Tag Archives: birds

NOT THE PICTURE BUT THE REAL BEING

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Where is Jesus in this ancient religion called “Christianity?”
Certainly not in a silver medal hanging around one’s neck
Requiring people to nod when passing.

Jesus is not anybody who needs to be worshipped
Since, today, Jesus is you – and nobody else.

If you do decide to “become” him –
Open the doors of your soul and say, “please come in.” 

Jesus is not the world religion created by Paul and institutionalized by Constantine
At which all the good seats have already been taken –
Hypocrites being the first to rush in
Pretending, unconvincingly, like modern-day Evangelicals to be Jesus’ best friends.

When someone decided (who was that who decided?)
To merge the Roman Empire into the name and spirit of Jesus –
He (Jesus) quickly left by a side door – and has never been seen again.

Curators plaster museum walls with pictures of him
Framed with gold and precious jewels –
But Jesus, himself, is back out on the street – searching for God
All over again.

Birds see him
Cats turn their heads when passing
But only crazy people are willing to unembarrassedly acknowledge him in public –
When they see
Not the common-accepted picture – but the real human being!

CLAP HANDS

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I want to clap hands
And with each clap initiate a separate universe.

I want to rain down beauty
So everyone can get “heart” wet.

I want to migrate with the birds
So I’ll be able to find my way back home.

I want to light a small fire in the hearth of my heart
And substitute a “pearl” for my everyday mind.

In Roman times, pearls were even rarer than diamonds
Because ancient mining industries moved mountains to produce them –
But it’s only when holding your breath while diving
That you’ll be able to discover the iridescent beauty hidden in those deep water shells.

The sun provides infinite life over almost infinite time –
But, someday, it will go out –
Truly, it’s only the green life that matters –
Everything else dross.

I’m dying to say one new word –
One that can never be forgotten –
God, why don’t you slide it across that green baize table
So that, when I turn it over, I can look surprised!

DANCE

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The supreme physical expression of human joy
Is dance.

God (including all earlier gods) requested dance first
Before images, ideas, and all other expressions of worship.

First was the foot
Then the hand
And, finally, the head.

Dance expresses joy in life
And the immanence of God in our hearts,
Along with a strong desire for physically moving with others.

Dance is how children express their happiness
With spontaneous movements.

I think it’s important to become aware of dance going on all around us –
Especially that of our sky neighbors – the birds.

Also, watch patterns of waves forming over large bodies of water –
Watch wind as it touches, and then re-touches, forest leaves.

Notice the small shy smile appearing on your lover’s face
And your joy, in response, when you give your feelings permission to shine.

Why not give that permission right now –
After all, the entire world depends upon it!

 

WALK IN THE PARK

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Life is like a walk in the park
Children running
Couples strolling
Nearby, birds hiding out in the bushes singing,
And, somewhere, far off, a train faintly sounds.

Life comes into brilliant focus while we’re still young
But then, over our lifetime, can fade.

There’s a satisfied calmness in that fade, however –
Not much to get upset about –
Life glimmering just a few steps away –
The magic still there – just out on the edges.

The rain is damp and chill –
No fires tonight!

There are fewer birds left in the forest –
So there’s less sound, less activity,
In the distance a child appears who barely sees us –
A group of old men no longer standing at the center.

The quiet ones –
Taking one last look
Before exiting.

FIREFLIES

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Fingers intertwined with fingers –

Fireflies in the fir trees –
On fire – but with a “cool” flame.

Legs crossing legs
Turning into afternoon kisses –
The romance of the young
Coming out of the sea.

It’s too soon to know what we need to know –
And by the time we do, it might be all over –
The crowds leaving –
Applause only a memory.

Yes, it’s memory time
But the memories have flown away – like birds –
Migrating –
Flying away like time –
Suddenly and forever.

She said “I love you”
A long time ago
When there was green grass
Open eyes
And breath as sweet as flowers.

Suddenly, a letter arrives, posted long ago –
What does it say?
What could it say?
Given we’re in another place, another time?

 

WHEN SPRING ARRIVES

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When Spring arrives, it’s overwhelming in its delicacy –
With soft colors, sweet smells, and increasing sunshine.

