Deep gratitude to Spillwords for the publication of my poem and art. https://spillwords.com/moistures-grace/
Tag: grief
Morning Peace
Morning peace arrives with first light.
Love and strength shelter me as I sit
in repose and allow spirit to flow.
Thoughts arise that tremble my heart
and crease the folds of love that feel
tender and bruised. I observe; I
move on. Breathe in, breathe out,
and sit in this moment in time,
this place of resonance, that awakens to all.
“Empathy is the faculty to resonate with the feelings of others. When we meet someone who is joyful, we smile. When we witness someone in pain, we suffer in resonance with his or her suffering.”
-Matthieu Ricard
“As our nation has become more divided, there is a resonance for a message to bring people together.”
-Martin Luther King III
“I say that a myth is a story which has particular energy, mythic resonance. I always say that a myth is a tear in the fabric of reality through which all of this spiritual energy pours.”
-Jay Parini
The Colors of Life
See the beauty
in the colors of life
that unfold the truth,
buried within each of us,
waiting to come to light,
waiting to be released
into a world of change.
When the old die off
we enter a new way of being,
seeing, and living. Trust
in the way of evolution.
Trust in the heart of life.
Grieve what is set aside
as space opens for new to enter.
Change unsettles the balance
we thought we had created and
now we release into an unknown
that beckons us forth.
Step into the void. Step into
the mystery—the change
unfolding before us.
Step into and let go.
Breathe into life.
You are re-born.
The colors that seem lost
will arise in vibrant hues.
Search now for your color.
It will guide you.
(Image-my own)
“Under the anger, under the fear, under the despair, under the broken heartedness, there is a radiance that has never been harmed, that has never been lost, that is the truth of who one is.”
-Gangaji
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
-John F. Kennedy
“A human being is a part of a whole called by us the universe.”
― Tsoknyi Rinpoche
The Path of Suffering
The path of suffering is a lonely path.
Affliction arises; story is created around the pain.
Once entered, it is difficult to depart as
thoughts dance in a loop—diminish our resolve,
suck our energy, our creativity, our love.
A point of choice awakens in our seeking:
we find a door that offers an exit from this diminishment
of heart and mind, or we stay locked inside, feeling
tied to thoughts that wound the soul.
Are we willing to look within the pain?
Endure the weight of what is asked of us?
Bear the needed change required to release us?
Now, that is the mystery. That is the unknown.
Our response dictates our tomorrow
as we pray for you and for me:
May we all be freed from our suffering.
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.”
– Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
“The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.”
-Ben Okri
“Suffering isn’t ennobling, recovery is.”
-Christiaan Barnard
When Prayer Was Magic
Once I thought prayer was magic:
If I pray hard enough
God will give me what I desire.
I was young and did not yet know
grief and despair.
I grew in knowledge of sorrow and joy,
and found no being who could
change the course of the many things
that bring us suffering, as was told, when
once I thought prayer was magic.
Nor did outward prayer give me
what I yearned for, which may
conflict with another’s longing.
Who does this being listen to?
If I pray hard enough,
I am told, if I am good enough,
follow the rules, listen to authority,
learn to be pure like the saints,
deny myself,
God will give me what I desire.
Then I learned to go within:
to know prayer as silence,
to focus, allow, listen, sit in peace,
open to universal wisdom. Not taught to me when
I was young and did not yet know:
the connection is within the seed of the divine inside of me.
All consciousness, open to love, forgiveness, and grace
changes me; I then join with others as
we open to joy, and ease that which is our
grief and despair.
(Thanks to WP friend, David, for his teaching of a ‘cascading’ poem.
“It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without heart.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.”
St. John Vianney
“God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.”
Mother Teresa
Our Interconnected World
I arrive at the end of this year with a mixture of emotion:
Feelings of sadness for the ongoing wars in Ukraine, Israel and Hamas, and the incredible loss of life throughout the world due to armed conflicts that do not make the headlines.
Concern and compassion rise for an estimated 117 million people who have been displaced from their homes due to war.
Joy rises for new life born to friends and family.
Grief is at home for the loss of life in my sister-in-law and my aunt and for all who have lost loved ones this year.
Pride in accomplishment for compiling a book of art and poetry with the desire to share with others.
Wonder at thousands marching from South and Central America to demonstrate their need for support for their families, jobs, and health.
Delight in the love shared with family and friends that feeds my soul.
Relief and gratitude that my husband recovered so well after a mild stroke with care from those on his medical team.
Gratitude for life lived, for choices made, for all that is learned in doing.
Curiosity and openness for what lies ahead in the unknown.
May we, in our varied emotions, remember kindness to ourselves and to each other. As life moves fast and hard, may we take the time to breathe and center, see ourselves in other, see ourselves in nature, humanity, the planet, and the universe. We are all one, together, may our hearts open.
Blessings in this New Year, 2024.
“The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.”
