Sweet, Divine Mystery!

(Photo by Karen Wood)

Angel Fire, N.M.

Sweet, Divine Mystery!

You are so close ...

Yet ever elusive!

I reach out to touch You ~

You are nowhere to be found ...

Until I draw my next Breath.

I crave Your Presence ~

I feel so abandoned ...

Until I see the grey-white dove perched mere feet

From the hovering, hunched black raven.

I yearn for Your Voice ~

I hear only SILENCE ...

Followed by sweet bird songs, wind whispers,

And majestic thunder claps.

I long for Deep Peace ~

Cruelties, injustices, deep woundedness engulf me ...

Until I submerge into the Depths of Stillness

Where I find Perfect Rest.

I chase certitude ~

I capture only more questions, more doubts

Until it dawns, slowly ...

The Divine Mystery Is

The only Certainty.

It is not knowable.

It can only be Loved.

~ By Karen Wood

The First Song, Continued ...

~ Stellar Blue Jay ~

(All photos by Karen Wood:

Angel Fire, New Mexico)

We sang love songs to each other,

The birds and I ...

Mine was a lullaby, sweet and low ~

Sung barely above a whisper ...

Perhaps thankful no one heard me,

For what would "they" think ...

This one who sings lullabies aloud

To wild birds?

Moments later ~ or was it hours? ...

From deep within the depths

Of meditation and prayer,

As I poured out heart cries

Unto The Holy One ...

Their reply rode on the wind ~

Straight into my heart.

It was a bird-song anthem

Resounding throughout the forest,

Echoing and reverberating

Into my Soul.

~ Pine Siskin & Nuthatch ~

I had whispered to them a lullaby.

They shouted back to me an anthem!

One after another dropped by on my lap,

As I sat meditatively motionless 'neath a warm woolen blanket,

Holding a stone picked up from the road

In one hand ~

A devotional angel made from stones

In the other.

The birds shouted their Praise Anthem

In coordinated bird songs ~

Blackbirds, mountain chickadees, pine siskins, crows,

Stellar blue jays, hummingbirds, juncos, nuthatches ...



~ Red Winged Blackbird ~

Singing a mighty chorus

That drowned out everything except their

Song of Glory!

My heart leapt with Joy! ~

Utter Joy! at the recognition ...

That we are all held

In the same Lap of The Holy One ~

And all spring from the same Majestic Source

Who Sang the First Song!

~ Dove ~

My song was a soft lullaby ...

Their bird song was a resounding Praise Anthem ...

~ Hummingbird perched in tree ~

They were both

Love Songs ...

A continuation of that

First Song ...

~

~ Hairy Woodpecker ~

Sung to each other ...

And to The Holy One.

~ By Karen Wood

The Permeating Presence

Photo by Karen Wood

(St. Bridgit's Garden reflection pool, Ireland)

I close my eyes

And sink deep

Into a calm pool

Of gratitude and devotion ...

I am immersed

In quietude ~

Permeated by a

Loving, Holy Presence.

There are no words,

For they are unnecessary.

The Silence holds

Everything

In Its No-thing-ness.

I am nourished,

Uplifted,

Held,

Soothed,

Caressed,

Comforted,

Affirmed,

Purified,

Wholly Loved ~

By the permeating Presence.

Myriad thoughts float above

Along the surface

Of this deep, calm pool

Of gratitude and devotion.

I barely notice them ~

For the permeating Presence

Draws me deeper and deeper

Into Its Loving Silence.

There are no words ~

For they are unnecessary.

The Silence holds

Everything

In Its No-thing-ness.

~ By Karen Wood

The Space Within

Photo by Karen Wood

(Labyrinth in Crestone, CO)

The space within cannot contain

All the Love You hold out for me,

Sweet Lord and Lover of my Soul!

I expand until ready to burst,

Hoping to somehow fill myself

With Your great Love.

Yet there is ever more.

I draw in Love.

I exhale Love.

I eat and drink Love.

I imagine Love in the most fanciful places ...

I sometimes think I see Love

Even in the darkness.

Even when I sleep,

I find myself

Sometimes dreaming Love.

Oh, Sweet, Mysterious Love!

Love me until I cannot draw in another moment ~

Or exhale another piece of You!

Love me until I can no longer imagine You ~

Or see You in the darkness!

Love me until I no longer can eat or drink You

When I feast or fast!

Love me until there is nothing left to Love

But You and You Alone!

Love me until I have learned

That the Space Within

Is All there is ...

And it is Only Love.

~ By Karen Wood



In The Depths of My Being

(Photo by Karen Wood)

In the depths of my Being

I burn with Love ...

The hot, Divine Flame

Consumes all

That is not holy.

The Flame licks its lips ~

Devouring anger,

Regret,

Impure thoughts,

Judgment,

Ill will,

Inaction,

Fear,

Carelessness,

Envy,

Impatience,

Excesses,

Jealousy,

Doubts,

Discontent,

Arrogance,

Covetousness ...

I feed the Flame well ~

Continually tossing more and more

Unholy passions

Into its ravenous mouth.

I draw Life and Joy

From the flaming Sacred Fire within ...

And burn with Divine Love ~

In the depths of my Being.

~ By Karen Wood