What d'ya reckon?

The Reckoning

All profits disappear: the gain
of ease, the hoarded, secret sum;
And now grim digits of old pain
return to litter up our home.

We hunt the cause of ruin, add,
subtract, and put ourselves in pawn;
For all our scratching on the pad,
we cannot trace the error down.

What we are seeking is a fare
one way, a chance to be secure:
The lack that keeps us what we are,
the penny that usurps the poor.

Theodore Roethke (1908-1963)

Lavender Hill

He showed me that I must go back to Lavender Hill and go on writing and stop being a damned young fool. That all living is hunger and that without a hunger we perish. That each man's city of refuge must be built within himself - of broken toys. That the only people who truly live are those who are always beginning again. That it was not I, or Cicely, who mattered, but love itself; not my suffering that must be eased, but love that must be served. That only by love do we come to understanding and truth. That the mocking magic that comes and goes is the lamp that is lighting us to beauty. That this beauty is the happiness of God and is not in clouds or on hill tops, but everywhere about us.

Thomas Burke

Things that fit in your pocket

Instructions

Give up the world; give up self; finally, give up God.
Find god in rhododendrons and rocks,
passers-by, your cat.
Pare your beliefs, your absolutes.
Make it simple; make it clean.
No carry-on luggage allowed.
Examine all you have
with a loving and critical eye, then
Throw away some more.

Repeat. Repeat.

Keep this and only this:
What your heart beats loudly for
What feels heavy and full in your gut.
There will only be one or two
things you will keep,
and they will fit lightly
in your pocket.

Sheri Hostetler
A Cappella: Mennonite Voices in Poetry

This little gem I found on a blog that inspired me to start blogging - the blog no longer exists but I still have many of the quotes and inspirations I gleaned from it. So I dedicate this post today to the brilliant way blogs and blogging promotes sharing of the meaningful things in one's life.