Category Archives: faith

poem: in the flow embracing the sweet spot in aging

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poem: in the flow embracing
the sweet spot in aging 

in the reprieve
following the onslaught
of our mortality

detecting their is
a sweet spot in the tartness
of our aging

things s l o w  d   o   w   n
having more intimate time
for one another

our rambles shrink
to a home and a field
comfortable in its familiarity

there is a touch
of surrealism
expanding our consciousness

a touch of lament,
prophetic vision, and hope
in things to come

and a renewed creativity
witnessing the wisdom
one has hard earned

so now in this in-between place
coming into one’s Self fully
and walking one another Home

faith sustains us preparing
for unseen things to come
in our Cosmic Journey

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
August 7, 2021

photos by Herb Stone

Author’s note: I wrote this poem
just after my wife’s stroke from which
she is now recovering nicely despite
its challenges. Our 50th. year
anniversary approaching in November.

poem: liberation for the people

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poem: liberation for the people

in a world too much with us
so rapidly changing and chaotic
filled with misinformation and lies
the people’s souls are troubled and restless

this world where
politics is so partisan
that lying tyrants
are supported over truth and justice

this world where
we are so deeply divided among ourselves
and as far from the divine as possible
leaves us adrift trying find a hold

this world where
the bodies of the dead float in the Ganges
lie in the hot streets
and burn on funeral pyres in parking lots

this world where
industries refuse to pay living wages
then label workers as lazy and malcontents
for refusing to accept deadend jobs

this world where
local news is a litany of gun violence and deaths
and the weather, even on pleasant days,
is always a threat thanks to reporting of ‘Storm Central’

this world where
consumer products are unaffordable
and /or in short supply
due to fragile infrastructure and personal hoarding

this world as we know it on the ground
with affliction and dis-ease
a pox upon our body, mind, and spirit
beloveds, wherein does our hope lie

a wise sage once said
“we cannot become gods though we may become divine”
through healing our afflictions and suffering
with discriminating intelligence and unity consciousness

liberation for the people
both worldly and divine
immanent and transcendent
True Selves belonging in authentic communities

bipartisan governance for the people
dignified, quality healthcare for the people
living wage work for the people
ethical journalism for the people
sustainable economies for the people
authentic communities for the people
visible hope for the people
wholistic healing from within for the people
liberation from oppression for the people

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
May 14, 2021

quote by BKS Iyengar, father of modern yoga, author, teacher

image ‘We the People’ poster art from Amplifier

Reflection: The inside out and upside down ministry of Jesus, the Universal Cosmic Christ (by whatever name) and my prayer to be with those on the margins as God calls me

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Reflection: The inside out and upside down ministry of Jesus, the Universal Cosmic Christ (by whatever name) and my prayer to be with those on the margins as God calls me

( I originally wrote the reflection below several years ago as I underwent a particularly challenging realization with the institutional church of which I was a congregant eventually resulting in my departing the church for what for me is a much more meaningful spiritual life centered in celebrating the gifts of all spiritual traditions and being grounded in the evolution of True Self (discipleship) and belonging together in authentic communities (the kingdom or kin-dom). My relationship with the Divine Cosmic Will (God by whatever name) has never been stronger.)

My increasing awareness, especially now in my life, is that Jesus is always with the outsider and outcast who suffers and hurts for the world and shares the pain of others.

Jesus leaves the institutional worship place, sometimes in anger, as we see in the Temple story of the ‘den of robbers,’ to be with those who are on the outside and who just can’t cut it in those places anymore. I think of this as the spirituality of imperfection. Certainly we all are united in our imperfections.

In Jesus going out to these outsiders, he, of course, takes leave of those who are arrogant and prideful and all knowing and thusly, the insiders of the worship place’s, with their dominant cultural traditions and hierarchical hegemony. These insiders are, of course, generally those leaders in power and control, officially or otherwise.

Other good and innocent souls linger there as well perhaps holding onto the law and its rules of right and wrong not having yet experienced the truth, beauty, and goodness of our shared suffering and wounds and imperfections.

God send me into the messiness of this world with the imperfect souls such as myself so that we might commune together in the dark shadows and light spirits as your Beloved children through grace, love, mercy, justice, peace, and hope!

Amen and Amen

poem: the deepest throes of late winter

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poem: the deepest throes of late winter

here in the deepest throes
of late winter
freezing fog
chilling to the bones

the coming snow and ice
obliterating
our familiarity
with time and space

then last thawing
the earth cold,
wet, muddy,
the sun in Pisces arrives

soon the vernal equinox
ushering Spring’s arrival,
flowers bloom in verdant, vernal fields
under budding trees; the mad, March hares

and now in some dark
corner of the Lenten heart,
repenting falsity of self,
resurrecting New Life

the fruit of the vine
ripening in the warmth,
new wine in new skins
affirming Life Divine

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
February 13, 2021

photo: The Muck and the Mire, unattributed

poem: ode to our nation on inauguration day 2021

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poem: ode to our nation on inauguration day 2021

today our nation
inaugurates our 46th.
president and vice president
Joe and Kamala
who feel like family
Papa and Auntie

after the past four years
of a president and his administration
bullying its’ citizens
undermining our rights
eroding our democracy
empowering domestic terrorist
cutting off world allies
causing death and confusion in a pandemic
and leading an insurrection
we citizens of good conscience
find some relief and optimism again

fellow Americans
let us come together
in confession, repentance, and reconciliation
healing one another and our nation
that we will finally do the hard work
of forming a more perfect union together

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
January 20, 2021
Inauguration Day

Photo credits: Vox, AP, AFP