Present
Dear Loving One, I pray to keep
Precisely in the moment, the here, the now
Reaping Your gifts, the first breath of the morning song bird,
the ice crystal covering my windshield, the ache in my knees.Each a perfect gift of Your love, Your heartbeat within mine,
Your face in the mirrorSeeing with Your eyes You in her eyes, Your heartbeat within his,
touching their hands and feeling Your warmthEven when there is no light, even when the cold runs through me,
even when my heart hardens in the icy wind of hatredNow, it is now, not yesterday or
Tomorrow, but now I will recognize you, in this moment, the here, the now.
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Author’s Note:
The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom by Christine Valters Paintner, PhD at Abbey of the Arts
I had the pleasure of attending the 2013 Colorado Spirituality Conference a few weeks ago. Christine Valters Paintner presented Eyes of the Heart: Becoming a Monk in the World and an Artist of Everyday Life. The title intrigued me. I have read much of her book The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul With Monastic Wisdom and was thrilled that I could hear her speak in person.
The day proved to be exactly what I needed. Besides playing with clay and writing poems, I uncovered a new way to re-shape, or re-create, difficult events in my life. Her wisdom, paired with my discovery and practice of Passage Meditation, awoke the artist in me to a new way of approaching broken moments. To be able to take the clay of the moment and turn it into a new, positive creation, instead of a painful reaction, is leading me to a more peaceful and fuller life.
The above poem is my answer to Christine Valters Paintner challenge to write an acrostic prayer using the word I chose to focus on for the new year. Present. Not the kind you give and get, unwrap and say “Wheeee!!!!!”
No. This is the present that will give me the calm and open my eyes to the Real in my life and say “Wheeeee!!!!!”
To Create... 