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the way is made by walking

Wanderer, your footsteps are the road, and nothing more; wanderer, there is no road, the way is made by walking. By walking one makes the road, and upon glancing behind one sees the path that never will be trod again. Wanderer, there is no road– Only wakes upon the sea. Caminante, son tus huellas el camino, y nada más; caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Al andar se hace camino, y al volver la vista atrás se ve la senda que nunca se ha de volver a pisar. Caminante, no hay camino, sino estelas en la mar. -Antonio

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Forget Everything

I found this poem the other day at Northwoods Contemplative and it speaks to me in the most amazing and direct way.   I am in a period of intense wrestling with my relationship to institutional religion, while my faith in God and experience of sacred presence has never been stronger.  Forget Everything If someone says, “To be enlightened you must fast and pray all night,” Have dinner and go to bed. If you see a sign, “This way to salvation,” run the other way. If someone says, “This book is the truth, you can buy it from me,” Take your money and buy grapes and

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Always Act Great

Act Great What is the key To untie the knot of your mind’s suffering? What Is the esoteric secret To slay the crazed one whom each of us Did wed And who can ruin Our heart’s and eye’s exquisite tender Landscape? Hafiz has found Two emerald words that Restored Me That I now cling to as I would sacred Tresses of my Beloved’s Hair: Act great. My dear, always act great. What is the key To untie the knot of the mind’s suffering? Benevolent thought, sound And movement. -Hafiz ***Please scroll down to the next post and participate in my

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God Loves Us When We Dance

My friend Rachelle over at Magpie Girl will be issuing a creative challenge and invitation twice a month to experiment with some sort of simple art process to get the creative juices going.  She posted her first one today–altering a photo.  Go here to read more about it and here to see the images already contributed. I have been praying a lot with this photo of my paternal grandmother (who was once a dancer) and decided to play with it in Photoshop Elements a bit.  I added a purple hue, some diffuse glow, and an antique border.  Then I wrote in a

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Photo Essay: Point Defiance, Tacoma

        “Come to the edge, He said. They said: we are afraid. Come to the edge, He said. They came. He pushed them, and they flew…” -Guillaume Apollinaire. (quote courtesy of lucy) -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

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Delight Under a Cloudy Sky

“O shy moon don’t give in to the pushy clouds you are above them” -one of the Haiku read aloud at the end of the evening written by a fellow moon-gazer (I apologize for not catching the name) We attended the Moon Viewing event at the Japanese Garden last night and I was entranced the whole evening despite the fact that the moon never fully appeared from behind the cloud cover.   This is an annual event to celebrate the autumn moon (which will be full on Tuesday).  There was beautiful music (I am now entranced by the koto), dancing, singing, launching

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Paying Attention

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.” -Henry Miller (photo taken at Glendalough, Ireland) -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

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