The 60-Second Sabbath

Denver Botanic Gardens

  • Prayer for Lent

    Lead us, O God,from the beautiful,to the good,to the true. Lead us, O God,from what catches the eye and the breath,to what quickens the heart and the conscience,to what cradles the soul and the spirit. Lead us, O God,ever deeperinto… 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

  • 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

  • Fear Not

    The angel appeared."Fear not," he said. "You always say that," I said."Whenever you pop in,you always start with,'Fear not.'What's up with that?" He sighed."Because no one listenswhen they're afraid–not to spouses, neighbors, friends,family members, store clerks–they just don't listen.It's so… Continue reading

  • This Morning

    Furnace hums;coffee mug warms hands;cat on lap chews pen. This morning,too contentto write. Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • On the Loss of a Friend

    I take stockof sadness. How is itmeasured? At timesit fills this chipped cup. At timesit fills the sea. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading