hope
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MLK, Denver, 2012
"We are in this together,"read the placard.And we were:black, white, Korean, Hispanic,Baptist, Methodist, Christian, Muslim,students and the aged (with canes),dreadlocks and crewcuts,Up with People and down with the system,male, female, gay, straight–an unlikely mix of one,just as God dreamed us. And… Continue reading
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Give Birth!
Enwombing what the world wants(compassion, reconciliation, acceptance, hope),we approach our due date. Give birth! Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
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To Change the World
To acknowledge life's sadness is not to be conquered by it.One can nod one's head to the inevitability of loss,but turn and embrace grace, compassion, hope, joy… This is the course of those who change the world–and the world yet to come. Text… Continue reading
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Shutting Down the Device
"Are you sure you want to shut down the device?" That's the question asked of meby my Sony e-Reader.And for a momentI'm not sure how to respond–it sounds so final:"…shut down the device?"It has the feeling of dissolution and death:"Are… Continue reading
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The Deeper, Truer Reality
At timesthe evil in the world overwhelms me. I stand in awe of thosewho continue to stand in hope. I know hope comes from deeper truth,but that deep truthcan be so obscured,so pressed down,so weightedby greed, fear, alienation and hate,so… Continue reading
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He Calls Our Names
He stands on the platform,barely visible nowthrough the smoke that wreaths and wraps his lean, scarred body. One by one,clean as a knife edge,he calls our names (mine, yours). Our destinies,like the smoke,like our lovingly articulated names,rise heavenward. Text and… Continue reading
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Pick Four
Pick four spiritual qualities or life attributesthat you highly value, for example:peace, wonder, love and delightor hope, compassion, joy and contentment.Write these down. Now combine these four qualitiesinto a simple prayer/intention for yourself:"May I know peace, wonder, love and delight."Repeat this many times in the… Continue reading
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Christmas Day
At the museum,a pensive Josephgazes down at his infant son,father's soft, brown beardagainst the baby's cheek,their skin impossibly smooth and porcelain fragile. Joseph's brocaded, burgundy robeembraces them both.Thin lines of gold radiate outwardfrom behind their heads,and they are framed by a rectangle… Continue reading
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Advent 14
Like Scrooge's trinity of ghosts,the Beloved takes my handand flies me skywardamong dark Winter's stars,beyond my sapped vision,beyond this succession of pea-sized moments,beyond my desk of dust and yellowing paper, endless analysis and digitized disorder…and for one brief momentreveals… Continue reading
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Advent 13
All our liveswe pursue the limitless Knower,the immense Unknown,the One to whom belongsall true knowing,simply(little selves)to know that we are known. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading