The 60-Second Sabbath

Nature

  • Impermanence

    Even the finest things,those we treasure most,are meant to fray, unravel and pass away:     my grandmother's hand-stitched coverlet,    the scarf I knitted for my mother in third grade,    my father's favorite flannel shirt,     friendships, … Continue reading

  • Advice in Eden

    God saysto first woman,first man,"Go makehot-spicy,sweet-stickylove.Lose your imagined selvesin delirious merging.This wondrous onenessis me."  Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • The Woman of the Woods

    She always says thingsI don't want to hear: "Your most signficant questsare always the hardest.Perseverancedemonstratesworthiness.Your destination will tasteall the sweeterfor the hardship." And with that,she pulled the hood of her cloak,back up over her graying hair,and disappeared among the pines.… Continue reading

  • Starting

    I begin a new journey.I travel a new road.     Smell the air,        washed by the night rains.    Feel the morning sun        warming our hoping skin.    Taste the raspberries,        sweet and popping,        growing outside the… Continue reading

  • Life is the strugglebetween Ego and Stillness. Chin up, my friend:Stillness wins. Or more precisely,only Stillness is.  Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Moonlight

    They call it lunacy,this peculiar feelingbrought on by moonlightwrapping the pines in silver. Life moves beneath branches,and my heart leapsbetween fear and anticipation.  Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • First Session

    Barely 30 minutes into the first sessionand the therapist observes:"I think that perfectionismis also an issue." [pause] "It is,"I admit. "Why didn't you check itin the inventory?" Fair question. "Because being a perfectionistis a flaw,and being a perfectionist,I can't admit… Continue reading

  • The New Question

    For a very long time,the question of spiritual identityhas been,"Who are you?" Now is the time for a new question:"Whose are you?" We are God's.We belong to one another. As Desmund Tutu said,"I am because you are." Text and image… Continue reading

  • Betrayal

    I was taught:it's better to betray myselfthan to disappoint others. Now I believe:to betray myselfis to betray God. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading

  • Maundy Thursday, 2013

        She huddles on the shore,feet buried in moist sand,cold to the bone, but rooted.     The waves pull at each other,slide up and over rocks,recoil and echo,slosh and hiss.     She feels awash and adrift,tasting a salt seabroader and deeperthan human need.  … Continue reading