Reflections on the James…

 

 

 

 

(The James River at the Blue Ridge Parkway)

 

Reflections across the James’ calm waters

on this quiet fall morning,

invite reflection within…

 

 

Beauty multiplied…

 

 

The morning sun . . .

A mist-veiled valley;

Light infused;

beauty multiplied . . .

 

My soul awakens . . .

burdened and clouded;

Light’s saturation;

beauty multiplied . . .

 

Weathered Barrier…

weathered barrier

what do you wish to keep in?

worn – stories untold…

Cades Cove Morning…

Another early morning in Cades Cove

 

Uprooted…

 

 

 

 

What was believed as foundational and life giving, now is overturned, and bare to the elements – uprooted;

Exposed – gasping for the soil believed to give meaning…

What storms of life are to blame for this devastation?

Those of my own choosing?

Can anything good come from this?

Did I root myself in things too shallow to sustain a deeper longing?

Attachment to the temporal?

Trust in my ability to control and hold?

Dysfunction’s deceiving safety and familiarity?

Can anything good come from this?

Maybe…

It’s the living of the now;

It’s the letting go in the now

where the answer will be birthed;

that will determine where the roots of my spirit will once more grow…

Morning Reflections…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning reflections

Life stirs hope, love, peace, longing

Life welcomed, embraced

 

Light Finds a Way…

 

 

 

 

 

(In celebration of two young lives well lived: Louis Lowenthal – 14; David Shannon – 18)

 

It would seem that darkness comes close to winning way too often;

midnight darkness longs sucks light from reality…

dark energy pulls us toward nothingness.

 

Yet when this darkness pulls us, begging for implosion,

Light finds a way…

gently lighting the pre-dawn sky, slowly appearing over the mountains we face;

 

Creative light dawns…

What was lost in midnight darkness rises in ways unimagined:

from the mist playing in valley meadows…

in the whisper of love heard through the crisp morning air…

out of the cry of a soaring hawk, echoing the crying released in our own darkness.

 

A new day dawns and we carry our stories and our sorrows,

our losses and our laughter;

trusting in trust…

hoping in hope…

 

Yet, night comes again – a pattern repeated;

And darkness that has served hopelessness will offer it once again.

 

But, if we stay open…acknowledging all that struggles within…

exposing ourselves to the possibility of light reaching us even in darkness,

this extended exposure reveals the shimmer of light – coming to us…

the reflection of life present…

the glow of life illuminating the darkness.

 

New beauty revealed…

a new dawn anticipated…

a promise that we are never alone.

Light finds a way to shine…

 

Out of the Mist…

Out of the mist…what rises for you? What is given birth?

Deeper Into Fall…

 

 

Leaves once admired above, now lie on the ground.

The beauty still exists – it’s all about perspective.

This carpeted beauty reminds us of a deeper move into fall –

an acknowledgement of what is to come;

Maybe an invitation here is to peer more fully into our own being,

conversing with the Spirit about the seasons of our lives.

So with a spirit of exploration and a grateful heart – we journey together…