Miraculous to Me

There are many things in life that are nothing short of miraculous;
To believe in miracles does one have to believe in a personal god?
Can't we believe in Divine Energy without putting on a face or name?

Whether we call that Energy Great Spirit, Yahweh, Allah, or God,
Whether we see The Spirit in sunshine, trees, man, woman, or child
All Divine Energy with any name or face, in essence, is still the same.

We rejoice in a new baby as it wakes to the wide world;
We thrill to the words of the poets and prophets sharing visions;
We are exalted by the music from souls who hear heavenly melodies.

The blooming in spring, dying in fall, and the long sleep of winter;
The food planting, the growing, the cooking, and the eating;
We celebrate Life's Holy Spirit in each small part of these.

Don't tell me that it's not God in the brilliant red of a maple leaf;
Don't say that my precious innocent newborn is born in sin;
I feel The Spirit in every breath and every cycle of life and death.

The awe of simply waking in the morning brings me to my knees,
With the absolute wonder of the Miraculous Energy around me.
I am often so overwhelmed, I silently pray to give my soul a rest.

Blood and Belonging

It is not only blood that defines who we are;
We pick up parts of others from near and far.
All of theses pieces make up the whole,
And help in the process of molding a soul.

Family is not always there to protect each other;
History is full of brothers who kill their brothers.
There is much about parents who sacrifice their young;
These are not families to which I want to belong.

Blood line can mean little when there is disagreement
On the very reason each of us, to earth, was sent.
The values that we follow once we reach maturity
Will define the family in which we choose to be.

In Love with Love

I guess I am in love with love. Why else would I still fall in?
Every time I see my husband's smile, it all begins again.
I am the same way about my children and their kids
I feel as great a love for them today as I ever did.

There are certain friends and some of my close relations
That cause me to feel the same sense of immense elation.
It hurts the most in love when we give some of ourselves
But the loved doesn't allow any of themselves to, in us, dwell.

Expressed emotion scares those who see love as simply action,
And don't trust feelings that are based on mutual attraction.
While it is true that all fires of passion wax and wane,
Truly committed love will always remain the same.

I believe that passion and commitment can exist together.
For me, the many ways of expressing love feels better
Than silently doing all the things that must be done.
Commitment shouldn't preclude having a bit of fun.

"Let the good times roll," is part of Louisiana life.
"Work hard; play harder," is our response to strife.
We laugh hard, and cry hard, and love just the same
We hold little back very while we, on this earth, remain.

When Did She Become a Woman?

My baby girl is forty-one today, but she's still a baby to me.
I know she's a matriarch to others, but my child is what I see.
It was a surprise to hear from someone she's a middle-aged woman,
That surely we've outgrown mother/ daughter, and are now friends.

I always thought I could make that leap and see her as my peer,
But she has so many superior qualities that I hold most dear.
She became my best friend so many years and so many lives ago,
I have never been strong enough to be the friend to whom she'd go.

I am so grateful that she has found others to be her confidants;
To give our children freedom of choice is what a parent really wants.
But my soul and heart still cry whenever I know she is in great pain;
There are many times I wish I could shelter her with my womb again.

I am concerned how she will fare when her baby walks away;
She has given so much of herself that, for her wholeness, I pray.
Without her presence in my daily life, I was so severely bereft;
Perhaps she will hold it together better than I did when she left.

Maybe eighteen is no more the age at which we set our young free;
Maybe this is too young for them to be who they're meant to be.
Maybe we have more years of innocence with our dear children;
Time when they can be both our sheltered children and our friends.

A Sister Tree and Me

My father used to say about his hormonal teenagers that we were "in love with love." It is true that the letting go of parts of oneself and putting new parts from others in the place of our old selves is quite exhilarating. Much of that exhilaration is actually anxiety that is a natural reaction to foreign entries into ourselves. Anxiety and lust are what we often call love because we are addicted to excitement. Love really means giving a part of oneself to another and taking a part of another into oneself. How carelessly we throw these words and our own bodies and souls around.

