The 60-Second Sabbath

change

  • 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

  • Transmutation

    The ancient alchemistslong soughtthe philosopher's stone,which could transmutelead into gold. I have found it.It is simply this:kindness. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • The Winds

    The winds of changeblow hard,relentlessly.Our ship pitches and yaws,sliding up and over the swells,the anchor clawing at the bottom,desperate to hold,to lock us in place. What if,instead,we hoist the anchor,unfurl the sailsand allow this unsettling galeto drive us onward? Text… Continue reading

  • Missing Winter

    Where are you winter?Where the scouring windsand white-rimed leaves,hold-overs from last season's arboreal couture?Where the leveling whiteness,the inward-driving respitefrom summer's relentless restlessness? Where are you winter? Our warm outerwear waits in darkness,wondering, worried;a feeling of abandonment settles like duston the… Continue reading

  • Autumn Song

    This coming coolnessintroducesan edgeof uncertainty. Autumn(my favorite season)is a time of transition. Here in Denver,    nights shift from cool to cold,    trees from bold to barren,    the patio from flowered and fragranced to emptied and wrapped,   … Continue reading

  • Change

    "Change is a'comin',"says the old man,leaning forward in his rockeron his age-warped porch. He looks to the sky,listens to the modulation in bird song,feels on his stubbled facethe shifting direction of the wind,tastes, smells things out of my reach,not even… Continue reading

  • Jihad

    A beautiful Muslim womanjust told mewhat the word jihad means.  Jihad is the call for each of usto struggle with our personal shortcomings(and we have many)and the shortcomings of our communities(and we have many). What are we lacking?    Compassion? … Continue reading

  • Changing the World

    Will my photographschange the world? Yes,if just one imagemoves a single heartcloser to beauty,thoughtfulnessor wonder. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • The Lives of the Saints

    I shrink.I shrink.I am an acorn,    a match head,    the point of a pin. Such monstrous courage,    otherworldly focus,    passionate commitment. I am reading the lives of the saints,how to be both simultaneously and fullyhuman,andan angel of creation,    wisdom,    humility,    light,    reconciliation,    boldness unto death. Text and image ©… Continue reading

  • Smoke

    We live our livesforging identities;thenin clouds of inevitably certain–yet oddly unexpected–smoke,watch all turn to ash. Our eyes widen in surprise. And God wonders,"Have we paid no attentionat all?" Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading