I Love Little Books and Boxes

Patience from Glowing Heads on Vimeo.

On Vanity

THE TWO TREES
by: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

BELOVED, gaze in thine own heart,

The holy tree is growing there;

From joy the holy branches start,

And all the trembling flowers they bear.

The changing colours of its fruit

Have dowered the stars with merry light;

The surety of its hidden root

Has planted quiet in the night;

The shaking of its leafy head

Has given the waves their melody,

And made my lips and music wed,

Murmuring a wizard song for thee.

There the Loves a circle go,

The flaming circle of our days,

Gyring, spiring to and fro

In those great ignorant leafy ways;

Remembering all that shaken hair

And how the wingèd sandals dart,

Thine eyes grow full of tender care:

Beloved, gaze in thine own heart.

 

Gaze no more in the bitter glass

The demons, with their subtle guile,

Lift up before us when they pass,

Or only gaze a little while;

For there a fatal image grows

That the stormy night receives,

Roots half hidden under snows,

Broken boughs and blackened leaves.

For all things turn to barrenness

In the dim glass the demons hold,

The glass of outer weariness,

Made when God slept in times of old.

There, through the broken branches, go

The ravens of unresting thought;

Flying, crying, to and fro,

Cruel claw and hungry throat,

Or else they stand and sniff the wind,

And shake their ragged wings; alas!

Thy tender eyes grow all unkind:

Gaze no more in the bitter glass.

"The Two Trees" is reprinted from The Rose. W.B. Yeats. 1893.

A Little Prayer

I woke up this morning and asked God what I could do better. This was the answer:

Eat less, pray more.
Think of others first.
Spend your time wisely.
Get off the computer.
Turn off the tv.
Read, listen, ponder, write.
Get out in nature.
Take walks in the woods.
Slow down.
Be still.
Show an increase of love towards others.
Get your house in order.
Don't spend money on that which is of no worth.
Be happy with what you have.
Give away what you don't use.
Simplify.

Love,
God

Friends

So, once again I am blessed with insomnia...and with that comes the blessing of having deep thoughts. Tonight my thoughts turn to friends. My family members, step-brothers and step-sisters, in-laws and "adopted" family members are some of my dearest friends. Then there are my friends that are co-workers, parents of students I have taught, people I went to school with, friends I went to college with and friends I went to grad school with who are all my dear friends. I have friends I met through mutual friends, and friends I met through boyfriends. I have friends I laugh with, and others I cry with. I have friends that I keep at a distance and friends that have an automatic key to my heart. I have friends who I've taken risks with and friends who have taken risks with me. I have friends who have shared embarrassing moments with and friends whom I have shared the most sacred of experiences with.  I have best friends that I talk to all the time. And I have those rare and very dear friends that are close to my heart whom I never see or talk to much, I just know they are there. There are those friends that never get through very many layers of my soul, and then there are those who with one look see into the depths of my soul. I have dear friends who are close to my heart that are much younger than me, and I have dear wise friends who are several years older than me. Friendships....so many varieties yet all serve a very unique and special purpose. Love you, my friends!