The 60-Second Sabbath

acceptance

  • In the Forest

    You are lost in a forest.The undergrowth blocks you.Trees lean in.Light fades.Unidentified noises circle. What dangers waitin the creeping darkness?  You know, don't you?You've always feared    your erratic behaviors    your in-crowding thoughts,    your disquieting longings,    your… Continue reading

  • Aging

    Growing old?I can handle such.Growing up?Well, not so much. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading

  • Hanukkah Wish #5

    May you love yourself…exactly as you are. Do not expect more of yourselfthan you expect of others. If you are kind to anyone this seasonlet it be you. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading

  • If God Is…

    If God is,than God is so much greaterthan anything we've been taughtor can possibly imagine. If God is then we live in a universeconquered by love. If God is,then (what relief!)we can cease our strivingto convert, to persuade, to change,… Continue reading

  • Identity

    I love the stuff of which I'm made:the brightening sky, the darkening shade,a heart that glows with generous heat,a soul that treads to death's dark beat,a varied mix of eclectic stuff,of heaven and hell, the smooth, the rough.I'm forth and… Continue reading

  • Pink

    He walked out of his bedroomwearing his pink sweatshirt.At age five, it was his favorite. "He's wearing pink,"said his grandfather. "Yes," said the boy's mother."He likes pink.It's his favorite color." "But it's pink." "Yes, it's pink."the boy walked past themand… Continue reading

  • What Dirk Might Know

    Does Dirk understandhe's adopted? Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading

  • What the Cats Might Know

    Do my cats understandthey're adopted? Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Failure

    Success buildson the rubble of repeated failure. No collapsed venture is wasted. Art, relationship, occupation–it's all the same:only those who gleefully fail,succeed. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Looking for Truth

    Religion is,at heart,the story of grace. Whatever codes, creeds, morality, doctrinewe've piled on top of that story–it's all peripheral,optional,not central,not foundational,only created to assuageour insecurity. And if, by chance,these trappings slow you downon the upward climb to compassion,it's time to… Continue reading