Spirituality
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Penitence
P is for presuming I've compassion.E is for the envy that I feel.N is the nursing of depression.I is for the innocence I steal.T is for the time I keep on wasting.E is for each moment lived in fear.N is… Continue reading
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Amma, Abba, Beloved, Spirit
To these I relate as I meditate: Amma, Abba, Beloved, Spirit. These I repeat when I sense defeat: Amma, Abba, Beloved, Spirit These I breathe as I grace receive: … Continue reading
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Deep Within
Deep within this pile of moulding leaves,pungent with the smell of autumn's rot,lies a meaning mine alone to find.I grip my pen, my spade, and dig in hasteand race the dusk that settles too soon in the day,and fear the… Continue reading
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My Sacred Space
Welcome! You have just enteredmy sacred space,my sanctuary,my holy of holies. Into my spaceyou bring your own opinions, dreams, fears,doubt, anger, wonder… So in a sense,my sacred space has now becomes yours as well.What happens when our sacred spaces mingle?What… Continue reading
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Abraham and Isaac
The most powerful storiesare the ones from which we instinctively recoil.Take, for example,Abraham's call to sacrifice his son, Isaac–this is meant to be a doorway to the sacred? It's a doorway to an empty elevator shaft. Who is God?What is… Continue reading
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Going Numb
I am pressed to the bedby a curled catdreaming, whisker-twitching on my lap. Who am I to disturbsuch safety, such warmth? Perhaps he is in cahoots with the Beloved:I'm to pen one last poem,excavate one final, pithy observation,extend my silence through… Continue reading
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The Cathedral
In this foreign, colonial square,amid fountains and pigeons,a sudden rainherds us to sanctuaryin the silent narthexof the town's old cathedral. Instantlywe transform from tourists to penitents–hushed, awed, immortal. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
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Love
As Christian young people,we sang "Kum Ba Yah" and "Pass It On." We also sang: "Love, love, love, love–the gospel in a word is love.Love you neighbor as your brother.Love, love, love, love." What we did not sing,but is implied:"Love… Continue reading
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The Light that Comes from Us
This evening,let's sit in silence as the sun sets,leave off the lamps,let the room be lit,only by the light that comes from us. As our eyes adjust,we'll discover our glowis bright enough to find our wayacross the room,down the hall,to… Continue reading
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Are You Free?
What qualities of your motherhave you absorbed into your personality?And have you done so by choice? What values of your fatherhave you incorporated into your worldview?And have you done so by choice? What teachings of your childhood faithhave you blended… Continue reading