On Prayer and Beauty

I’m totally lifting from a friend, Katharine Weinmann’s recent blog post. She wrote on alchemy, which is a topic and focus that I find very attractive and helpful. Take some time to read her post — I love her thoughtfulness and heartfulness.

What I’m lifting are two short poems. The first my Mary Oliver.

“Praying. It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, 
it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; 
just pay attention, then patch a few words together 
and don’t try to make them elaborate, 
this isn’t a contest but the doorway into thanks, 
and a silence in which another voice may speak.”

I love the way that Mary Oliver pulls us into the sacred and the noticeable through the ordinary and sometimes not-super-noticeable. “It could be weeds….”

Because, I find that I’m a student of noticing rather profound things through such normal things. The green tomatoes that are now reaching for the lessened sun of autumn with 50/50 chance of ripening to red on the vine. Ah, the journey of ripening in any of us to become what we are meant to be, or to discover that we are meant for other things too. Or, the normal of the small amount of leftover pasta that now becomes mid day meal. Ah, sustenance. Or, ah, using what is available in a simple way. Or, ah, the corn ready to be picked in late summer. Ah, fruition. Or fulfillment. Or simple offering that is a couple ears of corn for any of us.

“…it isn’t a contest but the doorway into thanks…”

And then this short poem, again lifted form Katharine’s post, from Rumi the 13th century Persian poet,

Let the beauty that you love be what you do.

Oh, to further clarify our lives, any of us, as further commitment to beauty, love, and doing. There is a discipline in this, right. I kind of joyous discipline to first notice what we love (or find love in what is ordinary), and then to do it through love.

Like tending to the garden patch overrun with those now grown tall weeds that are going to seed. There can be love and beauty in that. Like offering format and design for an upcoming gathering of ten people on a team, that are seeking to reconnect with the heart of their work and the hearts of themselves.

Let the beauty that you love be what you do.

Love and beauty seem to have much to do with alchemy. Turning straw or lead to gold. In the inner and in the outer. In the times that we live in. I have the feeling each of us can be helpful by starting with love and beauty, making it what we do in the great changes about us.

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Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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In My Nature
is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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