The 60-Second Sabbath

presence

  • Gentle Lunacy

    He wandered our small town'smid-century streets,disconnected wonder in his face. "A lunatic," mother said,though such gentle lunacyseemed a truer way to greet lifethan how we(busy, busy)leaped past it. Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • New Year’s Eve

    Out with the crappy,     the silly, the dumb,Out with what leaves us    so distrait and numb.In with the clearer,    the focused, the real,In with our opting    to be and to feel. Here's to less TV,   … Continue reading

  • O Antiphons: Wisdom

        O come, thou Wisdom from on high        who orderest all things mightily;    to us the path of knowledge show        and leads us in her ways to go. Wisdom approaches,and I hope, with her arrival,to walk… Continue reading

  • Haiku for the Christmas Tree

    Washed in colored lightand tears and memory, I'mundone by wonder. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Corduroy

    Was going to write something this morning,but then a cat climbs up on my lapand curls into a tight, plump, capital "C,"settling onto the brown, wide-wale corduroyof the bathrobe my mother sewed for meover thirty years ago,and then the cat… Continue reading

  • Advent Lantern

    I hold my lantern overhead,and turning, look back at the past–such darkness blocks remembrance,only pinpricks of light in a field of black. I turn to look ahead.The light of my lanterncannot penetrate the fog of future's uncertainty.I hear muffled voices;unformed… Continue reading

  • This Moment, Expanded

    Stop focusingon what's missingfrom this moment.Focus insteadon what this momentoffers:    texture    color    movement    inspiration    affection    wonder    stillness Your egowants to catalogwhat the moment lacks. Your soulwants to reveal the momentfor what it truly… Continue reading

  • This Moment

    We can critiqueeach momentfor what it lacks. Or we can embraceeach momentfor what it offers. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • All Steps on the Path

    When you realize you've stopped paying attention,you are paying attention. When you recognize you're not here,you are here. When you become aware that you're living outside of now,you've returned to now. These are steps on the path called mindfulness,on the… Continue reading

  • Undefended

    I standundefended. I cannotbut lovewhat is. What choice have Ibut to discover heavennow,here. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading