Before I came to this patch of
land and built this
small, round house, I
didn’t really
understand what it meant “to
have and to hold.”
Wedded to this
land now, and held
by water, trees and sky, I can
hold for others
while they put down
their roots and grow.
JDG
Everywhere we look, there’s red, green
and gold – signals
that the season
is about to
change. Now’s the time for slowing down,
for putting on
the brakes, for coming
to a gentle
stop, for pausing to give thanks. It
won’t be long before
these signals change
and we’ll move on.
JDG
Her questions take me deeper than
I thought to go.
What often starts
as judgment or
complaint, slowly intertwines with
her inquiring
words to form a
rope. Grabbing hold,
I descend into dimensions
unexplored before
until I reach
a place of grace.
JDG
Just when I needed them, Wendell
Berry’s words reached
out to me: “It
may be that when
we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun
our real journey.”
Always before,
I had a sense which road to take,
but now it seems
both sense and road
have disappeared.
Basic training in letting go
is what I’ll need
as I begin
this last journey.
JDG
What I didn’t know when I first
began to write
was this: having
nothing to say
could be an opening, rather
than a closing;
a beginning
instead of an
end. It meant I had to listen
with new ears, look
with fresh eyes and
begin from here.
JDG
The learned mathematician
summed up the need
for subtraction
when he said, ” I
must be willing to give up what
I am in order
to become what
I will be.” This
higher math calls for an approach
anathema
to all who shun
uncertainty.
JDG
Wrapped loosely in soft silence, I
sit, slipping in
and out of sleep,
savoring this
moment before sun or kids or
dogs awake, when
the only things
stirring are my
own half-formed thoughts. The day will start
soon enough, but
for now I’m held
in quiet’s arms.
JDG
Robins fill the sky, signaling
winter’s rapid
approach. Just one
day ago, some
tiny snow flakes fell and I scraped
the first frost from
the car’s window.
We all prepare
in our own way for the coming
cold. Some fly south;
others stay and
seek warmth within.
JDG
Standing in line on election
day, listening
to a guy speak
with such anger
and disdain for my party and
my candidates
and feeling my
own anger rise,
I asked myself, “What can I do
right here, right now
to help us both?”
Taking a breath,
I silently began to pray,
“May he be well.
May I be well.
May all be well.”
Miracles did not occur, but
as I spoke those
words, I felt my
own tension ease.
JDG
When his garbage disposal broke.
my friend fumed, his
mind consumed with
thoughts of lousy
timing, inconvenience, and cost.
Then, from somewhere,
came another
thought: “What you have
is a first world problem.” Grateful
for a wider view,
he disposed of
earlier thoughts.
JDG
