New Sight

What new sight are you opening me to God?

Is it to see beyond the external trappings of a person
to the beauty that is buried deep with in?

Is it to see the blessing that is meant by the blunt
"I like you Chaplain."

Is it to see you God in places unexpected
as you open my eyes to your creative possibility
that infuses all of creation.

All of this and more is what I hope for,
is what I would like.

Interwoven

I invite you to pause for a moment and take some time for some contemplative play.

Start by letting this image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space.  Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.

Consider these questions:

What do you see?
What colors stand out to you? Why?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?

I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.

AWAKE

Awake,
Slow stretches - a grumbling of body and spirit
As the alarm calls me to awareness that morning has come.

Dress, prepare for the day.

Then my favorite time
Soul time - a reminder
that my best days are not started fast.
But instead at a slow meander
Taking time to breath in your energizing breath Holy Spirit.

Taking time to hear your words Christ,
spoken to me through scripture
and favorite Theologians.

Taking time to connect with you God
and sit on the deck 
cool air chilling my arms
and the birds singing my spirit awake.

I hear the geese honk overhead
and I am reminded of the
Wild, Moving Possibility of the day
as I lean into allowing the Holy Spirit to
Guide my awakening into the day.

Gift of Flow

We call it play or practice or movement.
We call it my time, our time.
But what we call it is not as important
as the fact that we gather to do it.

To be present to each other,
even though we may be a world apart.
To connect our individual worlds and lives
together through this mystery we call flow.

Come play with me and in our fun,
May we find the connection we crave.

Come practice with me,
For together in our practice we can get better
at our connection to love, peace and each other.

Come move with me,
Move away:
       from isolation
       from fear
       from anxiety
       from stress
And move with me into a place where we can all belong.

Come discover with me the gifts
that flowing together can provide.

The invitation is open.

Greens and Blues

I invite you to pause for a moment and take some time for some contemplative play.

Start by letting this image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space.  Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.

Consider these questions:

What do you see?
What colors stand out to you? Why?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?

I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.

Coming Back to Myself

I lost myself to the busy,
I caved under the press of to do's and should do's.


I found myself listening to the din of the noise of life.
I forgot to find space.
I forgot that silence was the music of my soul.

Until the Spirit moved and gifted me with space,
And in this space I felt the wind reminding me
That the Holy Spirit is my breath of life.

I felt the light of sun and moon reminding me
It is Christ's light that shines on my belovedness.

I heard in the silence God's voice saying,
Welcome back to yourself.
Welcome back to connectedness.

Whispers of Holy Breath

I invite you to pause for a moment and take some time for some contemplative play with todays image, as an extra bonus this one comes with sound too.

Start by finding a quiet spot and letting the sound that accompanies this image be all that you hear. Then take some time and let the image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space.  Letting your breath and this video be all that you attend to right now.

Consider these questions:

What do you see?
What do you hear?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?

I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.

15 Minutes Late

It was supposed to be a quick check in visit, 
But I found myself sitting to stay a while.
I was 15 minutes late to the meeting,
But was right on time for the work of the Spirit.

I was just going to stop and say hi,
But I found myself walking alongside as they went to that test.
I was 15 minutes late to the meeting,
But right on time for the Holy journey.

I said absolutely nothing,
But the conversation went on for an hour.
I was 15 minutes late to the meeting,
But right on time to give all the time that really mattered. 

We chatted about nothing related to the hospitalization,
But discussed everything that really mattered.
I was 15 minutes late to the meeting,
But right on time to hear Holy words.

I was 15 minutes late to the meeting
And that was all it took for them to see Christ in me.

Flow

Gossamer strands weaving in, out and around.
Full of mystery but yet so simple.
Not static, but moving, flowing,
Connecting one to another.

It's there waiting patiently for you.
Waiting to offer up it's gifts.
Gifts of:
                       Peace
                       Possibility
                       Creativity
                       Healing
                       Connection

Dive into the flow.
Experience it's gifts.
It's waiting  - no judgement
Just come, find the flow's gift for you.

Overgrown?

I invite you to pause for a moment and take some time for some contemplative play with this image that is one I see daily when I walk my labyrinth.  I used to see this as an ugly space until I considered it more with my imagination.  I invite you to do the same.

Start by letting the image fill your mind as you focus on your breath and letting yourself slow down into this time and this space.  Letting your breath and this picture be all that you attend to right now.

Consider these questions:

What do you see?
What colors stand out to you?
What does your imagination do with this picture?
What words come to mind?
What favorite quotes from your favorite spiritual literature come to mind?

I invite you to join in conversation with me in the comments below what has come of your contemplative play time today.

A Lament for Loss of Connectedness

When did we loose our connection to each other?
When did we stop truly seeing each other?
When did we forget that our collective success as a human race is dependent on our connectedness?

When did it become ok to pass by suffering and say thank God it's not me?
When did it become ok to turn a blind eye to the person in crisis because it's not my business?
When did it become ok to isolate ourselves so completely that we forget we all are connected?

My heart cries out these questions tonight as I listen to the latest news.
Yes I see acts of heroism lifted up, lines of people to give blood,
Yes I see connectedness in this time and space

BUT

Why does it take an act of such violence to bring us together?
                      To remind us of our connectedness.
Why can't we seem to live connectedly on a daily basis?
Not just with those we are comfortable with or when it is convenient for us,
But with all who walk this home we call earth:
                       Even if it is not comfortable or convenient.

If we were to live connectedly on daily basis - would that end the violence?
Would that help us to once again begin to thrive and not just survive?
Is it possible - I hope so.

Writing Again

When I wrote my farewell post here in April of 2017 I honestly thought I would not ever come back to blogging.  And in a since I am not.  I still feel pretty confident that my time of regular, narrative posts reflecting on life is closed.  However, my time of writing contemplative poetry and contemplating life and the world through the lens of my very amateur photography is not over.  In creating space in my life and figuring out how to authentically embrace my contemplative, mystic self I find there are still words to write and pictures to share.

So I am returning to this space of Chaplainhood to share the words my soul still has and the images it sees.  My Posts will be far from regular in the normal sense of the word.  Rather you will find me here as the spirit moves sharing what ever it is that the spirit is moving me to share.

So if you are joining me again on the journey, welcome back.  If you have just found me here and are new to this space - welcome.  I'm glad you are all here.

Gather At The Table

Gather at the table,
The table that is open to all.
All who believe,
All who are trying to believe,
All who are deciding to believe.

It is at the table that the youngest learn to serve.
It is here that they learn the words:
                "This is Christ's body broken for you"
                "This is Christ's blood poured out for you."

Today it is at the table that our future speaks these words:
         -To me
         -To us

These words spoken out of youth-filled belief have a different ring:
      A call back to the simplicity of belief.
      A call back to the power of a simple meal to feed the soul.
      Reminding me of Jesus' words: "Let the little children come to me."

I sink deeply into my own response:
                  THANKS BE TO GOD.

Photo used with permission of children's parents.