Dare To Declare...

 

“Dare to declare who you are. 

It is not far from the shores of silence 

to the boundaries of speech. 

The path is not long, 

but the way is deep. 

You must not only walk there, 

you must be prepared to leap.”

~ St. Hildegard of Bingen

AcademyofEuropeanArts.com

 

When I First Saw...

 

AI Generated image

When I first saw your topic 

of “Working Together in Harmony” 

I thought of how we can be with others 

while sharing a common purpose, 

and what goes into making that work 

with synergy and balance. 

I know that in a pure sense 

a shared aim and purpose is the beginning, 

but then I went on to wonder 

what makes it harmonious, 

what makes the octave sing 

and become self-propelling. 

Somehow there must be 

a natural ebb-and-flow within the process, 

between us.

For me, it is recognizing each voice 

and what melody or counter-melody or harmony 

it has to add to the organic whole — 

accepting this without needing to control anything. 

Letting the song or the symphony unfold on its own, 

trusting in the divine plan. 

This comes 

with a certain relinquishing of my own plan, 

my need to project and control the outcome.

And yet, I can have a fully conceptualized plan, 

and somehow let the details emerge surprisingly, 

let them unfold 

in the community of that shared process. 

I need to recognize those magical moments 

where holding back and observing 

allows others to shine their light—

a light which moves us all—

and allows us to fully realize 

the mysterious potential 

that we can only have when we are together, 

each fully ourselves, 

yet fully engaged with each other.

~J

 AcademyofEuropeanArts.com

This Week...

 

Christ in the House of His Parents by John Everett Millais

This week I made an aim to notice and accept 

"What is" whether inside or outside of me, 

but at the same time to make every effort 

to ask for higher help. 

In these last weeks, 

I felt like each cell, "inside and out", 

as if a piece of a mosaic, 

vibrating and separate from one another - 

but with a desire to come together, 

like magnets drawn, 

pulled by an invisible energy 

existing between them, the spaces. 

Each moment of self-remembering, 

presence, making that "Space" alive -

as this boy is making the space alive 

around him with his gift of a voice.

~C

 AcademyofEuropeanArts.com

Forgiveness...

"Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds 

on the heel that has crushed it."

~Mark Twain

 AcademyofEuropeanArts.com

I'm On The Phone...

 

I’m on the phone in my car 

parked across from a white fence, 

experiencing what reflected light 

I can see through the gray clouds. 

I meditate on the warmth it brings. 

The warmth of the soul is there too, 

and I close my eyes. 

In a moment I feel something on my leg. 

It’s like a gentle touch as I sense warming. 

Then I open my eyes 

to see the sun peeked through the clouds 

and was shining on my 

thigh for just a moment.

~M

AcademyofEuropeanArts.com