back and relax. The relaxation, at least in our minds, begins before the vacation actually happens.

What struck me this morning is this: If we’re all going to take this final “vacation,” why don’t we start chilling out right now? Why get so bent out of shape about pressing concerns, issues, work or whatever? Why not take the edge off by realizing that we’re about to take a “vacation,” an eternal time of kicking back!? When I know that I’ve got something coming up that is going to relax me and relieve some stress, it makes helps me chill out about current concerns.

Why not chill out and start looking forward to your “vacation” now? The Christ put it this way: “The Kingdom is in your midst” – now! We don’t have to wait.