Like Flowing Water (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, November 30, 2020, feast day of Saint Andrew the Apostle (above) and Saint Maura of Constantinople. October 22, 2020, during the "Ten days of Teshuva" of the Jewish High Holidays. Image from here.)

Like Flowing Water

(a meditation on Proverbs 21;

for the "Ten Days of Teshuva"*, 2020)

Like flowing water

is the heart of the king

in the hand of the Lord

      Who turns it

          where He pleases.   

                Till king-within

                        sifts,

Thoughtful

Unhurried

Receptive

Now doing,

as walk along 

the Stream.

Like flowing water

is the heart of the king

in the hand of the Lord

      Who turns it

         where He pleases.

                Amen.

*From here, "teshuvah -- frequently translated as repentance -- actually means returning. Judaism emphasizes that our essential nature -- the divine spark of the soul -- is good. True repentance is best achieved not through harsh self-condemnation, but through the realization that our deepest desire is to do good, in accordance with the will of G-d."

 

Little Rose Prayer (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, October 4, 2020, Sukkot, and feast day of Saint Francis; revisited November 28, 2020)

Little Rose Prayer

(a variation on the Saint Therese novena,

in gratitude for my mother's successful surgeries)

Saint Therese please sen

a rose from above, 

Guide me to know that

God is love.

Help me in my

intentions this day,

and keep me on your

        Little Way.

           Amen.

Pilgrim's Prayer (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, October 13, 2020, eve of feast day of Saint Kateri (above). Image from here.)

Pilgrim's Prayer

(a meditation on the Beatitudes,

Matthew 5:1-12)*

 

       Nothing is hidden from His sight. 

       He walks over tiny blades of grass 

       as easily as over cedars.

       He passes over grains of sand 

       as well as mountains. 

       Wherever you can step, 

       He has passed, 

       and in order to find Him 

       wherever you may be, 

       you have but to pursue Him 

       incessantly.**

By shattered step,               

                       heaven.

By sorrowed step, 

                       comfort.

By humble step,                     

                       inheritance.

By noble step,

                       fulfillment.

By generous step,

                       support.

By circling step,                 

                        vision.

By harmonious step,            

                       adoption.

By battered step,

                       heaven,

                 heart

           inconceivable

                 born.

                Amen.

*Many scripture scholars view "Blessed are" better translated as " "You're in the right place if" (Father Gregory Boyle, Tatoos on the Heart). A spiritual ladder for communion with God is another layer, each Beatitude/rung giving footing for the next. "Climbing the ladder of the Beatitudes is a daily task in which we often fail. Everytime you fall off, all you need to do is start again. While climbing, it helps to know the Beatitudes by heart and think about them often. Recite them as a prayer. Breathe them in and breathe them out. Recite them with your heart. Let them question you. Let them renew and reshape your life" (Jim Forest, Climbing the Ladder of the Beatitudes, here).

**Father J.P. Caussade (Self Abandonment to Divine Providence, book I chap. II; quote is adapted).

Inside Passage (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, December 9, 2019, feast day of Saint Juan Diego, Saint Gorgonia, and (above) Saint Leocadia of Toledo. Image from here.)

Inside Passage 

Youth fancies she'll trek the globe

by the age of fifty. Done a bit, but never

Alaska's Inside Passage. Still,

on inner earth

can yet take hold,

Flow of blood,

Tide of breath. And

Heartfire such welcome warmth

to the bones of a traveler. 

Heart of Things (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, published in Come to the Table: Recipes for Loving and Serving, edited by Ched Johnson and Nancy Collins-Warner, Monastery of Saint Gertrude, 2021. From October 31, 2020, All Hallow's Eve (eve of All Saints' Day), and feast day of Saint Erth of Cornwall (brother of Saint Ia). prompted by the Abbey of the Arts retreat Listening at the Threshhold: Voices of Saints and Ancestors. Image from here.)

