The 60-Second Sabbath

Mindfulness

  • Between

    Between your current exhalationand the inhalation to followis a brief momentwhen your breathing stops. (There, it just happened.Were you aware?) Imagine that moment of no breathas the pause of possibility. (It just happened again.) Your life began with an inhalationand… Continue reading

  • Waiting for the Mud to Settle

    She sits in silence,waiting for the mud to settle,the water to clear. It takes awhilebut it happens,and at the bottom of the poolshe sees a pearl,and a small, teary-eyed monster, all out of breath,mother's cameo broach lost in '82,a broken… Continue reading

  • Just for Today

    Just for todaystop trying to get somewhere.Stop wanting anything in particular. Instead,experience where you are.Experience who you are. Just for today,let the mud settle.Let the water clear. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Remembering and Discovering at the Same Time

    I am an admirer of the poet David Whyte. Even when David speaks about poetry, it is poetry. Listen to some of the ways he describes the art of the poem: remembering and discovering at the same time a conversation… Continue reading

  • Look Up

    Within your perceptual fielda noxious concept takes root.It's all your awareness can see,an obsession that batters your heart. Look up. It's only one weed in a meadow of blooms,one prickly but singular plant.Stretching for miles are blossoms of dawn:all yours… Continue reading

  • I Sit

    Often, words are not the needed thing. Continue reading

  • Already Present

    God is already presentand always will be.My prayer won't change that.My praise won't change that. I open my eyes:    He is there.I open my cupboard:    She is there.I open my front door:    It is there.I open:    All is there. Text and image © 2011… Continue reading

  • Your One Life

    You have established your one life;have you secured itor skewered it? This midwinter warmup,this promising breeze(a premature escapee of spring)urges:"Cut loose!Cut yourself loose!" Whose voice is this, really?If the voice of God, hoist anchor.If your soul, pull up the stakes.If… Continue reading

  • Good Day

    I accomplished much today.The western sky turns a satisfying golden pink.The crowns of neighborhood oaks and elms, summer-full,darken into rolling hillstoward which crows arc and caw.Everything heads home. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading

  • Jeremy’s Wisdom

    Do you know someone like this? "I don't really have anything to say to you, so…here's some words…" Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading