Mary Mary quite contrary

   How does your Baby grow

      I wonder why Mary was contrary

Could it be

   Because God choose her

Could it be

   Because she went against the conventions of the time

Could it be

   Because she was God’s hand maiden

Could it be

   Because life was no longer humanly planned

Is this how a baby grows in us

   When we realize God choose us

   When we don’t follow the conventions of our time

   When we become God’s hand maiden or servant

   When our lives become Godly inspired

Being contrary isn’t so wrong is it

   Sometimes the world needs our voice

      To counter the supposed truth

So let us speak for the weak

   And question the strong

Let us work for the poor

   And challenge the rich

Let us live peacefully

   And reveal an alternative to war

Some may say we are being contrary

   But then they said the same of Mary

Poetry

   One of the few places left

      To share from the heart

If I speak from my heart

   Does it have to mean the same thing in yours

If I use a word

   Can its definition change over time

If I communicate in images

   Do mine have to match yours

Some will say yes and give you the answer

   But they are not poets

They are like the people who need answers

   Hiding under the guise of control

      Of life and others

It is funny how daily life and poetry are alike

   We each see it differently

      Thank you God

We each spend our lives in different pursuits

   Of what is true and right for us

      Sometimes never giving an answer

      Sometimes never wanting an answer

Poetry like life

   Is one of the places left

      With only questions well understood

I came up out of the waters

   The heavens were opened

I heard the words that changed me

   You are my child

   You are my beloved

   I am well pleased with you

I was overwhelmend with Love

   I stumbled into the wilderness

I heard the words that tempted me

   God has only one Son

   How could you be beloved

   You don’t please anyone

Some say Lent only lasted forty days and nights

   I have found it to last a lifetime

      Especially when I hunger for more

      Or when I thirst for the drink of accomplishment

But when I fast

   Which for me means slowing down

      Embracing the silence

Then I hear a still small voice say

   You are my child

   You are my beloved

   I am well pleased with you

The heavens are opened

   The spirit of God alights on me and says

      You are mine

Dear Spiritual Companions,

I was just talking with my oldest daughter and asked her what I should write about this week and she said Patience.  Now there is a very simple topic.  It is a virtue.  It is a spiritual gift.  It is a challenge!

Did you ever wonder why the very good things in life are a challenge?  We could say everything worthwhile takes work.  The problem with that it sounds like patience is something we can do.  What a trick!  We truly think we have more power then we really do.  If we try hard enough then we will become a patient person.  I don’t know about you, but I have tried really hard and it hasn’t worked.  I am still impatient.  Is there another way of looking at this?

What if we saw patience as a gift.  In other words there is nothing we have to do, except accept the gift.  I assure you accepting is more then enough.  Like any gift most of us think we have to deserve it.  It has to be my birthday or Christmas to recieve a gift.  If it isn’t then I am obligated to do something in return.  I now owe you.  BUT, a true gift is given with no strings attached.  There is no repayment necessary.  It is a sign of true love.  God, by whatever Name You call God, only gives true gifts.  There is no need for any kind of repayment.  Christians are presently in the middle of Lent, a time of repaying God.  We give something up to show God we appreciate the gift of God’s Son.  Maybe a better gift might be giving up the thought we can repay God?  The reason is we are now longing for that piece of candy, meat or whatever else we have given up instead of spending our time reflecting on the gift of God’s Son with no strings attached.  Adds a whole new dimension doesn’t it?

To receive the gift of patience we might have to give up the idea of how we can attain it.  Now we can simply reflect on the fact we already have it.  It is already a part of our spiritual makeup.  Like the candy, meat or whatever we have given up for Lent, we are so busy reminding ourselves of patience we miss how it is already ours.  What we center on is what we manifest in our lives.  If we believe we don’t have patience we live in that form.  If we believe we do have patience we find that to be our true self.  Now I know you are going to say it can’t be that easy.  Well if you want it to be hard try it.  If it doesn’t work it is because you are doing it.  If you do manifest patience it is because you have accepted the gift.  

The key is to BE Patient.