Heart of  Things

(after Kim Moore)

  It's the heartbeat, 

  pulsed DNA, that

knows its roots. How

I come from Rosaries 

 in pockets of aprons,

passed on from mother 

        to daughter.

From aprons in kitchens

made warm by flame

and good ol' potatoe soup.

From soup on tables

where rash words stole                

Grace that could 

have been. 

                                                                                                                         

 I come from voices                            

held now as treasure,

         even so.

*From prompt, craft a poem after Kim Moore’s My People; from Christine Valtners Paintner’s Listening At the Threshold: Voices of Saints and Ancestors (Abbey of the Arts, Galway), October 31, 2020.

Homespun Prayer (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, November 12, 2020, feast day of the "All Merciful Kykkiotisa" Mother of God Icon (miraculous), which image is above)

Homespun Prayer

(after Emily Dickenson)

     Now faith is the substance 

     of things hoped for, the

     evidence of things not seen.

     --Hebrews 11:1

         

If hope is a thing with feathers

that perches in the soul,

might prayer then take wing

by a simple moment's pull?

As sun wakes,

Good morning Lord.

As day challenges,

Be with me Lord.

At evening's mull,

Guide me Lord.

At night's 

     cozying  

            down,

              Into 

         your hands

              Lord.

   Of humble ground

       such may be,

   but may they offer

     a perch to Thee.

             Amen.

*From prompt: Write as inspired by Emily Dickenson's Hope is a Thing With Feathers, and discussion of hope; from Laura Moulton's Art of the Notebook class, via The Portland (Oregon) Book Festival, November 12, 2020. As well, inspired by Saint Mother Teresa of Calcuta, who offered a simple heartfelt "Good morning Jesus" first thing upon waking, and recommended this to others, as true prayer (here). Turning to this ever present relationship, however briefly, heightens our awareness of it throughout the day.

Waterways (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, November 15, 2020, feast day of Saints Albert the Great, Saint Paisius Velichovsky, the Kupyatich Icon of the Mother of God (above), and the Fragrant Flower Icon of the Mother of God, here. Image from here.)

Waterways

      And the spirit of God moved

      upon the face of the waters.

      --Genesis 1:2

1. Rainflow

The rain it sings

a question brings,

      what 

         wants

            to 

               fall?

An offer whispered,

to simply

wash 

clean.

A maxim sighed, 

"A desert father's asceticism: action.

  But women today are called to rest.

  Rest is a true discipline."

2. Waveflow

As sky meets tide

two worlds are tied,

       What 

          wants

              to 

               shift?

Flow shifts ebb,

ebb shifts flow, to

flesh this heart of stone.

A voice guides,

"Do what you actually can,

 not what think you 'should'.

 Real true prayer, sometimes

 it's just knitting, or holding 

 your Cross."

3. Springflow

A wash that carves

an empty bowl

is now. A spring that 

spouts a question,

     What

   wants to

     form?

An opened map,

"You don't need to do everything.

 You just need to Do Something. 

  Small doors, large doors, 

  open to the threshold."

4. Graceflow

The Celts called it Awen,

that liquid flow of Spirit.

It's the Saints who get it, feel 

our gaze. 'Till mid stirring 

that pot of soup, we

know, find voice, 

our sisters, our Saints 

        pray for us!

           Amen.

*Poem inspired by (November 15) 2020 Ancient Faith Women's Retreat, Seven Holy Women and You: Walking With the Saints.

**The qoutes are paraphrases from speakers at retreat.

About Us

We are a late life Oregonian couple living more contemplatively. Wendy is a former preschool teacher among other hats, who lives with severe hidden disabilities so tries to use them as contemplative ground. Joseph is a former logger-forest tech-fishery tech-seaman-farmer whose heart has never quite left the primordial Alaska bush. Together we welcome you to this space. May God give you peace. [Note, Abbreviations used here: -WC Wendy Cabell -JM Joseph MacRae -HS Joseph's uncle Harold Stedham (departed) -GP Guest Poets]

Our blogs:

Craftemplative

Red Tail Hawk Speaks