Blinded by Your Love

(Photo by Karen Wood)

Eternal One ~

I bow before You

And disappear into Your Great Love.

You have swallowed me whole

Into Your Flaming Light.

I am blinded by Your Love,

But I have no need to see,

For You have given me

Wings to find my Way.

We soar the unfathomable spaces

And Breathe as One

The Breath of Life

That sings the song of dawn

And whispers the hush of dusk.

It shouts the coming of the Kingdom

And the arrival of The Holy One.

Universes awaken with anticipation

And quiver with glee!

The moment is Now.

The arrival is assured.

My heart is Your Throne.

Oh, My Love!

Come Now!

~ By Karen Wood

"Master Physician" Prayer ...

(Photo by Karen Wood)



Master Physician ~

We come before You in our brokenness,

Offering pieces of ourselves

At the altar of Your Holy Feet.

Heal us, Oh Holy One!

Put us back together

As You would fix a broken doll

For a crying child.

Patch us with Your Divine Love

And smooth Your Celestial Salve

Over the deep woundedness

Of our most hurting humanity.

Sweetly dab dry our tears of pain ...

Sing songs of Hope and Joy

To pull us from the depths

Of our illusive ills.

Shine Your eternal Light

On the Perfection within us.

Destroy all the dark places,

Until all that remains to be seen

When we look in the mirror

Is Your Light

Staring back at us.

Oh, Master Physician!

Heal us with your Divine Touch!

Cleanse every spot;

Banish every blight;

Wipe away every ill ...

Heal everything within

That is not All Good ~

Heal until there is nothing left to heal ~

Until All that is left

Is You.

Only You.

~ By Karen Wood

Long Enough ...

(Photo by Karen Wood)

I ache for you ~

Longing for you to STOP

Long enough ...

To see Me.

I AM pained

By your distractions

And disbelief.

I groan in agony ~

Wondering if you

Will ever still your heart

Long enough ...

To hear My pleas.

I yearn to Feed you ~

But you won't STOP

Your eating and drinking

Long enough ...

To be Eternally Nourished.

I ache for you ~

For whenever you STOP

Long enough ...

I AM there

Closer than your breath

With the Breath of Life

To take away

Your pain,

Your agony,

Your suffering,

Your hunger,

Your lack.

You need only

STOP

Long enough ...

~ By Karen Wood

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