Peace

Gary

The wilderness of our mind

   Filled with thoughts and feelings

      Gathered from a lifetime of experiences

It is so easy to lose our way

   In this feeling or that thought

      Based on what we believe had meaning

Too often we don’t have the time

   Or we don’t take the time

      To wander through this inner wilderness

So we continue to live unexamined lives

   Acting in ways we don’t choose

      But have chosen for us

Simply because the temptation of

   Always thinking this way

      Or feeling this way goes unchallenged

Can there be more

   Can we find a way to spend time

      In the wilderness of our mind

It is the spirit that shows us the way

   To be in charge of the way we

      Think or feel

The Spirit of the Living God

   Found in a Son and children like us

      Who dare to live an examined Lenten Life

Generosity

   Life filled to overflowing

      Ours into others

Generosity

   One of the fruits of the spirit

      Letting us know we are on the right track

Generosity

   Enabling us to move from fear to love

      We know God will provide

Generosity

   Encouraging us to hang on to letting go

      Preparing us to move from death to life

Generosity

   Teaching us life is gift

      Because God is gift

Generosity

   Discovering there is so little time

      And so much to give

Genersoity

   Not only makes our wallets lighter

      But also our lives

Generosity

   God so loved the World

      So we could love too

Generosity

   Moves us from scarcity thinking

      To abundant living

Generosity

   God’s invitation

      Waiting for our response

Mary

   The example of Motherhood

What would you do with a Son like Jesus

   What do you do with your own son or daughter

      Could Mary help us

Mothers sometimes go from peaks to valleys

   Like Mary and her Baby

      From the wonder of a promise fulffiled by circumcision

      To a sword in her heart

Sometimes we think our child is blessed

   We go from Baptism to

      The dangers of drugs or rejection

But what about our need for a Mother

   Do we ever outgrow it

      And who do we turn to

For some of us our Moms have departed

   Physically or otherwise

For others of us our Moms are human

   We know they can only provide so much

      Only God can provide the rest

Which brings us back to Mary

   The example of Motherhood

      For us spiritually

She is always there

   To hold us when we are afraid

   To wipe away our tears of sorrow

   To celebrate our successes

   To not be bothered by our failures

Mary

   The Mother of God

      And each of us

Joseph

   The Father of Jesus

   The Father of us

Joseph

   A man of courage

      Who stood by a woman impregnated by God

Joseph

   A man in over his head

      How do you raise the Son of God

Joseph

   A simple man who worked with wood

      Who taught his son the importance of work

Joseph

   A devoted Jew who lived his faith

      Even when it meant going against tradition

Joseph

   An example of a Father for you and me

      One not afraid to hold and lead us

Joseph

   When our earthly fathers fall short

      He stands tall

Joseph

   A Father who knows God

      The parent of you and me

Joseph

   The other half of the Holy Couple

      Waiting to parent us with unconditional love

How about a poem on something light and breezy

   Sounds like a summer poem

The letters are blown here and there

   Forming words of depth

      But not too deep

The words breeze into our lives

   Forming sentences of meaning

      But not the same for everyone

We don’t know where they come form

   We are not sure where they end

      But we know God makes something out of nothing

The ultimate mystery of life

   Now you don’t see it

      Now you do

This needs to be taken in a light and breezy way

   For spiritual answers come in this way

      Less all the hard work on our part

Does this make sense

   I hope not

      For poetry is senseless

Now the answers are found in the sentences

   That breeze in lightly

      And carry us back to the words and letters

         Based on a God who created summer

Dear Spiritual Companions,

 Wouldn’t it be wonderful to not be in our minds for awhile?  So often how I view life is dependent on my thoughts.  Ever wonder how thoughts can be so changeable?  One day everything seems to be fine.  The next day, even though nothing has seemed to change, everything is not fine.  What happens in this head of ours?  Is there nothing we can do?

I think one thing we can depend upon is our inner being having a mind of its own.  Thoughts like the wind come and go.  We don’t know where they come from.  We don’t know why some have more force than others.  We don’t know what direction they are coming from.  We just know they are there.  If we center on a thought it remains.  If we let a thought pass through it goes away.  The only constant is that as long as we are conscious there will be thoughts.

So what are we to do with them.  The World has some suggestions.  Drink or use drugs to numb them.  Watch television or movies to distract them.  Keep yourself busy with work or play so they can’t force there way back into our mind.  Ignore them is the goal of the World’s approach.  Religions have their suggestions.  Meditate or pray to have God, by whatever Name you call It, push them away.  Use various breathing or prayer words to keep them under control.  Emptying our minds is the goal.

If you are like me you have probably done that or tried that.  Nothing seems to work.  Hooray!  To me therein lies the answer to the chatter in our minds.  No matter what we do the human experience says thoughts will continue to appear.  So if you can not beat them join them.  Let a thought be what it is – A Thought!  It only has the power we give to it.  Sometimes it is right to pay attention.  The only way it can become stronger is if we fight against it.  I want to know what I am paying attention to in my mind.  What do I spend my time thinking about in my mind?  Why do I think this or that is so important?  The answers I receive may provide a way  beyond the concerns I have. 

The Beatles had a song years ago -”Let It Be.”  When we let whatever be what it is we can face it.  If we are working hard to avoid it we are being forced away from Life being the way it is.  This I believe causes problems.  If I can’t accept my thoughts I get drawn into the World’s approach of denial or projection onto others.  If I truly understand Spiritual disciplines they don’t force anything, but help us to learn how to let life be what it is, including our thoughts.

Come on thoughts show me what you think is so important so I can discover what it truly mean to Be me.

Peace