The 60-Second Sabbath

Stillness

  • This Quiet

    This quietembraces,wraps me in stillness; in our new spaceI welcome silence,long-lost friend,and hear thingsfor the first time– the metal wall clock that I purchaseda decade agoticks audibly–tick, tick, tick, tick;ten years passedwithout hearingits heartbeat– when the cats pad across the… Continue reading

  • Life is the strugglebetween Ego and Stillness. Chin up, my friend:Stillness wins. Or more precisely,only Stillness is.  Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Pinning Blame

    Who's responsible for this mess?     The "mess" in question is me. Who's to blame?Someone must pay!     Who is it    that wants    to pin the blame? Is it Stillnessor is it Ego?     Why… Continue reading

  • The Monkey and the Tree

    Your thoughtschatter like a monkey. You are not the monkey. You are themagnificent,stately,ancient tree,reaching to the clouds,rooted in the earth,offering shade,silent,strongand wise, through whose branchesraces the monkey. Shrug your massive branches,and let the monkey fall to the forest floor.He is… Continue reading

  • Maundy Thursday, 2013

        She huddles on the shore,feet buried in moist sand,cold to the bone, but rooted.     The waves pull at each other,slide up and over rocks,recoil and echo,slosh and hiss.     She feels awash and adrift,tasting a salt seabroader and deeperthan human need.  … Continue reading

  • Glamourpuss

    This catgives new meaningto the wordglamourpuss. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Today’s Assignment

    Look steadily into the eyesof any animalwilling to accept your gaze. Be still there. What is to be known?What do you learn about yourself?What is revealed of God?  Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading

  • Empty

    "This morning,"she said,hands wrapped for warmtharound her coffee cup,"I woke up empty." "Empty?" he asked,spoonful of All-Branhalfway to his mouth."Empty as in…how?"For him,empty could be good, like Zen:    open,    clear,    ready.Or empty could be sad, like death: … Continue reading

  • Where Emptiness Leads

    early morning darknesshouse chill from winter's nighthe sits on the couchalone, sadtentatively tasting an emptinesshe can't yet labelhe waits for the padded arms of the couchto wrap and hold himassure him the emptinesswhatever it iswill passor fillor perhaps take himsomewhereanywhereinto… Continue reading

  • Yin-Yang

    I come upon the cats,sleeping as you see below–"yin-yang," I describe it,all things in balance,passive and active,female and male,nurture and creativity,earth and sky. Something in their naturally posed stillness,which I observe at least once a week,speaks to me of the… Continue reading