While no longer actively religious, I find comfort and wisdom in spiritual reflection. Poems of course delve the human soul. I've included some of each that have been meaningful for me along the way.
Poems and Prayers
January 22, 2017
The title is daunting, but the zest to live fully and with wonder is inspiring:
Poem: When Death Comes, by Mary Oliver
Read at http://amity.nfshost.com/files/deathcomes.pdf
Hear Mary Oliver read at: http://www.ttbook.org/series/death/when-death-comes-mary-oliver
Source: Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems: V1 (Boston: Beacon Press, 1992)
October 11, 2016
[A letter to a mentor, Sr Pauline O'Regan, in New Zealand]
I was reading over the weekend about ‘unlocking meaning in life’. The key elements it seems are 1) belonging; 2) purpose; 3) storytelling; and 4) transcendence or a sense of awe. On storytelling, a professor who studies “narrative identity” found a trend in the stories that people with meaningful lives tell themselves. Their lives are a redemption story (aka findi...
October 9, 2016
At the ending of the day,
in the darkness of the night
I seek an inner assurance of your presence.
My body is still
and my soul is silent
as I listen for the renewing springs of your Spirit
deep within the ground of my being
and in earth’s quietness around me.
Guide me to the wellsprings of health
In the landscape of my soul
and to the hidden reservoirs of strength
in the people and places of my life
that I may be made well this night,
tha...
October 8, 2016
In the gift of this new day
In the gift of this present moment
In the gift of time and eternity intertwined
Let me be thankful
Let me be attentive
Let me be open to what has never happened before
In the gift of this new day
In the gift of this present moment
In the gift of time and eternity intertwined
John Philip Newell, Sounds of the Eternal: A Celtic Psalter (Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 2002)
Copyright © Canterbury Press. Used by perm...
July 31, 2016
This poem calls us to the present; to savouring life.
The Summer Day, by Mary Oliver
...I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass...
Read at: https://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/133.html
Hear Mary Oliver read this wonderful poem at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16CL6bKVbJQ
Source: Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems: V1 (Boston: Beacon Press, 1992)
June 20, 2016
God help us
To rise up from our struggle.
Like a tree rises up from the soil
Our roots reaching down to our trouble,
Our rich, dark dirt of existence.
Finding nourishment deeply
And holding us firmly.
Always connected.
Growing upwards and into the sun.
M. Leunig, The Prayer Tree (Sydney: Dove/Harper Collins, 1998)
Source: http://www.opw.catholic.org.au/prayer-and-reflection/we-pray.html
May 9, 2016
God help us to live slowly:
To move simply:
To look softly:
To allow emptiness:
To let the heart create for us.
M. Leunig, The Prayer Tree (Sydney: Dove/Harper Collins, 1998)
March 11, 2016
Go to the end of the path until you get to the gate.
Go through the gate and head straight out towards the horizon.
Keep going towards the horizon.
Sit down and have a rest every now and again,
But keep on going, just keep on with it.
Keep on going as far as you can.
That’s how you get there.
Source: M Leunig: http://www.leunig.com.au/works/poems
Associated cartoon: https://readingandwalking.wordpress.com/2016/06/03/michael-leunigs-ho...