The 60-Second Sabbath

Stillness

  • Haiku for the Christmas Tree

    Washed in colored lightand tears and memory, I'mundone by wonder. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Corduroy

    Was going to write something this morning,but then a cat climbs up on my lapand curls into a tight, plump, capital "C,"settling onto the brown, wide-wale corduroyof the bathrobe my mother sewed for meover thirty years ago,and then the cat… Continue reading

  • Advent Lantern

    I hold my lantern overhead,and turning, look back at the past–such darkness blocks remembrance,only pinpricks of light in a field of black. I turn to look ahead.The light of my lanterncannot penetrate the fog of future's uncertainty.I hear muffled voices;unformed… Continue reading

  • This Moment, Expanded

    Stop focusingon what's missingfrom this moment.Focus insteadon what this momentoffers:    texture    color    movement    inspiration    affection    wonder    stillness Your egowants to catalogwhat the moment lacks. Your soulwants to reveal the momentfor what it truly… Continue reading

  • To Essence

    Say yes to the River;relax in its flow;agree to the journeywherever it goes. Let go of the tiller;let slip both the oars.Stop looking landward;break free of both shores. Calm stretches await you–and rapids and falls,and eastward the Ocean's heartbeckons and… Continue reading

  • Haiku 2

    silent, dusty roomsphotographs stand sentinelancestors whisper Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading

  • Toward Wholeness

    There's a man withinwhom I've ignored,discounted;he's never been heard,never been asked to contribute.Perhaps I've feared himor believed him irrelevant. But now I'm intrigued:    Who is he?    What does he have to say?    What can he teach me? So I ask,    "Who are you?" He answers,    "I… Continue reading

  • Whiteboard

    Picture your lifeas a whiteboardon which is writtenall you've been toldabout life and meaning–    all you should believe,    all you should do,    all you should be. Thus crammed witha lifetime of scribbling,the board is unreadable,a jumble of… Continue reading

  • God’s Lap

    Oh, to curl in God's lapthe way my cat curls in mine,to feel a strong hand steadying my side,to feel breath rise and falldeeper, slower than mine. Oh, to trust so completely.Oh, to so melt. And when God gets up to… Continue reading

  • Training

    This is practice,and I am in training. I meditate,and the mind jumpslike a caffeinated kangaroo. This is practice,and I am in training. I breathe,feel the equanimity,until someone in the officepushes one of my several buttons. This is practice,and I am… Continue reading