Easter Watch

Easter Morning 2013

Easter Watch

by Joyce Rupp

    Look for light piercing the gloom.

          Receive little joys inside old troubles.

        Hold on to love in bleakest of times.

            Keep faith alive when filled with doubt.

           Accept help from whomever it comes.

      Pray in spite of strong resistance.

 Laugh amid the tattered tears.

    Stand at Easter's emptied tomb.

     Remember what the message is.

   Shake off what holds you back.

         Cast your gaze inside your journey.

      Meet the Risen One on the road.

         Let renewed hope enter every step.

    Watch how Love surprises you.

    Observe the Freed One slipping

inside the story of your life.

I read this poem this morning having recently purchased Joyce Rupp's new book, My Soul Feels Lean.  I simply turned the page, and there it was!  So timely for me this foggy, misty morning of Easter.  And I knew I wanted to share it immediately.

For me, every line is a whole meditation.  Yet the line that caught me and held me longest this morning is "Cast your gaze inside your journey."

I want to live each moment to the fullest in the here and now, but for me to do that, I need to cast my gaze inside my journey:  See myself, all of me, and gather all the disparate parts in a giant group hug, even/especially, the pouting, angry, naive, jealous, finger pointing, sad, and hurt ones.  Be curious; ask myself, "Why?" when I make a choice or take an action.  Feel all the feelings of the everyday happenings; let myself be there and just flow with what emerges.

I am so grateful for my life just as it is.  Grateful for the slowly emerging spring: a first robin seen yesterday, geese overhead waking me in the middle of the night on Thursday, more and more patches of ground peeking through the snow.  Grateful for my community of close friends, family, and acquaintances.  Grateful for a life that allows me to move slowly enough to take time each day to "cast my gaze inside my journey."

Is there any line or lines in the poem that especially grab you?  I'd love to know.

Disclaimer:  According to the copyright restrictions, I can only reproduce this poem within the context of a review without getting written permission.  Here is my review:  My Soul Feels Lean: Poems of Loss and Restoration by Joyce Rupp (c) 2013.  I am delighted that I allowed myself to buy this book.  Almost every poem in it speaks to my soul of places and spaces I have experienced in my lifetime; the poems touch me.  It is full of sorrow and hope as is most people's lives. Having now read through all of the book, I want to go back to the beginning and read one each day and ponder it slowly; savor it.  This book will join the others on my shelves that I gratefully call "companions."

A Gift for a You

Do you need a little more soft, warm, furriness in your life?

A little more trouble and naughtiness?

 

Itty- Bitty has her trip all planned.  I was starting to get things ready to send my granddaughter, Katelyn, her birthday present, but trouble-cat had other ideas. Her antics keep me smiling as we wait for spring weather to arrive.  :-)

Spring! Yeay!

The day started like this: 

And then it snowed...

 

And snowed!  The weather forecast called for a trace to 2 inches more...

 The forecast missed the mark by a bit.  Oh, well...

 Greetings on this First Day of Spring from LeRoy, Michigan!

Maybe on APRIL 20th it will look a little more like Spring here...

Mystery Art

I took a mini vacation on Friday and Saturday.  I saw Footloose at Rockford High School Friday night.  No pictures allowed. :-(  But I highly recommend it.  There are still shows this week Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

And better yet I got to see friends Katie and her daughter, Becca, who was in the musical.  Lots of fun!

Then on to a day of fun Saturday with Sylvia and a pottery and weaving show/sale.  I was so involved touching everything and ooo-ing and ahh-ing that it never occurred to me to take a single picture! Drat!

So I arrived home Saturday evening to find this mysterious "art" in my bathtub!!!

Had Julie danced in my bathtub with dirty boots when checking on the cat while I was gone?  Quite unlikely.  Then, in the drain I found a chunk of charcoal from the wood burner.  What???

And discovered who the artist was...

The one and only Itty-Bitty! The saying is, "When the cat's away, the mice will play."  This seems more like, "When the human is away, the CAT will play!"

I will interpret some of her work since she wouldn't give me any clues as to the meanings of her abstract art.  I see a bird that she often watches outside...

And maybe one or two of the deer who play in her yard...

I think she is getting ready to sign this one.

I tried to get the artist to perform while on camera, but she seemed a little shy with observers.

So, you may ask, "How does a chunk of charcoal from the wood burner in the basement get into the tub upstairs in the bathroom?"  It took me a while to wrap my head around it.  Then I remembered that a week ago I had spread ashes in my driveway to keep from killing myself on the ice.  My pants were covered with ash to where I didn't want to just put them in the wash.  So I rinsed them first.  And since I don't have a utility tub, the bathtub gets used.  I must have had a charcoal chunk caught in my cuff, and it slid into the drain strainer without me noticing.

It's actually quite an interesting canvas to use.  I may have to try it myself before my next bath!

Hidden Treasures

Standing at the bathroom window, brushing my teeth.  Nothing notable...

Wait... Brown lumps in the shadows? Put on your glasses, Mary!

A deer surprise!  I've never seen them rest here; nor so many!

 

Thank you for blessing my space and greeting my day with your quiet, contemplative presence!

More signs

Every day there are a few more signs of Spring...

Snow receding rather than accumulating on the roof...

Patches of bare ground, but not mud yet...

The bottom of the wood pile...

And the tent over last year's Swiss chard and kale, in the hopes of some of the roots wintering over, is starting to emerge.  Peeking in, too early for signs of life yet.  I am so ready and so grateful for this ending and beginning time of year.

Spring? Soon?

Sun on snow.

Shadows.

Bright blue skies.

Hearing the first robin.

Spring?  Soon?

Halleluiah! 

Thank You!