… watching for the brushstrokes of God
“Today I am pulling on a green wool sweater
and walking across the park in a dusky snowfall.
The trees stand like twenty-seven prophets in a field,
each a station in a pilgrimage—silent, pondering.
…
I will walk home alone with the deep alone,
a disciple of shadows, in praise of the mysteries.” ~ Edward Hirsch
How do you walk with mystery?
“Because it is gratuitous, beauty points beyond itself, beyond survival to satisfaction. We think of it in opposition to narrowness, scarcity, drudgery, and constraint. We think instead of what is expansive, generous, abundant, connected, and expressive.” ~ Makoto Fujimura, Culture Care
What invites you into the expansive spaces?
“There is a bottomless resourcefulness in [humanity] that ultimately enables [us] to transform “the spear of frustration into a shaft of light.” Under such a circumstance, even one’s deepest distress becomes so sanctified that a vast illumination points the way to the land one seeks.” ~ Howard Thurman
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” ~ Chief Seattle, Duwamish
How do you notice the connections?
“…History, despite its wrenching pain
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.
Lift up your eyes upon
This day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream. …” ~ Maya Angelou, On the pulse of morning
Spend some time gazing at the image. What draws your eyes? What memories or feelings does it evoke? What is your dream?
Art is the meeting ground of the world inside and the world outside.” ~ Elinor Ulman
Where do the two meet for you?
With the Eyes of the Heart 