I am going to take a little time off line. The body is asking to be unplugged from the world -or at least from the flow of electronic information- for a little bit, and I have learned (the hard way) not to ignore what the body needs. In the meantime, I leave you with the latest poem I have had taped to my bathroom mirror. I do this to learn poems by heart, so I can carry them with me, so I can recite them slowly to myself as I walk through the snow. ~Oriah
The Sound of Snow
She asked me how to describe the sound
of snow falling softly in the mountains.
of snow falling softly in the mountains.
I stood among the flurries until the tears came,
until I couldn't stop them. Not even
if I’d wanted to,
until I couldn't stop them. Not even
if I’d wanted to,
and I didn’t.
And, after a good long while, I replied:
“You must let your heart break for want of love.
You must listen carefully when it does.
Whatever it is you hear then,
that is it;
That is the sound of snow falling,
softly,
in the mountains.”
© 2014-2017/Jamie K. Reaser
From "Winter: Reflections by Snowlight"
Published by Hiraeth Press
From "Winter: Reflections by Snowlight"
Published by Hiraeth Press
Another beautiful photo from Karen Davis at Open Door Dreaming.
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WONDER-full, BEautiful articulation ... of our participation in the meaning-mystery heartbreak, joy and heartache with All-That-Is. Thank you. -- rb
ReplyDeleteOriah, your thoughts carry me also to these.
ReplyDeleteDeep thanks, Ron Bell
Somehow, love has miraculously appeared on this day as your eyes, that you may see the truth. As your hands that you may touch another sweetly. As your words that you may speak kindness. And as your heart that you may offer yourself as a holding field for this weary world.
Through some unexplainable grace, you have taken birth in a dimension where love is alive. Though opening your heart can be devastating at times—though you feel so raw now, so tender, so vulnerable, and so groundless—you know you are meant to be here. You are willing to fall apart, to crumble to the ground in awe, to walk into the light buried in the darkness, and for your heart to break over and over again. It is astonishing to see how much grace is really here.
You are being shown now one of the great mysteries of this love-world: there is no separation between the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the transfiguration that is unfolding within you. Love is here, it is alive, and it is coming for you. It will do anything to reach you. It is weaving itself into your sadness, forming the particles of your heartbreak, and assembling as the substance of your precious longing for union.
Whether love is currently appearing in your life as the crucifixion, as the resurrection, or as the transfiguration, know you are being held within the grace realm that is the heart of Christ. You are not broken, not in need of fixing, and no mistake has been made here. Your present, embodied experience is outrageously intelligent, overwhelmingly creative, and utterly valid. Everything here is working on your side to ignite the untamed transformative movement of love within you.
Without you and your wild shaky vulnerability—without your unique gifts, your courage, and your willingness to be taken apart by grace—this place will never know the burning essence of timeless and eternal love. The oceans, the galaxies, the stars, and our sweet moon—they are counting on you, for it is only through you that love can re-order this world.
— Matt Licata
Lovely Ron- thank you.
DeleteOh Oriah, I have only just found you. I am devouring The Invitation and will move to your newest book shortly after. You have blown my mind and heart open and inspired me to write. Thank you for your work. Truly a gift to the world.
ReplyDeleteThank you Shannon.
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