After a week spent absorbing
the natural beauty of the Wild Coast
I mentioned to a friend
that the whole holiday
felt like a prayer of gratitude
..... which got me thinking about a quotation by Meister Eckhart
"If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough."
.... which lead to a favourite quote by Rumi
"Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."
There are indeed hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground
Observing the miracles of nature is at the top of my list
Practicing mindful photography
" If I really wanted to pray I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep deep woods and I'd look up into the sky -- up -- up-- up -- into the lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I'd feel a prayer." -- L M Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
As an artist I am aware of something greater than myself
every time I create art.
When I look at the work of many, many artists
I can feel the sacred in their work.
I'm certain their art is their meditation.
I remember the way we were taught to pray at school
Prayers always seemed so elaborate
A far cry from Mary Oliver's ideas of prayer
PRAYING by Mary Oliver
It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate,
this isn't a contest but a doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
