Winter Poem

Categories: Beauty · Encouragement · Healing & RestorationTags: · · · · · · · · · ·

There,mother tree’swinter branches,her bare desolationin brisk air. She, a reminderof strengthin hard times, neitherafraid or ashamedof her raw nature. Her branches aren’t coiled around her trunk;they remain opento let death fly awaywith ease. As the last dry leaf shivers,she allows the wind to takelast year’s resolve. Soon enough,a bird comes to restin her unfurled arms,a feathered heartbeatgrasping at stark vulnerability. She reminds mewhat I need to hear this day:unadorned beautyis needed in the world.New life is around the corner. I am not alone. ONLINE BOOK CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT! Beautiful Women: From the very comfort of your own home, you are invited…

Learning Flexibility from the Unadorned

Categories: Beauty · Creative PracticeTags: · · · · · · · · · · 2 Comments

A while back, I read a short meditation by Henri Nouwen which shared about the virtue of flexibility in the image of reeds. Reeds have the ability to bend amid their windy surroundings. In contrast, a strong, firm tree trunk is unyielding to high winds often causing a tree to become uprooted when a storm emerges. Probably because I struggle with flexibility, this image has stayed with me challenging my pliancy. As life would have it, I regularly pass a field of reeds on my daily walks. Following is a poem on this very idea: Reeds— their honey-colored welcome lost…

Brilliant Blessings, One Blazing World

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He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Exodus 3:2(b)-5 The desire is deep, isn’t it? For God to grab hold of us, to shine a burning…

Lay Down Your Weapon and Go Hug a Tree

Categories: Beauty · Creative Practice · Healing & RestorationTags: · · · · · · · · · · · 6 Comments

Listen friends, today, when you’re tempted to place your armor on, to throw on your mask, to pick up your weapon, I urge you to pause. (right here.) Good. Now, open your door. Take a step into the wild beyond, toward the untamed world that lies just past the ordinary threshold of your home. Find a tree that calls to you. The one with crooked branches, or a quick climb up. Find the one with speckled leaves or a skinny trunk. Consider this beauty. It’s for you. Who are you, who am I but a speck of dust when I…