FootprintsintheWind.com

Sparkles grow
Out of the rich dark
And the dark comprehends not
Yet the light is of the dark
Rich
Clouds carry bacteria
To build the earth, the humus
To fertilize
We are darkness
We are light
How can we comprehend?
Our richness
Moth flies to flame
Is safe for moth becomes flame
The light needs the dark
But does not comprehend

:- Doug.

Loves conflict
That’s what loves do
When they get busy loving

:- Doug.

My hands are true
My head is befuddled
But my heart is in love with G*d!

:- Doug.

Conflicts are based in love! Who wudda thunkt?

We want to accomplish good in love and someone has a different idea or outright opposes us. Their love might be of others or of self alone, if that is even possible. They might want to preserve their heritage—which is love of tribe. They might want to fight the infidels, which is love for those in fidelity. The love might be warped, misshapen, but it is still love. Conflict is love. They are contraries, as in Blake’s system. The opposite of conflict is not caring, being unaffected, untouched.

:- Doug.

We can do more, we can be more, how?

:- Doug.

Metaphor is all about us: the open skies—or closed over—the breeze, the green open spaces, the roads leading us to the future—one future only—rows of chairs facing the only person whose message matters, the height of the chairs in the council and board chambers. All these things convey a message we always catch. It is so strong and subtle, we surprise ourselves when we say it out loud.

Saying it out loud is a radical, rebellious act, something that will get me thrown out of the room. It may in fact close down the conversation as much as it opens it. A 50/50 chance at a necessary conversation is better than none. But is there a better way? Can we be kind about it? Sure. Seek it out. Tease it out. Invent.

The prophetic voice can be soft and kindly.

:- Doug.

Caring for the world, ourselves
Coming again into our strength

:- Doug.

The metaphor is the message
The metaphor carries the futures
Changeable only in the Now

:- Doug.

A dream inspires me—
Fire has destroyed their theatre
But to celebrate and thank us
People of the theatre are setting up chairs
To put on a show for our community
In the face of the delivered blow
To dance in mourning celebration
Giving

:- Doug.

We have come to think
Control is the antidote to fear
When something quite opposite is true:
Love is fear’s antidote, opening our fists
& arms

:- Doug.

You ripen

:- Doug.

Bicycles along the precipice
Breath-taking the view & beautiful
Our speed increases as down we go
Miles & miles we head into the sunny valley
Or we perish
Steer we must & carefully

:- Doug.

Are you switching your camera on?
Without we see once
With we see twice
& can share—doubling joy

:- Doug.

If we don’t, we miss out
If we do, we’re possible.

:- Doug.

The line between being and doing begins to fade when you look at the skies and the world: the clouds are moving, the wind is always breathing, sighing, blowing, plants are growing, people are moving about: to be is to do. Does this make sense in other languages, other cultures? In adjectival-oriented languages, perhaps to be is to modify.

:- Doug.

Footprints in the Wind^sm # 896

Small Unauthorized Acts make the world better.

Please pass it on.

© c 2008, Learning Works, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Easy reprint permissions: 574/291-0022, or by e-mail to mailto:Doug AT FootprintsInTheWind.com. Back issues available at http://www.FootprintsintheWind.com

What do you dream for our world, for our community, for our now? What larger things could we be doing? How could we work on this financial issue locally? Or global warming? What are our opportunities for social and economic well-being?

:- Doug.

To true a board is to make its edges at right angles to itself. So too we need to make our edges to our own self true.

:- Doug.

What do you wish for your mate, your daughter, your son, your grandchildren, our world? Just here, stay.

:- Doug.

God bless to us this bread—
And help us give bread to all those who are hungry
And hunger for justice to those who are fed
God bless to us this bread
[Brazilian folk song adapted]

:- Doug.

Go out into your heart
Wind, ice, man walks alone
Down empty streets for eons
Any price for what is real

:- Doug.

I work with death and life and global warming and will there even be a world where the money we leave to our grandchildren will make any difference?

:- Doug.

Who could think of things more vastly different than eggs and flour and yeast and time and heat? And yet bringing them together makes bread. Or yeast and grains and water to make parties? We live by diversity, but not by diversity alone.

:- Doug.