HEARTH
blog
Elm Tree
Complaint is only possible while living in the suburbs of God. Hafiz As I read this poem by Hafiz, I found myself tempted to complain about complaining. It sometimes seems easier to share a story about a mishap or mistreatment, or an unexpected event. Fortunately...
Joyful Connectedness
Spring overall. But inside us there's another unity. Behind each eye here, one glowing weather. Every forest branch moves differently in the breeze, but as they sway they connect at the roots. Rumi Cece looked up at me with wide blue eyes. She seemed to be...
Deer
Keep walking, though there is no place to get to. Don’t try to see through the distances. That’s not for human beings. Move within, but don’t move in the way fear makes you move. Rumi There was a loud snap outside our front door. It was early morning and the...
Springtime Fields
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn’t make any sense. Rumi As the season changes to...
Squirrel
If you want money more than anything, you’ll be bought and sold. If you have a greed for food, you’ll be a loaf of bread. This is a subtle truth: whatever you love, you are. Rumi Wildlife often grazes on a hillside outside our kitchen window. Yesterday, as I...
Water
Complaint is only possible while living in the suburbs of God. Hafiz I tugged my raincoat over a couple layers of sweaters and pulled on my boots. What had started as a few sprinkles was now in the third day of colder temperatures and heavy rain. The local...
Daffodil
Dear God, please reveal to us your sublime beauty that is everywhere, everywhere, everywhere so that we will never again feel frightened. St. Francis of Assisi There was a loud siren booming throughout the neighborhood. I was inside putting clothes in the...
Hummingbird
True love gives us beauty, freshness, solidity, freedom, and peace. True love includes a feeling of deep joy that we are alive. Thich Nhat Hanh As I turned the corner toward my front door, a streak of color darted before my eyes. A soft hum penetrated the air,...
Dawn
Night is passing, sun comes by dawn, Awaken now, beauty’s essence, heart of love. Hakim Omar Khyyám As the New Year began, I reflected on the number of people I know who had lost someone special recently. Funerals and services have been held for daughters,...
A Leaf
For everything there is a season, a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die… BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES 3:1-2 As I opened the front door to go on an early morning walk, a leaf floated onto the doorstep. It was heart-shaped and golden...
The Mountain
The birds have vanished down the sky. Now the last cloud drains away. We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains. Li Po A low cloud hid the mountain peak. There was only a hint of a rise in the land peeking out under the billowy, grey...
