larger than this
A god whom we set up as
consistent
is thereby unable to respond
A god whom we set up as
omnipotent
is thereby unable to know us weak
The really real is somehow
larger than this
:- Doug.
Archive for the 'Conversations' Category
the center & the circumference
the center &
the circumference
unlimited
unreachable
touching & touchable
yet we assign names
to this mystery
:- Doug.
What does that say?
Is G*d the boss
who keeps it all running?
Or the all that
keeps loving?
Or something
larger still?
Even if we’ve made up
our own pictures
of divinity
we are still mostly good
to one another
loving one another
incapable of living alone
always trying to make
the world better:
What does that say
about the really real,
the all that
embraces us?
:- Doug.
Silence the word-making
Can you pray without words?
Silence the word-making
in your brain?
With reality just
be?
:- Doug.
Find happiness
When we live beyond ourselves
our little crises, worries and troubles
& weave our humanity
into others’ lives
we find happiness
:- Doug.
Preachers!
Some people need pablum
others the full fruit, grain,
flower, vegetable & juice.
Why offer only banalities?
Preachers! You have
lost our way!
You think you will
confuse your message
if you make it larger,
really real.
Your puny sheltering
the message needs not.
:- Doug.
When do we ask a child?
When do we ask the child
what they want?
At the death of a guppy
a puppy
or Pappy?
:- Doug.
Conveying from people
Humans don’t so much convey
to people
as from them:
Family does not know
what is best
for their loved one;
Still, they have
—beneath their
unbending positions—
something good in their hearts
We as helpers are called
to go to work
to help them
make conversation
to find this love
:- Doug.
Look at the tree
Look at the tree:
a seed, some roots, some leaves
then branches sprout
and limbs sprout
and twigs
and leaves
life from life just sprouts
animals including humans too
through ages of ages
life from life just sprouts
:- Doug.
Making our days worthwhile
Making our days worthwhile
—isn’t this what life needs to be about
—now & in the crisis?
:- Doug.
Assuming straight lines
Don’t assume the straight line. Twenty-Six years ago I prepared a Will for Mom and Dad. Six years ago Mom and Dad had a Will prepared by another—normally I would surmise I had lost these clients forever. But no. Yesterday, child and grandchild came to me to help Dad who is now in nursing home. The future, as well as the past spirals, goes up and down, sometimes returning to the beginning. Don’t assume the straight line.
:- Doug.
The silent vow
Don’t put off “until the time” sharing what you want when seriously ill: if you can converse at that time, it may happen that no one will want to break the silent vow of “keep life going.” You can exercise reverence for life better when the pressure is off.
:- Doug.
The pond is ever the pond
The pond is ever the pond
reflecting snow in winter
grass in summer
buildings, trees, leaves or no
different water every minute
wind at times ripples the surface
or makes wavelets
or its surface becomes flat as glass
yet
a mystery—
the pond is ever the pond
:- Doug.
tracks in the snow
tracks in the snow
where squirrels ran
from tree to tree
at least some of it
must have been play
:- Doug.
Mama Maphosela
Mama Maphosela took in twenty children so far
whose parents died of HIV/AIDS
push back the kitchen table
to make places to sleep
these little ones had no where else to go
so her “Yes” materializes a haven
love-in-this-place-and-now
:- Doug.