Carlos Santana
“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”
Dalai Lama
“We live in an interconnected world, in an interconnected time, and we need holistic solutions. We have a crisis of inequaility, and we need climate solutions that solve that crisis.”
Naomi Klein
From the Book Page
Pre-orders
I am ending this year with the signing of One World: A Journey of Becoming for pre-orders, then boxing them up with the gift of a greeting card and a bookmark. They mail on January 2.
What a year it has been, words that come to me as I reflect back to January. A year of deep loss and a year of birthing anew. A year of war and violence and a year of love and care expressed in unexpected ways. A year of new people entering my life and a year of saying goodbye to others.
I am currently reading the book Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe by Brian Swimme gifted to me by Leo. I feel delight and find awe in the image of “primal light” he offers, light that is all around and in us from the beginning of time and has traveled from fourteen billion light years away to us, now. He speaks beautifully of all life evolving, including each of us as we are never separate from the universe. In my words, we are becoming.
I invite you to read Brain Swimme for mind expansion. I invite you to order and read One World: A Journey of Becoming for heart and mind contemplation.
Jump to my shop page: janisdehler.com/shop
Wishing you joy in your evolving New Year! Janis
When We Gather
They arrive at noon
bearing food and gifts,
bringing love and light
within their hearts
for all to share,
whether laughter or tears,
cookies or bread,
it’s all spread about, as
we mark forty-seven years
of opening our door
on this night, to celebrate
the birth of Jesus,
our family tradition.
Some of us are church goers,
others do not partake,
but the truth of this is,
it matters not,
as we celebrate the light,
shining within each heart.
Some days it dims as
the weight of loss pushes down,
but we know it is here,
as we spread hugs all around.
Our oldest was two
when it all began;
now, new little boys toddle
in laughter with visions of play.
We lost a generation
through these years,
yet time brings new babes
as life’s story gets told.
The light of solstice,
the light of the Christ,
the light found in Buddha,
and Amma, a Hindu saint,
whether the Tao,
or the Bhagavad-Gita,
the Tanakh, the Bible,
the words from the Koran,
or of our dear mother earth,
I am formed by it all,
in truth profound.
What rests at the core:
love, compassion, wisdom,
and giving as we are able.
For me, the true message
for us to gain.
Welcome arms open to all,
each in their own spirit found.
May our oneness be proclaimed,
at this, our blessed table.
Blessings,
Janis
News From The Book Page
Holiday Greetings to all,
My mind and body have been moving in different directions these days as I try to get ready for holiday gatherings as well as launch a book. The pre-orders are going well, and I look forward to mailing each one on January 2, 2024—a lovely way to start a new year! Thank you to all who have pre-ordered. There is still time to do so: www.janisdehler.com/shop.
What I would like to share with you today comes as a reminder to my Twin Cities area friends and family to set your calendars for January 11 and join me at The University of St. Catherine, Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality, for a conversation with Mari Ann Graham, Director of the Masters in Social Work Program, who will interview me regarding my book and paintings, One World: A Journey of Becoming. I am curious to hear her questions. What direction will she go? I hope you are curious as well and join me for an evening of conversation, refreshments, a book signing, and art. The following link will take you to your free registration or $16 with the pre-order of a book.
https://www.wisdomwayscenter.org/events-calendar/book-launch-one-world-a-journey-to-becoming-with-janis-dehler
Stay tuned next Wednesday for more information about my book launch event north of the Twin Cities on January 14. My goodness, this is fun!
Now, off to take all the groceries I bought yesterday and make a raspberry pie, a squash lasagna, wild rice soup, wrap more presents, arrange some flowers…..
Bye for now! May your days be Merry…
Book Launch and Pre-Order
WordPress friends and family,
I am excited to announce that it is time to pre-order your copy of: One World: A Journey of Becoming, a book of original poetry and art that follows the events of the worldwide pandemic to current events of the day.
“…Janis’ deeply inspiring poetry, prose, and art are worth savoring. Janis creates from the heart, and this will touch your very soul.”
Mari Ann Graham, Director MSW Program, The University of St. Catherine
LEARN MORE about the book: https://janisdehler.com/river-spirit-books
Find an event to attend: https://janisdehler.com/events
Pre-order a book now to recieve by January 7, 2007: https://janisdehler.com/shop US customerts receive bonus gifts: a One World art and poetry bookmark and greeting card. My apologies to international orders through The Great British Bookshop. I won’t be able to accommodate the shipping of pre-order gifts.
It was rocky at times as I attempted to bring this inspiration into reality. Deaths, a stroke, a closing of my husbands place of business started by others 70 years ago, war, and tumultuous world events have been the back drop as I worked to stay the course and get it done.
It is a joy to hold the book in my hands. To flip the pages. To witness the beauty that was offered by those hired to help and guide me along the way.
My hope is for the reader to find a place to rest within the words and the visual art spaces; to drift into the heart space to ponder, finding a sense of renewal and gratitude, while experiencing the common ground we walk together in our one world.
Peace, Janis