I will only understand    my valuewhen I cease to define myself    in terms of transient things:     wealth,        status,    power,        position,    work,        the opinions of others,    nationality,        family, … Continue reading

Another of the poems we found, written by our father: Are Heroes Made or Born? His grandpa said, “It’s plain to seeIn look and manner he’s like me.The implication is quite clearo,His genes have made of him a hero.” His… Continue reading

The moment you choose    to become like someone else,you have prostituted yourself.    –Anthony De Mello Your essential self,    who you are at your core,is complete     and divine and perfect. Your essential self    is entirely unique and… Continue reading

Take my hand;    we stand, side-by-side,looking into the Void.    Can you move with meinto this Unknown?    God waits there,but we cannot fly forward    if weighed downwith concepts,    formulas,thoughts,    meanings,attachments. Abandon these. Beyond them are… Continue reading

On a recent trip to visit family in Michigan,    my sister and I found this folder of "verses"written by our father. This is the first I have transcribed: Wildflowers Rainbow colors fragmentedAlong dry and dusty roadsides Amethystine loosestrifeBrown-faced Susans… Continue reading

For the immigrants–    our neighbors, our friends, our family, ourselves–        beloved of God–the cupped hands of Jesus    collect our tears. For those whose rights are being stripped away–    our neighbors, our friends, our family, ourselves–   … Continue reading

I want to live    in the kingdom of innocencewhere mystics and children dwell. Text and image © 2025 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Have you ordered your copy of Contemplative Vision: Photography as a Spiritual Practice? Follow this link: https://www.churchpublishing.org/contemplativevision Continue reading

Jesus tells us,    "Become like a child."The child–    in innocence–does not attempt to be    anything otherthan what they are.    They naturally pursue,not self-glorification    or self-expansion,but self-fulfillment. And we adults?    "Become like children"and allow the… Continue reading

Let me tell you    what I am not. I am not my thoughts.    Thoughts come and go.What I think now    is not what I thought5, 10 years ago,    and what I think todaywon't be my thoughts … Continue reading