The monk in my dream last night

He came to us in a dream last night,
We were walking in the monastery forest
And he passed us by
As the fragrant air caught us in the nostrils.

He turned and asked, "Have you got some?"
Then he offered us what he had in his hands
From his livelihood, with humble generosity.

It was the perfume he made from the pine sap
He drew from the healing trees.
The monk made this into fine perfumes
For regenerating human beings.

The strong pine sap lingered at his fingertip offering
As we said, "No, we haven't."

"I will get you some," he said.

No expectation of us, this monk of honey bees, nectar
Pine sap and healing ointments.
This monk of benediction in the monastery forest
Offered kindness, welcome, quiet gifts of himself.

This monk offered us his presence.

J Graser

Artist - John Singer Sargent

A pilgrim in your arms

I am beyond the mountain now
No more round and round for me.
Lord, it was too alluring to think
I could get somewhere by going nowhere.

I stepped away from the same old same old
And found myself a pilgrim in your arms.

People have become strangers of grace
Born into flesh with eyes mounted in souls
Looking into my eyes,
And greeting us silently.

I have a palm in front of me, holding nothing but hope.
I have a palm beside me, holding nothing but your hand.

Lord you are wise beyond your years,
I know your laugh from deep within
Is an earthquake to my old ways of doing and thinking.
And as the ground of my yesterlife crackcrumbles around me

I am finding your heart is a field with no fences.
I am looking and seeing with my deeper eyes.
I am hearing your voice packaged in many voices
All singing.

J Graser

Art photography - Rob Woodcox

Lord, let me receive myself with love

Lord, let me receive myself with love.

I walk towards myself,

As though I face me, in the lounge....
There I sit by the fire,
With creasethebrow thoughts on my mind.

I sit down, beside myself,
I hold my hands as my surprised face looks up,
To see me there.

I will look into my eyes
Into the hidden dark and hidden light

Then, I will embrace myself.

I will receive myself with love.

J Graser

 

Artist - Frederick Childe Hassam

I Come

Down the steps I come
Dry, thirsty I come, parched
I come.

I step into the water...
My feet in the well
My legs in the well
My hands, heart, soul
My head, mind, spirit
In the well.

I drink.
I bathe.
I float in the water
I drift.

I look at the sky
The birds, clouds
Sky.

I will be ready to
Do your will once again
When the dryness of me
Is taken by your quench.
Until then,
I come.

J Graser

Artist - Brian Scott

Inner Landscape

My mountain of heart valleys into deep red,  

It climbs heights into pink of dawn.

I ascend into my brain, view the territory, right and left
Rivers of thought, pathways of hope, doubt, dreams, fears.

I bungee jump into my chest and listen to my lungs

Expand, contract expand, each breath a gift.

 

It is time to pioneer the unknown terrain
Of the soul of my innermost parts.

I will dig into my spirit to search for secret treasure.
The deep will fill with my seeking eyes.

 

I will find the scroll of promises kept for me
And dance in the night to music composed for such a moment.

J Graser

Artist - Christian Schloe

 

Meet me in slow time

Slow down our moments
Meet me in slow time
Plunge me into grace.

Stop the clock,...
Suspend reality...

Meet me in paints and song
Sing with me in oil pastel,

Drift with the tide.

Brush stroke me into being
Deep determined impressions
Of light, of dark,

Of coming into ourselves
Outside of time.

J Graser

 

 

The Sound of Amen

Fill my day with the sound of Amen
So be it, let it be.

Let the Amen fill my soul
Whisper it through my mind

The rest of it leans into your chest
At the feasting table

Breaking bread, drinking wine
I lean into your chest with the sound of it,

Amen.

J Graser

 

New realms of my being

I am in the now moment with you

Loving Spirit.

I am a phoenix of fire and special tongues,

There is a surprise in every unfurling of wings.

 You are mystery and journey,

 The road of you leads ever onwards.

Spirit of my temple, I have not arrived in you,
I have begun to be birthed.

Some of me has passed away
To make space for your great furnace.

I have found the pleasure of ever unfoldingness.

The discovery of heart that grows large large larger in the dark and in the light.

I have found not arrival, but rather departure... into new realms of your Being.

Into new realms of my being
in you.

J Graser

 

The stillness of faith

Dip my weakness into your
strong pulsing heart.

I will hide there, all quiet
While your chest enfolds me.
 
I will listen to your rhythm
Moor me to the calm of you.

I will sit in the stillness of faith
And find my beating heart.

I will find my beating heart.

J Graser

Wings

The wings have been
Growing on me now
For quite some time.

Feathers look foreign to me still,...
But I have become more familiar
As they've spanned out
Over the years.

And lately, even a slight updraft
Sends these wings trembling
For the sky.

I think I could be ready
To try them out soon.

My heart rises in the mist.

J Graser