The 60-Second Sabbath

Wisdom

  • Starting Over

    I have to figure outhow to get back to the beginning,how to know thenwhat I know now. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading

  • The Family Nativity

    A few posts back (on December 27), I suggested kneeling before your home Nativity scene and imagining what each figure might have to say to you. This is a form of meditation, of opening yourself to the Divine to see… Continue reading

  • Advent 15

    I write beside our Christmas tree.Its branches embracenot only the ornaments, lights and memories,but also the mist of old souls,old souls who bring patience,wisdom, hope and comfort. One year,when my soul has ripened,it will earn its placewithin the branches,within the… Continue reading

  • What Dolores Wrote

    Somewhere in rural Nebraska,in her farmhouse kitchen,as was her custom,Dolores wrote on the square of chalkboardher axiom of the week:     We don't need more of what we've got,     we just need to be more grateful for it. Within two… Continue reading

  • “Am I Wise?” You Ask

    "Am I wise?" you ask. If you talk too long or loudly,    likely not.If you have more answers than questions,    likely not.If you seek illumination from without,    likely not.If you dance self-consciously and without abandon…        or not at all,    likely not.If you arrive… Continue reading

  • You There

    You, there–the one looking back from life's second half–What is it you see?What is it you know?What is it you understand? You have walked through transformational fire,and it has melted from your eyesthe clouded lensesthat keep me from seeingthe real,… Continue reading

  • All Fish Could Sing

    "All fish could sing," the old one saidas she scraped the scales and severed the head."They sang to each other their songs of dread,of silt, of sunlight, of someone to bed,or why the fisherman's lures of leadwere dragged through the… Continue reading

  • Dinner in Eden

    The fruitnewly, neatly peeled and sliced,fanned across the plate,waits for them. "Why not?" she asks."What possible difference could it make?" Silence. "That's the crux, isn't it?We don't know–We can't know until we know." She inhales:"It smells heavenly–both sharp and sweet–like… Continue reading

  • Let Go, Again

    I cling to what wisdom urges me to release… Continue reading

  • Old at Heart

    As I get older,please don't label me"young at heart." My goal:"old at heart"–much more valuable,way more interesting. Life lived,challenges met,lines on the face of the soul. George Bernard Shaw said,"Life should be lived in crescendo!" Always, always, always more. Text and… Continue reading