disturbances and Convergences

waking up already

feeling like Earth

is shaking up

and breaking apart

from a bludgeoned

and broken Heart

quaking in fear

of what might

disappear from sight

amidst threats spoken

in counterfeit bravado

and ostentatious audacity

(and dangerously pretentious

and misguided 'spirituality')

to keep Us

blinded by fright

basic Human Rights

being systematically denied

whilst overstuffed pockets

are relentlessly lined

with riches propitiously

and maliciously mined

from the sockets

of languishing limbs

and extracted eyes

sucking the marrow

out of skeletal

remains of Humanity

in this calamity

of harrowing disturbance

of the Force

how much more

insanity can we

Hope to survive?

maybe by making 

up our Minds

and harkening our

Hearts and opening

up our Souls

and relinquishing all

illusions of control

and leaning in

to the more

Essential Elemental Reality

that not only

maintains our sanity

but also reverberates

with Riches extravagantly 

and Graciously shared

as Naturally as

the rolling Waves

the towering Trees

the mystifying Mountains

the shimmering Skies

showering down Rays

of Resilient Radiance

waking Us All

ready to return

in faithful recurrence

to the Source

of our Centered

Peace and Strength

the Silence that

silences the violence

that suffocates Us

helping Us face

whatever awaits Us

(whether it be

a caustic insurgence

or Cosmic Convergence) 

with calm Courage

and gratuitous Grace

reminding Us that

it is always

better to Love

than be 'right'

and this Love

is what empowers

Us to persist

and resist and

persevere through fear

all the Way

to the End

of the Line

knowing through all

the terrorizing turbulence 

of despair there 

is an Uprising 

Emergence of Hope

and however tight

our Hearts might

become it's gonna

Be All Right

since We have

been Created with

the surprising Capacity

to not only

endure but endear

to not merely

survive but Thrive...

#300wordprayers #SeeingTheViolenceWithinAndAroundUsAndListeningToTheSilence #FumblingMyWayThroughDespairAndStumblingOntoHope #TravelingWilburysFTW 

('Samhain' - gathering of all Creation in the 'Thin Space of Spirit' © Elin Manon)

for All (Veterans Day 2024)

as We remember

All who refused

to surrender Hope

in the face

of bleak despair

and confronted death

for the sake

of preserving Life

for fellow Beloveds

(even as They

may now wonder

what Their Sacrifices

were all for

as we blunder

down a pathway

away from Peace

and Liberty and

Justice for All

and towards the

kind of autocracy

from which our

forebears Faithfully sought

to protect Us

as they fought

for fragile Freedom)

may We not

only Celebrate Them

and Venerate Them

but also allow

Their Humbly Courageous

Character to become

a contagious Catalyst

to Generate new

Energy for Engagement

with Each Other

bridging our estrangement

from Each Other

and Our World

seeing Each Other

not as strangers

but as Friends

forging a more

Expansive and Inclusive

Expression of Democracy

with renewable Power

for perpetual Peace

with attainable Equity

and sustainable Equality

and Liberty and

Justice for All

and may Our

Lives reflect Their

Respect for All

and embody Their

Courage for All

that can enable

and empower Our

Service to All

anticipating and Incarnating

that Glorious Day

when all that

was painfully wrought

engenders all fighting

and inciting and

abhorring and warring

to Cease...

Let It Be.

#200wordprayers #VeteransDay2024 #ThanksToAllWhoGaveAllForAll #MayFightingForPeaceBecomeAThingOfThePast #MayAllWarsCease

('Peace Soldier', artist unknown)

rEvolving towards Rising

the Sun appearing

in the Sky

now causes tearing

in my eyes

since the World

keeps on revolving

even as We

are seemingly devolving

allowing our fearing

of the Other

to rule the Day

enabling our sneering

at the Other

and cheering it

in hateful ways

like star-bellied Sneetches

bellowing with glee(ches)

wallowing like leeches

believing that We

are the 'best'

on the Beaches

swallowing the snakeoil

of imaginary superiority

and reaping repercussions

in fateful ways

that very well

may lead Us

to rue the Day

that at least

some of Us

freely voted Freedom

and Conscience away

and buried them

in a tomb

as stone-cold hardened

as our hearts

leaving Us fumbling

in the Dark

mumbling our pleas

for any Spark

to ease uncertainties

by Mystically appearing

whilst fearfully forgetting

the rumbling Reality

within the Soil

and our Somas

and our Souls

as invisibly irrepressible

as the Beating

of Our Hearts

and the Breathing

of Our Beings

the irresistible Rhythm

reminding us that

each and every

One of Us

are already Stars

Shining the Light

of the World

Incandescently and Incarnationally

and most often

the only Light

that we can see

in the Darkness

is the Light

in Each Other

Gracing this Night

of our Souls

with Radiant Rays

Enlightening our Roads

towards true Freedom

facing our fright

in Faithful Ways

Lightening our loads

of sordid shame

Clearing our Sight

to view the Day

as a Womb

with new Hope

that ancient Light

(waiting to Emerge

through patient strife)

and Abundant Life

centered in Love

of All Others

(Transcending and Embracing

all fear-based scare-cities)

will Humbly Arise

and Triumphantly Surprise

each and every

One of Us...

Let It Be.

#280wordprayers #Seven40WordPrayersInOne #NeedingEverySingleOne #SeeTheLight #BeTheLight #ThreadTheLight #SpreadTheLight #HeresToTheSurprisingLeadingToTheArising

Some...and More of Us (A Prayer for These Times...and All Times)

When some of Us hate, may more of Us Love.

When some of Us curse, may more of Us Bless.

When some of Us hurt, may more of Us Heal.