Spring is like a giant pink “wave” rolling into shore
Under an azure cloudless sky.

It reminds us that the bright beaches of summer are coming
Along with long romantic nights.

When Spring arrives it’s like a pink bud
Slowly opening into a perfect crimson flower.

Spring comes in infinite flavors,
Quiet murmurs,
And birds calling late into the evening.

No matter how old we get – or how exhausted –
When Spring appears, it overturns everything –
Expected and unexpected.

Spring
Arrives through its winter tunnel
Like a 10-ton Mack truck
Wearing pink lights!

 

THE CAROUSEL

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If you don’t believe in God –
Believe in Nature.
And if you don’t believe in Nature –
Believe in the Works of Man.
And if you don’t believe in the Works of Man –
Don’t worry, the next thing’s gonna come ‘round anyway!

If you don’t believe in dancing angels –
Then look up and enjoy the birds,
And if not them – have a good night’s sleep –
Wake up refreshed –
And something will touch you without your even having to try.

The world we experience on a daily basis is like a shadow inside a closed hand –
And that hand is a broken walnut
The wind’s been blowing through –
A wind that, like a breeze of death, is able to knock anything over.

So, instead of that, think of life as a carousel –
Gorgeously spinning round
Playing children’s songs, decorated with colored lights –
And carrying splendid wooden horses moving up and down.

This is what it means to be a child again – living in the present –
And, perhaps, even to be an old man like myself – right now!

AN ECSTASY OF LOVE (for Marguerite Porete (declared heretical by 21 male theologians))

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Just as there’s joy beyond joy
There’s also love beyond love.

You’ll discover this when you die to everything except love –
That is, when you eat, sleep, and work only for love.

Suddenly, a door opens
And a long-lost parent from heaven walks through
And asks for you

Only you – and nobody else.

When your spiritual mother or father recognizes you
And says “Come” –
You do!

Love beyond love is where flowers come from –
Where birds travel to in winter –
It’s also the place where fresh water enters the world –
That is, love beyond love is a “spiritual rain”
Coming down sufficiently to drench us –
Inside and out.

Love beyond love is when God begins talking through you –
When you open your mouth and what comes out is what God’s been feeling –
Because you are no longer you
You are God come to life inside you –
Like Marguerite –
And that’s when you start looking, sounding, and smelling like
Joy!

SURFING

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Human beings desire control in their lives –
Which is both a good, as well as a bad thing.

Actually, life is more like surfing –

If you go too far forward –
Or too far back –

You fall in.

It’s the same with our attempts at control –
Not enough, and life starts to fall apart,
Too much, and it can freeze up.

Western culture teaches that we should strive for as much control in our lives as possible
But this has led to embracing a “material” God.

It’s similar, isn’t it, to what Jesus said about the birds –
Which don’t have to worry about what they eat or wear.
Jesus knew people had to work –
But thought it just wasn’t the most important thing.

The paradox each of us needs to solve
Is how to become our “true self” –
The child that’s still able to play –
In the midst of a responsible adult life.

It is a lot like surfing, isn’t it –
Balance being the most important skill.

Playful as a child –
Responsible as an adult.

This takes a lot of practice
Like all other critical life skills.

OUT HERE WITH THE BIRDS

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America’s future doesn’t lie in wealth or power –

Instead, it’s a proof text
Demonstrating how different kinds of people
Can live in relative peace with one another –

If this works in America
It’ll work everywhere else on earth –
And provide solid evidence that reasonable laws
Can substitute for blood, cultural, or racial ties.

America’s future doesn’t lie in religious cults, no matter how ancient, popular, or patriotic–
But in a country purified of violence and materialism.

Until recently, Americans have been living a wrong idea –
That we have somehow been “chosen” –
An idea that, repeatedly, brought destruction upon earlier civilizations.

Really, it’s the “everydayness” of America that’s so great!

Recently, however, we’ve gotten somewhat off track –
And have found ourselves lost out in the grass –
But, maybe, that’s not so bad –

Actually, it’s really sort of peaceful
Out here with the birds.