Author: Carrie

by

Altar of dawn

 

I place on the altar of dawn:
The quiet loyalty of breath,
The tent of thought where I shelter,
Waves of desire I am shore to
And all beauty drawn to the eye.
May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.
May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.

Quote:John O’Donohue
Excerpt from ‘A Morning Offering’ found in his books,
To Bless the Space Between Us

Image: Killarney National Park, Co Kerry / Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

by

lift your voice – in laughter, in weeping

BLESSING THAT BECOMES EMPTY AS IT GOES

This blessing
keeps nothing
for itself.
You can find it
by following the path
of what it has let go,
of what it has learned
it can live without.

Say this blessing out loud
a few times
and you will hear
the hollow places
within it,
how it echoes
in a way
that gives your voice
back to you
as if you had never
heard it before.

Yet this blessing
would not be mistaken
for any other,
as if,
in its emptying,
it had lost
what makes it
most itself.

It simply desires
to have room enough
to welcome
what comes.

Today,
it’s you.

So come and sit
in this place
made holy
by its hollows.
You think you have
too much to do,
too little time,
too great a weight
of responsibility
that none but you
can carry.

I tell you,
lay it down.
Just for a moment,
if that’s what you
can manage at first.
Five minutes.
Lift up your voice—
in laughter,
in weeping,
it does not matter—
and let it ring against
these spacious walls.

Do this
until you can hear
the spaces within
your own breathing.
Do this
until you can feel
the hollow in your heart
where something
is letting go,
where something
is making way.

Quote: Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons

Image: “In the Emptying” © janrichardsonimages.com
(Inspired by Philippians 2)

by

Offering in Blue

 

Offering in Blue

May you meet each day with 
your head to the sky and your 
feet on the ground. May you 
repair the world by opening
your heart to others.

May you find the courage to 
carry what needs to be carried 
and the surrender to let 
yourself be held until 
you blossom.

Keep listening for the poem 
being written in your heart. 
It will speak truth to you 
the way wind parts the sea.

Quote: Mark Nepo
Image: Pinterest

by

to be alone

 

“I have been thinking about the different ways in which we experience being alone. The pandemic has shown us how we are each a separate reality within ourselves, separated by six feet at all times, even from those we would wish to greet with an embrace. It has forced many of us into isolation: that same state used as a punishment in prisons and a means of grace in monasteries. Some of us are alone and lonely while others are alone and at peace. Perhaps for the first time we are discovering what community really means.

If you are experiencing the separateness with difficulty, I pray the Spirit may open a door for you. If you are content on your mountaintop, I pray the Spirit to help you find what you are seeking. However you are faring in the empty spaces between us, may you find a welcoming community (here), whether by chance or by choice.”

Quote: Steven Charleston
Image: Pinterest

by

The heart’s whisper

In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair.

Quote: Howard Thurman