If you read these words

I am a leaf blowing in the wind and
I am the wind, playing with the leaf.
Where does the wind begin?
What is its source?
You cannot say ‘here it is’ or
‘over there’.
So it is true with what I call me
a boundless being with
no beginning and no end.
My so-called life as precious and
meaningful as the wind.

I am the song that set
the turning earth in motion.
You will never find my source or
the silence
from which the song originated
except within the song itself
hearing deeply
the spaces between the notes.

I am the heartbeat of all hearts
the rhythm that sustains and
contains all life.
No life is separate from
this consistent sound
this unending sound.

I am a drop of water that knows
she is the vast ocean,
stretching beyond
vision or sight.
Do not look for the droplet
seek only the ocean.

Seek my face in the
blooming of the flower
the fading petals and
the nurturing compost.
Hear my voice in the
chirruping of the crickets and
the call of the birds
one to another.
Seek my face in the fruit
the generous trees yield forth.

If you read these words
read them, hear them, receive them
as your words.
These words are not mine.
I have not devised or created them.
I am only the scribe
who sets them down on paper
the conduit
who hears the voice of the cosmos and
responds to its call.
I have no knowledge to call mine
all is received as a gift from the cosmos and duly passed on.
I am only the scribe.

I am a leaf blowing in the wind.

© 13 Jul 17

Our journey of life as a map

What does the journey of your life
look like as a map?
Gentle, meandering curves and softly undulating hills?
Roman straight lines heading in a determinedly particular direction?
Many ups and downs, steep inclines and descents not of your choosing?
What of the dead-ends, the no entries, the sharp U-turns and missed turnings?

Where are the resting places, the breathing spaces, the overnight stops?

What of the forks in the road,
when it is not clear which direction to head?
How many wrong turns and heading in the opposite direction are there?
How many circuitous paths that
take time and energy but ultimately lead nowhere?

What does the journey of your life
look like as a map?
What of the intersections,
the 3- and 4-lane highways
when we journeyed together?
Did we foresee, could we foresee
the blind bends, the hidden dips and hairpin turns?
What of the times we ended up
on a different road from that
which was planned?
How many roads ran parallel to ours,
seemingly heading in the same direction
yet never quite connecting?

The journey of my life as a map
is a jumble of seemingly random roads and paths
which fortuitously connected with yours
and continued as a wonderful adventure
once we interconnected
no longer minding where the road took us,
but enjoying the scenery
step by step
along the way.

© 14 Jul 17
(27th wedding anniversary)

Joy and love and honouring

In the deepest silence of the heart
I heard you call my name.
I felt your presence
I knew it to be mine.
As familiar as my own heartbeat
a sound of joy and love and honouring.

Your voice, your words
answered my unrecognised need,
immediately familiar and comfortable.
I let go of any longing.
Your ease and gentleness
drew out of my experiences
simultaneously new and known.
Experiences of joy and love and honouring.

Awareness called my name
reminded me of a world of truth
beyond my immediate sense of
cognition or perception,
yet familiar as my own heartbeat.
A world of joy and love and honouring.

© 5 Jul 17