art is contemplation

art is contemplation.  it is the pleasure of the mind

which searches into nature and which there

divines the spirit of which nature herself is animated.

-auguste rodin (1840-1917)

an instrument of grace

everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. gardening is an instrument of grace.

help us to be ever faithful gardeners of the spirit, who know that without darkness nothing comes to birth, and without light nothing flowers.

-may sarton (1912-1995)

source image: female rhino beetle

from the one heart

hear from the heart

wordless mysteries!

understand what cannot be

understood...

in our stone-dark hearts

there burns a fire

that burns all veils to their

root and foundation.

when the veils are burned

away, the heart will

understand completely...

ancient love will unfold

ever-fresh forms

in the heart of the spirit,

in the core of the heart.

-rumi (1207-1273)

out of the blue

out of the blue

the words came:

let your dreams

be dreams again

stop mining them

for meaning

and so i learned

to take refuge in

the nightly asylum.

out of the blue

the words came:

let nature

be your teacher

and so i learned

to be still.

out of the blue

the words came:

draw a circle

and so i learned

the Spirit's voice.

-stacy wills (3/1/2011)

source image: cypress swamp along the natchez trace

breathing room

what art offers

is space -

a certain

breathing room

for the spirit

-john updike (1932-2009)

broadside

the secret of seeing

is to sail

on solar wind.

hone and spread

your spirit,

till you yourself

are a sail,

whetted, translucent,

broadside

to the merest puff.

-annie dillard (b. 1945)