Growth

  • Advent Prologue (John 1:6-9)

    There is someonesent by Godwhose name is[insert your name here!],who comes as a witnessto testify to the light,so that all might believe. [Insert your name here!]is not the lightbut comes to testifyto the light. The true light,which enlightens everyone,is coming… Continue reading

  • Advent Grief, Revisited

    (for Jeremy and Mason) How, at your end, are things? Christmas just a week awayand such sudden emptinessof home, of heart death leaves us vacant;I have felt it;negative space the shape of your beloved for a timeyou shall occupy that… Continue reading

  • The Approach

    Advent,    and who is this approaching? What hidden self    emerges from the woods,    the crawl space,    the garden labyrinth? What time-hidden, reclusive divine embodiment    has Word to give,    Word to enflesh,    my Word, that… Continue reading

  • Voice of the Mountain

    "It's the wind," he told me,"nothing more." But I'd heard the voice,deep and resonant and beckoning.I could not make out all the words… "Wind," he repeated. …but could tell–just by the tone–it's old, wise, weary. "The mountain has no voice,and… Continue reading

  • Veils

    Throughout lifeeach lossremoves another of the veilsthat obscure the Mysterywe desperately yearnto see and hold. Some veilsslip slowly from their rods,like so much sighing. Some veilsare torn awayby sudden and ferocious winds,like flashes of celestial anger. Loss hurts so very much.… Continue reading

  • How Poetry Works, Revisited

    "Poetry?No, I don't generally read poetry.I don't get it." "Of course not," she said."Poetry isn't gotten;it's absorbed.You read it,and read it,and read it,and then it's inside of you, and you are someone else." Text and image © 2014 by Dirk… Continue reading

  • Because Things Do

    Things fall apart    then reassemble.Life unravels    then weaves back together.The water overwhelms    then recedes. This is always the pattern;    we've lived it 1,000 times,    survived it 1,000 times. Yet always    between the disaster   … Continue reading

  • Photography 2

    I[click]take pictures[click]to meet[click]God. Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Easter Prayer

    Great Mystery, let me dieto who I thought I was,and be borninto what you long for. Amen. Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Invitation 4

    Hi, all. My blogging service, Typepad, was under attack and rendered inoperable since last Thursday. Today, Tuesday, it's up and running again. What follows is what I had intended to post Friday through Sunday (Good Friday through Easter), pulled together… Continue reading