A good gardener looks for compatible stock before joining the two to one source of life. Love takes time to grow, just as a graft to a tree takes time to become part of that life system. And without a strong and compatible root system, the graft cannot flourish. You cannot succeed in grafting an apple to a banana tree. How foolish we are to imagine that we can create good grafts of ourselves with others without knowing anything of the habits and the seasons of the other.

All grafts begin with an "excitement" of cells that causes either permanent bonding or rejection. The graft is not successful until this "excitement" has subsided. Once the stress of introduction of the "life blood" of each being introduced into the other is complete, a new entity is formed.

When I met my childhood friend for the first time, I was mesmerized. Here was somebody who looked like me with her blond hair, flashing eyes, and ready laugh. Her family, like mine, was Catholic. It was "love at first sight." My six-year-old self decided that she was my sister, but the graft didn't take. We both grew up to be strong trees, standing straight and tall, but it didn't seem that our root stock could ever create a successful new entity.

We have decided to reclaim each other and have opened ourselves to learning the others habits and seasons. We are exhilarated by each others presence, but the process is anxiety producing. We are finding much in our values that seems to be compatible, even though we approach life from very different angles. We both seem to have our own strong root stock, so we will probably never be grafted one to the other for survival. But it sure is nice to have a neighboring tree that can sometime shade me and that I can sometime shade. We are both much enriched by the parts of each other that are becoming parts of ourselves.

Use It; Don't Abuse It

It is now official, I'll soon, once again, be unemployed;
I got my hopes up a bit about continuing what I enjoyed.
To have been hired permanently would be most enjoyable;
I've earned good money and been updated as employable.
But there are perks to having some time off between jobs;
I can catch up with friends and help others through life's slogs.

And, after all, summer's coming with grandchildren's vacations;
These are times they and their moms have little obligation.
I may do some granny camp by my son's swimming pool;
My youngest granddaughter still seems to think her granny's cool.
Maybe we'll convince her aunt and cousin to spend time with us
I could even keep one granddaughter here, if her mother doesn't fuss.

There are so many grandmother things that I'd still like to do,
But times with these busy, accomplished children are too few.
Working has been a way to earn money for our family  fun,
And, with too much idle time, I wasn't enjoying what I had become.
Maybe I will see a way to work only when it's convenient for me;
When my friends and family have time and call, I will still be free.

What a blessing it is to find ways to use
The talents that one doesn't want to abuse.
I have often seen many management opportunities
As a way to get others into doing what bullies please.
Charisma can be used to bring personal gain;
It can also draw in volunteers to be trained.

Every gift we're given can be used for greed or balance.
I am so very grateful that I have been given chances.
To hone the skills that my mother thought were arrogance
And use them to help worthy causes to secure their stances.
It is serving me well that I have learned to ask for assistance
Not for me, but for those who may encounter resistance.

Sometime it is possible to have our cake and eat it too,
If we don't limit ourselves to only one thing we can do.
My body wore out, so catering became too painful;
I still had management skills for work that was gainful.
Now my organizational skills, coupled with fundraising
Allow me to find employers who think I'm worth engaging.
 

Scripture and The Spirit

The writing of sacred words rarely conveys their full meaning;
Without seeing the eyes of the writer, how can we know of their truth?
If one has ever attempted to express love or anguish in a letter,
We know that even tears on the page can't fully express what we feel.

I see much sacred scripture "written" on the faces of many
Who welcome me kindly when I enter the rooms where they dwell.
This connection, more than their words, imparts their Holy Spirit
Into the farthest depths of my body, my brain, my heart, and my soul.

Even those tormented by demons nipping at their psyches,
Sometimes have a spark of joy leap when we enter their lives.
As long as there's an ember of Spirit still silently burning,
The warmth of another's caring can slowly bring it to full flame.

Perhaps words can act as the breath that will fan the flames,
But they are not sufficient without the warmth's close proximity.
From the time of birth, we are hungry for comforting touch,
And tastes, and smells. This is why we need physical intimacy.

I pray that my friends who are grounded in a greater god
Don't ever get tired of dragging my weary soul from the abyss.
I simply can't seem to stop myself from emotionally nursing others;
I need the nourishment of their souls to make me whole again.