New Year’s day is only one important day among 365 important days.
The first half of your life is spent finding yourself, the second half is spent breaking up with yourself.
The heart is a spotted pear — there’s no getting through without some bruising.
The mind is a sea star — able to regenerate its brilliant purple rays, capable of multidirectional moves, and often clinging to the same surface.
The soul at peace, is paradise.
It may be too late to have an honest conversation with a glacier, but we have to try.
We thought we couldn’t get blood from stone; but today, we can’t seem to stop the bleeding.
Tempting, in this climate, to trade the callus-building requirements of reality for the passive comfort of hoping.
A flash of insight can moon-rocket your life, then flop back down like an expired fish.
Please remember your moon-flight.
At just the right moment, laughing in church can deinstitutionalize God, at least for a while.
The individual is a phantom — in wonder and blunder we receive our selves through the eyes of others.
Pack light. Most everything you need you’ll find along the way.
Should you want to find God, which is to say, should you desire meaning, learn to love the earth and her array of inhabitants.
Theology eulogizes the universe, while poetry befriends a birch tree. Theology says I come from the heavens, poetry says I come from Springside, Saskatchewan.
Our favoured certainties should routinely be set on fire to see what rises from the ash.
A tincture of cynicism is emancipating, but a full-meal is constipating.
The crushed grapes of relinquishment can sometimes be Beaujolais for the spirit.
If you press your face against a keyboard, canvas, soapstone, it sometimes opens a door.
Art enlarges our being and bearing, which is why despots of commerce de-fund it.
Science and religion are humble in theory, but never when monetized.
Things repair themselves if they are unplugged for a while, including humans.
Time is a line that swirls — so let it swirl.
Death and dying — hard, hard, hard — any kind of bromide, unfitting.
To counsel hope, can sometimes be malpractice.
The twin sister of praise is grief.
Don’t beat yourself up, worry, especially these days, is a form of prayer.
Grim, but better than thinking about the news, is putting together a 5000 piece puzzle of your own brain.
Don’t vomit outright. Some poisons you need to let pass through so you’ll know what to hate, what to tolerate.
Despite the crazed magnificence of our vanities, our true longing is to be each other’s joy.
The Big Bang is God’s dancing body. The shimmering fallout is yours.
The Second Coming, if we have the eyes for it, is us, in our unfolding inclusiveness.
There’s always more to be said about faith and love, but it’s time we heard from the chrysanthemums.
You would like the role you play in my dreams.
Remove your tactical cap,
Approach a blueberry bush on your knees,
Hug the dawn,
Love everyone.
Wishing you a bright and beautiful New Year!
this is the last message i will read in 2020 before going to bed
thank you for making it such a profoundly soaring and lyrical one
Thank you for this Ananda!
I appreciate all of these lines but, predictably, the two that bring a grin are, ” but it is time we heard from the chrysanthemums” and “Approach a blueberry bush on your knees.” 🙂
Thank you, Stephen for helping us to bear this past year. A blessed new one to you.
Thanks Ann! So appreciate you reading and responding.
The twin sister of praise is grief.
This items on this list may become a daily prompt for Lenten meditation.
Thank you for these growing mercies.
*The items
Autocorrect is like the unwelcome stranger trying to finish my sentences.
🙂
Thanks so much Joyce!
Stephen. Another poet friend, Anthony Wilson (I’ve a feeling I can thank him for introducing me to your poetry many years ago) wrote that he thought you “should be a household name, like Billy Collins and CK Williams.” I am nodding…
Your post is my first read for 2021 (yes, it’s already here, in Australia) and I feel blessed, raised-up, infused with joy… the reach of your wisdom and forthrightness is stunning, not to mention your effortless eloquence:
“The crushed grapes of relinquishment can sometimes be Beaujolais for the spirit.”
Thank you.
Miriam, you are a joy! And far too kind. Thank you! Thank you!
Growing Mercies helped me through 2020. Your final entry of the year is word perfect. More please. And happy New Year with love to you and your family.
Thank you dear Linda! And thank you, all those years ago, for your mentorship.
Thank you so much for this one Steve. Always in awe of your eloquence. Sending love and light your way for the new year.
Thank you! And back at you Liane! With light and love. Thank you for continuing to read and staying in touch.
‘Theology eulogizes the universe, while poetry befriends a birch tree. Theology says I come from the heavens, poetry says I come from Springside, Saskatchewan.’
As always, beautiful. Wishing you & yours all the best in 2021, Stephen.
Thank you Laurie! And thank you always for inspiring me with colour! I look forward to your 2021 paintings!
Worry is a form of prayer especially when intentionally turned into prayer.
Thank you Heather!
Nuggets of truth in every statement. It reads like the 32nd Chapter of the Book of Proverbs
Have a Happy New Year
Thanks Paul! That’s some over-the-top comparison, but I’ll take it in proper light. 🙂
Loved the reference to Springside, Saskatchewan – I used to say it was a good place to be from… beginning to understand that it was, and still likely is, a good place to be….
Agree. Thanks Sam.
All things with love,
and I indeed
love
this.
Thank you dear Tamara!
Well Stephen, I came here looking for the poem you referenced to be an offering for our Hospice Circle, and found this, ‘Year end list of ‘modest’ Propositions’. I am moved and in ‘awe’ of your insights, so eloquently posed. Thank-you for this, a wonderful discovery on this second day of the New Year.
There are so many beautiful insights I cannot chose a favourite, but I thank-you for the chuckle you gave me with, ” but it is time we heard from the chrysanthemums”. I look very much forward to reading more and getting to know you more through your words herein and through the ‘work’ we share in Hospice.
So appreciate you dropping by Kirk, and thank you for this thoroughly encouraging response. Truly grateful to have crossed paths by way of the Hospice.
Again I am at a loss to post words of sufficient praise in honour of your brilliant writings.
Your wise insightful connections between soul, heart, mind and earth made deep connections within my ongoing growth journey.
I deeply Thank you, Steve.
May you, Deb and your entire family enjoy peace and good health in 2021 and paradise will be yours. ?
Thank you so much Rianne! That means a lot! Wishing you and Len a beautiful year.