The Pearl of the Heart

Having come
to the water's
edge -

the farside
banks of the
great ocean
of days -

I have
shed all
that would
hold me back.

And climbing
down from the
heights of thought,

I have plunged into
the abyss of life
and searched

for the light
that would
rid me of
all darkness.

Hidden
deep
within the
depths of the sea

I found a shell
that was hard to
open -

my heart has
been made known -

its beauty
revealed with
the flash
of a blade.

O blessed
love,
O divine glory

the silent peace
that glows from
this jewel

has taken me across
the expanse of
days

and has enlivened
my being.

Stillness
covers me as
with a blanket.

Silence cries
out and deafens me.

O holy gem;
O priceless jewel

deliver me from
my poverty

and clothe me with
your righteousness.

_____

Peace,

Tom+

Check out the Pearl of Great Price at Art by Alex

I Know

I know what is
written on the underside
of the rocks.

The rocks that sit
on the bottom of the lakes,
that lay scattered
throughout the creekbeds
on all the earth.

It is stillness.
It is love.

Quietly clinging
to the surface of
the stones
stillness and love
call out to us

asking us to
take them in
make them a home
shelter them.

Can I find the
space in my ladened
heart to hold two
more things -

two things that will
set me free.

I reach into the
pool of life's
waters and I
gaze on the gifts
of the deep.

Today they are
mine.

_____

Peace,

Tom +

image from Sturgis Creekbeds

Chants on the Air

I kneaded the
dough today,

the dough of
five loaves

as the monks
sang psalms
to God.

The plaintiff
notes were kneaded
into the loaves -

into the five loaves
of french
peasant bread.

O GOD,
come to our
assistance.

O LORD,
make haste to
help us.

Help us rise,
help us bake,
help us cool,
help us digest.

The kneading of
dough is a needful
thing,

a thing as needed as
gregorian chants
in the early morning

with strong coffee,
advil, and stillness.


_____

Ciao!

+Tom

The Eye of the Needle

The conditions
of our heart
arise and fall,
arise and fall.

One moment at play with
the subtleties of gentleness
another the harshnesses
of anger.

It takes
just the right
moment -

an opening -

for us to be hungry
for grace,

to be hungry
for repentance,

and for us to
receive the mercies
of God

that are ever-pouring
through the needle's
eye

into our lives.

Eternity is
there,
streaming through the
needle's eye

will we enter in,
will we bask in its rays?

Open.

_____

Ciao!

+Tom

Morning Prayer

The cool stillness
of the morning abbey
soaks the prayers into
me as warmth and heat.

There is a pause, here;
there is a pause
between the words,
between the lines
of mourning;
the lines of prayer;
the lines of beseeching.

I used to think the words were the
prayer; today, and perhaps
through all time,
it is the pause.

The Trees Chant

The wind
blows steady
over the surface of
the frozen lake.

From the hills
it carries the sound
of trees chanting
the chants
of the monks
of old.

Gregorian tunes
mingle with the
rattle of leaf on
leaf.

If you hold your
heart still
in the gray morning
hours, even the
cry of the hawk
rises as a prayer

like incense
to the nose of
the ALL-WISE.

An aroma of
piety
and song of
salvation
blows in across
the stillness
of the frozen lake.

Blows in and sets
us free.