The 60-Second Sabbath

god

  • I Could Have Used You Today

    I could have used you today. I needed you:     a stillpoint,    a saner pivot,    a rock to cling to while the currents pushed and pulled,    someone to click download,    arms to cry in,    acceptance of the mess I am. I needed another perspective,    a… Continue reading

  • Playing with God

    When I write poemsI play with God.We race our bikes on gravel roads,stop to grieve for flattened caterpillars,marvel at Queen Anne's Lace,curl back the corners of bursting milkweed pods,watch their thousand filaments float on to raise new families,    to inspire new… Continue reading

  • Come to Me

    Come to me;kick off your shoes. Come to me;let slip the mask.Breath.Smile only if you want to.Cry when needed.Speak your mind. Come to me;regroup;hide. Come into peace. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.  Continue reading

  • The Simplest Prayer

    What is the simplest, most elemental prayer?Some say, "Help!"Others say, "Thanks!"Or perhaps it is "Wow!"uttered in moments of unanticipated wonder(or for the inarticulate and our animal cousins: "!"). I say,for all living, breathing beings,the quintessential prayer is this:                 <sigh> whether… Continue reading

  • Peculiar Blindness

    When God repairs our visionwe're stuck with peculiar blindness:all those things with which we try to define ourselves–even faith–become invisible;we only see what matters. What is left? Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.  Continue reading

  • Life Is Not Fair

    1My father would halt meby looking over his half-glassesand precisely intoning:"Life is not fair,"a statement falling somewherebetween actuality and pathological avoidance. 2Already aware of the unfairnness of life,I wasn't looking for him to repair it,simply to acknowledge it–not the lack… Continue reading

  • Theocracy?

    Those who advocate for theocracy(a country run by God)imagine a godwho acts and thinks as they do,with the added benefit of power. But their theocracy wouldn't, of course,be the static, controlling, orderly reign of Godthat they envision,because God is wildand… Continue reading

  • Impossibilities

    Gabriel appears to Mary,scans her heart,scares the bejesus into her.She drops the mending,the basket of eggs,the water jug,the familiar, known and comfortable.Reaching back…back…back into their shared story,this shattering, shimmering apparition speaks:"We can't do this. God can."…and Mary's heart and womb… Continue reading

  • God in Love

    Why is God so in love with us–humanity gone mad–divided, violent, greedy? Because love is,by nature,irrational. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.  Continue reading

  • A New Name for God

    Every dayinvent a new name for God. Every dayfind another wayto voice your experience of the eternal. Death comeswhen you cease reachingfor the horizon that leads you onwardto speak in as yet unknown tongues. Don't resistand don't be afraid. Text… Continue reading