The salt water is clear to the bottom
but the sky is clouded with smoke.
In Canada the forests are burning
and with wind from the north
we share the suffering.
We’re all one earth,
the sea and sky
and patient ground.
We eat from the same bowl,
drink from the same cup
and our long held beliefs
of separation and distance
are going up in flame.
We’ll learn again
the language of connection,
the words the old ones used,
for we are woven together
on the loom of time
with tear filled eyes
our common fate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading of “Loom of Time” with music by Sunday Service Choir.

I waited on the moon
as dusk spread across the sea,
the distant mountains growing dark.
Then she rose over forested hills
and cast a golden stream
across the ebbing tide.
A sight for the ages
brothers and sisters,
without the palaver
of talking heads
and dueling voices.
Hours later the sun blazes
in the morning sky
and the greater light
brings earth alive
without turning dials
or tiresome speeches.
Sit here with me in the quiet
and we’ll learn together
what shapes this life.
We’ll find ourselves
and won’t forget
the touch of God
upon our faces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading of “In the Quiet” with music by The Doors

Hummingbird wings
trill in the warm sun
as winter past
fades in memory.
The green world rises
and on this summer morn
like eagle with his early catch
I breakfast with the gods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading of “Summer Morn” with music by Morten Lauridsen

The day settles
into a lazy umber glow
as the tide rises to fill the cove.
The distant mountains
massive and snow capped,
remind me how little I know.
We humans are so small.
Is this why we cling to power?
Better to surrender vanity,
join the deer in their evening browse
or the teeming schools of silver fish.
Like the ancient stone and shoreline trees
I gather the wisdom of the old ones
through these island roots
to soften my calloused heart
that when next we meet
my eyes will be unblinded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading of “When Next We Meet” with music by Morten Lauridsen