Photography

  • Closeness

    We long for God's closenessWe dream of it,    pray for it,    weep for it. Even those who deny it,    desire it. There is the comfort    of God's presence,but, oh,    there is also the challenge. Text and image © 2014… Continue reading

  • On Hope

    Anchor hope in remembering. If God's faithfulness held then,why not today?why not right now? Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Lent

    It is Lent.It is timeto make spacefor the Holy. It is Lent.Let us fastfrom our fearsand our worries. Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • The Creative Process

    So you'd like to write a poem?     Use common words    in uncommon ways.     Only say    what's authentic for you    or it will land false.     End with a punch,    not below… Continue reading

  • So Like God

    So like God    to consume my pending harvest        like locusts,    to burn through my meticulous blueprints        like wildfire,    to cleanse me of soot    and soothe my seared soul        like rainfall,    and to… Continue reading

  • Thursday Prayer

    Good morning, Creator: Take pity on me, I pray,that today the disorienting winds of rearrangement    won't leave me again upside-down in the bushes,but instead may speed me further toward    tomorrows cupping contentment. Amen. Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All… Continue reading

  • Dreaming

    At night they come to me–my sister or my father,my mother or her mother–mutually recognizingthat they have diedand that we have,for whatever reason,been given a few more minutes together. Sometimes,I ask questions,because I need to know,to understandmyself. Sometimesit is enough… Continue reading

  • Striving

    Too much striving–    to repair the past,    to guarantee the future,    to be what others want–so, so weary of striving. The dying say,"I regret having worked so hard." Aren't we all "the dying"? Text and image ©… Continue reading

  • God Undefined

    Give me a Godwho's a little bit odd,    who strays a bit south of convention,a God made of partsof old broken hearts,    a God of unnerving invention. I want the Divineto stray from the line    and shrug off our tight expectation,a… Continue reading

  • Obscuring God with Certainty

    The less I knew,the more I thought I knew. As a pastorat age 30,I had a head full of answers,a library full of answers,so many unnecessary answers. Insider tip:Never trust a pastorwith answers;the truly wisehave very few. The wise onesno… Continue reading