born

(its been a while
something's birthing here)

born of peace
born of forever
born of time
born here today
born of fire
born of light
in the midst of deepest night
born of bread
born of Spirit.

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owls

so
my little one picked up my copy of
"owls and other fantasies"
by mary oliver
last night

started at
wild geese
and kept going

had to go to my room
its quieter there
but asked me to come and read with her

explained to me how
when she reads poetry
she has to read slow
so it can wash into her

read parts out loud to me
especially liked
that the owls eat the heads off the little critters
"for the owl has an insatiable craving for the taste of brains"
and commented
that she gets that
and maybe that's why she likes owls so much
and she never thought how that could all be misunderstood
that it might sound like she likes the grossness of that line
when really she hears them seeking knowledge
and that resonates for her

so i read "wild geese" out loud to her
told her its my favorite
she replied
"i don't know which is my favorite yet
i haven't read them all
slow mom slow
i read them slow
weren't you listening?"

when my little one grows up she wants to be
a reporter
and/or a veterinarian
and/or a paleontologist
and now she says
she wants to be a falconer who specializes in owls
she says
"i have a new dream
i want to own an owl
fifth grade ain't over yet"
(fifth grade has meant getting an oboe, oboe lessons, a goat, and now playing hamlet in school play for shakespeare in the park.............exactly what she would have scripted)

i love that kid

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command to love

the command to love our neighbors
as ourselves
includes
the implicit command to
receive love from others

this isn't a self-interested love
but
a sustaining love
a love that transcends time and place
and space
and
and
and

this is a love of inclusion
without condition
a love that we need to learn to receive
in fact
we yearn to receive this love

and i believe
we yearn for the true mutuality of this love
in its highest and fullest form
which
always
always
always
includes god
swirling and dancing
in among and beyond

*image found at: http://www.insuremeblog.com/agent/blogimages/holding%20hands.jpg

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its been months.......

love for me is
reaching
and longing
and yearning
and covenanting
and partnering
and wondering
and looking
and asking
and admiring
and hoping
and liking
and talking
and listening
and silence
and touching
and being touched
and touching back
and supporting
and dreaming
and dreaming with
and dreaming for
and sharing
and caressing
and praying
and God within
and looking forward to
and snuggling with
and being better together, than apart

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You are covered in prayer

I think poetry is the language of mystics, and also the language of conversation and dialogue. Poetry is putting to words that which cannot be put into words, but in a way that is open and remains undefined, instead of closed and fixed. Poetry is molding, but it is also moldable. It is fluidity within fluidity. It is shaped while it shapes. The poet understands the poverty and barrenness of words, and yet believes in the abundance and possibilities of them as well.

Perhaps, if poetry is the language of mystics, then prayer is the work of mystics. I think, sometimes, the temptation for people is to view prayer as the escape from the world, as the way out. But prayer requires that we be intimately engaged with the world: with war, with pain, with hunger, with loneliness, with sickness, with dying, with laughter, with friendship, with dancing, with flowers, with living....... Likewise, in prayer, we are intimately engaged with God, who is intimately engaged with the world.

People ask, "Does prayer really work", but I think the answer is that prayer is work. Prayer is work that is fluid within the fluidity; that envisions what has yet to be; that hopes beyond the moment yet is grounded mindfully in the present; that recognizes God in all that is good and strives for all that is good to be all that is.

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