Surrender

Surrender to Grief

What happens when a life is filled with death
when the blanket of grief lays over our days
when the sun no longer shines
and the waters flow continuously

What happens when we surrender
sleep when sleep wants to come
quit trying to force it into a container
move when we want to move
stop the incessant need to produce

cease the endless struggle
slip slowly into slumber
sit silently in surrender
sing songs of celebration

in the silence we find comfort
in the surrender, we are held
in the opening
love finds us again

Where Is Your Lighthouse?

My lighthouse
crystal clear on some days
nebulous at best on others
but always found
with a wee bit of writing

I've been brought to my knees by my mom's pending death. The slow steady decline. Her total peace and surrender to the process. I am humbled. And, my heart is being ripped wide open.

Love

Love is gentle and kind
nurturing and supportive
Love is boundaries
and discipline
and loving expectations
Love is forgiving
Love is being willing
to know the story 
underneath the story
Love is understanding
Love is partnership
and limits and compromise
Love is its own force
sometimes carrying us to places
we never knew existed
Love is complicated
Love is a choice and a commitment
Love, lasting love, changes you
burns away selfishness
requires surrender to something greater
Love creates its own space

Winter's Call

Surrender
to the silence
the urge to rest
quiet the mind
release the tension
simply be
allow the cool waters
to flush you clean
warm your bones
by the fire
let the winter winds
blow away your struggles
sink your mind
deep into the earth
breathe into it
sending tendrils
of rootedness
deep, deep, deep
into Mother Earth
ground into this moment
rest now beloved one
allow the inner workings
of your mind to settle
it's winter
time to rest
let your self lie fallow
until the spring sun

Finding peace in surrender

I once attended a personal growth seminar where we did an exercise. Everyone was seated on the floor with eyes closed and hands moving together and then apart. Back and forth, back and forth. Hands together, hands apart. Pretty soon, people started making up stories in their heads about what the exercise was supposed to be about and started trying to control the experience, perhaps taking someone else's hand or singing a song. The facilitators would quiet any noise but otherwise, let the exercise go on.