Today I pause to consider
the voice I give
what in and around is happening
More aware of my choice
in the meanings I voice
to myself and those near to me
And at the end of the day
a word of thanks I will pray
for moments I voiced what’s life-giving
Making music together since 1969,
Gib and I joined the muse again last night
encouraging others to sing along
How do we know when we’re aging well?
When we step out of our habitual ways
and let in the songs and stories that give us life
Memorise is the preferred spelling
among some
for learning by heart
Sounds true that what
I want to be and do
must rise from that core of my being
So from all I see and hear today,
what words and deeds will I help rise
as true reflections of who I am?
I am listening on this feast day
for the melody of resistance
in modest Mary’s magnificent song
Her “let it be,” her “do less and be more”
a counterpoint to the muzak and rhetoric
that weigh on us today
Listening deeply, come what may
Her song of peace echoes on
and never goes away
The force of aging is like the tide going out
opening to us the fulness of life
forever coming from within
Shoes Off
I took my shoes off
That I like Moses might stand on Holy ground
Pondering softly the call of I Am
I but an atom In a single grain of sand
I and my “failures”
secure in God’s hand
Contributing to the evolution of humankind
Part in the transformation of what is
To still more glorious in God’s good time
In earlier working years
I had a plaque on my desk that read:
“God be in my mind and in my learning”
Now in later life that same saying
is in my heart, and learning
is a hundred times more beautiful!
After a walk with a friend on a Fort Eby trail,
I was reminded of a little book by Thich Nhat Hanh
on how to walk, practicing awareness of Love’s energy that is present in each and every step
Today economic concerns, especially for the most vulnerable, weigh heavily on my heart. I pray the simplicity of a walking meditation will give me hope and help me daily do my part for the common good
While never a stunt horse rider
like Liberty Cunningham as a teen,
I did ride a train to Seattle just out of high school
And for this boy from a small town in Iowa
that proved to be the ride to significance
that would forever change my life
Countless choices made when I was young are now thankfully forgotten, some still teach a lesson, but
that choice to rise up, throw my future to the wind-
Priceless!
“The Child’s Toys and the Old Man’s Reasons
Are the fruits of Two seasons”
-William Blake