When some of Us divide, may more of Us Unite.

When some of Us rage, may more of Us Calm.

When some of Us deny, may more of Us Affirm.

We are Bearers of the Light.

We need not be afraid of darkness.

May We carry on our work

as Stewards of this Earth

and All of Her Children.

May We simply Be Who We Are...

Beacons of Hope and Peace and Love...

for that is Who Spirit Created Us to Be.

(inspired by Steven Charleston, Episcopal Bishop and Indigenous Elder of the Choctaw Nation)

#Election2024 #LetThereBePeaceOnEarthAndLetItBeginWithUs 

from hiding to Abiding

with Storms swirling

and Tides twirling 

and Winds whirling

and howling around 

and within me

(less like growling

wolves and more

like scowling serpents)

leaving me worrying

with fears flurrying

and regrets roaring

not only about

the chaotic countries

and catatonic churches

but our constructs

as a whole

(along with our 

wholly haggard Home)

grumbling and crumbling

their way to

extinction and destruction

a solitary Seagull

came soaring by

without a care

on the fly

followed amazingly by

a rebellious Rainbow

on a dare

sneaking Its way

into the Sky

which caught me

off-guard and open

to surprising Wonder

(amidst uncertain weather

and threatening thunder)

and a Space

to mindfully remember

and prayerfully ponder...

with a safe

and Sacred Companion

ever-present to hear

my tearful confiding

why am i

still fearfully hiding?

in the midst

of the unceasingly

virulent (even violent)

polarizing and demonizing

abounding in propaganda 

surrounding our deciding

why aren't i

just Peacefully Abiding?

maybe if i

allow the Storms

to simply be

and Breathe more

deeply and fully

through my fearing

a Cosmic Clearing

may Silently remove

my fearful blinders

as a reminder

that the River 

is always flowing

to the Sea

(and the Sea

refuses no River)

and the Wind

drives detritus away

even as It

lifts Seagulls up

(and also Spirits)

into the sweet

By and By

and the Light

(of the World,

in the Sky)

is always there

behind the grey

beyond the fray

and through our

worries and fears

It always Appears...

Thanks.

#250wordprayers #InPolarizingAndAnxiousTimesMayPeaceBeyondOurUnderstandingAbide #BreathingAndBeingInGraceAndPeace #Election2024andMoreAroundOurWorld #PeteTownsendRamDassAndTheChristFTW

Driftwood on Nye Beach

as one approaches it

from North headed South

looks like a Lioness

protecting her nascent Cubs

whilst scanning the Savannahs

for any potential threats

to their nurtural safety

but as one encroaches

on farther and further 

Her majestic appearance transforms

gradually and most Miraculously

into a courageous Lamb

similarly assessing her surroundings

for any predatory perpetrators

and ready to defend

her precious little Lambs

(even to the point

of being wounded Herself)

reminding any marauding raiders

of the lost art

of nourishing their Beloveds

without defrauding another Flock

(which rouses the Waves

into a cacophonous chorus

of howling, hallowed Hallelujahs)

both Lioness and Lamb

taking care, taking stock

amidst the specieal shock

of how two Nurturers

so naturally different could

Embody the Maternal Spirit

(even as they are

merely made of wood)

as still yet sentient

Beings who illogically Incarnate

the Untamed Heart and

Unlimited and Universal Love

of their Infinite Creator

as unique Entities with

uncommon identities who are

in Essence and Evanescence

One and the Same...

Thank You.

#170wordprayers #OpticalIllusionsCanCreateMysticalAllusionsAndSpiritualRevolutions #YouStareAtTooMuchConcreteYouForgetTheEarthIsAlive #WeAreAllMadeOfTheSameElementsAndEssence #WeAreLoved #WeAreLove #WeAreOne

behind the Curtain

returnin' from Sojournin'

behind the Curtain

and peelin' back

those impenetrable corners

between Time imminent

and Time immemorial

and reelin' in

the years former

and fears infernal

and seein' dear

Beloveds who once

mastered their destinies

now being mastered

by Life's simplicities

hurtin' and uncertain

astonishing accomplishments

which emerged

from Cosmic confidence

now distant memories

benignly blurred

by infuriating incontinence

articulately artistic eloquence

once as Natural

as Water Flowing

through endless days

and Wonder Showing

in endless rays

despairingly deterred

by cranial complexities

and inevitable mortalities

(Now or Whenever

the Piper Plays)

tired and perspired

groveling and grunting

through perpetual pains

yet inspired by

the Radiant Resilience

and Extraordinary Courage 

during and emerging

through Ordinary Motions

and defiant Devotions

shoveling sludgy Soil

over rudimental Remains

flinging ailing limbs

whilst singing Eternal

and Revelational Hymns

juxtaposing the Sacred

and the Profane

the Mysteriously Mystical

and the Mundane

supposing them One

and the Same

Dust and Stardust

Dirt and Divinity

boring patiently through

the Essentially Elemental

whilst soaring through

an Incandescent Infinity

and hurtling through

the Illuminating Darkness

of limitless Space

and remembering how

the Temporal and

the Eternal converge

in the Incarnal

and how Death

is a Passageway

to Life Unimaginable 

and how Mysteries

hidden in histories

(personal and collective)

can be revealed

as a Source

from which wounds

(sublimely incurred

and Divinely endured

behind the Curtain)

can be Healed...

Thanks.

#230wordprayers #SacredSpaceAndTranscendentTimesWithBelovedsBehindTheOrangeCurtain #TheTiesThatBindUsTogetherAsOneAreMysteriousAndMagnificent #LikeThePresenceBehindTheCurtainBetweenTimeAndEternity

('Behind the Curtain' © Banksy)