The 60-Second Sabbath

Photography

  • Halloween: Ghosts

    The woman believes in ghosts. She believes in ghosts because, each night around two in the morning, she sees them. They enter her bedroom, and, in the dim light from the streetlamp halfway down the block, she makes out their… Continue reading

  • The Love of Snow

    It is snowing–big, wet flakes coming out of a gentle, quiet, gray sky. There's no anger in this snowfall, nothing being whipped, thrown or driven. It's simply snowing. It's snowing simply. This snow invites: "Watch me," it says. "Enter me;… Continue reading

  • Drawing Lines

    When we draw lines to separate ourselves from those who are different, from those whom we don't understand, what we're really doing is protecting ourselves from our own weakness, fear and failure. But our weakness, fear and failure unite us… Continue reading

  • To See with the Eyes of the Divine

    In an often-quoted passage from the writings of Thomas Merton, he relates the following epiphany, experienced while standing on a street corner in Louisville, Kentucky: "I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they… Continue reading

  • There Are No Grown-Ups

    It took me until some time in my 40s to finally realize this: There really are no grown-ups. As a kid, of course, you think your parents are grown-ups (at least, if you've been raised in a normal, marginally functional… Continue reading

  • The Next Framework

    We each fit what we observe and experience into the framework that currently holds it together for us, until we're ready to have that framework shaken to the ground and the next one take its place. What I hope for myself… Continue reading

  • The Stillness of Snow

    He's lost, staring out at the snow falling, falling, silently falling. He's focused on the street light mid-block, its milk-white globe glowing larger than real, reaching into the surrounding snowfall to create a moon of umbrated light. The snow can… Continue reading

  • Don’t Believe Everything You Think

    That sounds simple and obvious, but it can be life-changing if you embrace it. Don't believe everything you think. Your thoughts are just that–your thoughts. They're not particularly connected with reality. You can acknowledge the thoughts, let them pass and… Continue reading

  • If Only…

    If I could just hold all insights in concsciousness. If all those "aha" moments–when vision becomes clear and a few more pieces fall into place and I stand breathless on the brink of the divine–would stay with me. If only…… Continue reading

  • Hush

    Slow down. Listen. Hush. There may never beSilence.But there will beStillness.And with stillness,Awareness.And with awareness, the opportunity forPeace. Breathe your lungs,Beat your heart,More slowly. Cease speaking, inside and out.Resist thinking.Stop writing… Text and image © 2010 by Dirk deVries. All… Continue reading