This year we celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, so we decided to celebrate all year. Siesta Key, Florida is the location of this celebration. It began with the Siesta Key Drum Circle, then a beautiful ending to a beautiful day.
a little older but none the wiser at least it feels that way saying goodbye to this day i see the light slip away like the fading memories that fill my mind
so many would have could have should have moments that i can’t reach but they reach me they teach me to walk with heaven in view it’s okay to be somewhat new
tired of all the blame at the end of the shame game open my eyes to see the new you’ve place in me
so i can rise above the gravity and rest in stillness the silence of deliverance the calming resonance of your presence eternity in me
there is Truth that doesn’t fade away a Light that glows bright through the day and through the night healing mending making all things right like they were meant to be weightless melodies singing endless songs free to sing along redeemed from all that's wrong
you see i’m finding life is letting go of all the why and it’s okay to cry to mourn to feel every lament so i can fly towards the light not just a leap of faith it’s accepting grace and shining bright swimming in eternal light finding the story of me in the Way the Truth the Life
i would like to shine
bright as a sunny day
and shimmer
like a jacob collier song
but i often find
that old pride inside
and i stumble and lose my way
and it can go so wrong
when the shame gets strong
and i reach for a new identity
no matter how i try
i’m never free
when i think i don’t need
to be me
so i run back home
to the lover of my soul
it’s an uphill path
the lies inside
just laugh
so i bring to my mind
and heart
the One who has kept me
from the start
oh sing of the treasure
of His love
for me
for you
it shimmers
and shines
His mercy
shimmers
and shines
the Light of the world
lives inside
and He
always
shimmers
and shines
where is the solace when life only brings darkness an achromatic sunrise unable to chase shadows a sunset that never leaves where is the gentle breeze when life storms around and within can’t breathe the rain soaked air while i try to put on a smile the pulse rate of my soul diminished where are the hands cradling a countenance when the lonely tears are seeking an embrace standing in the middle of the universe i guess the view is nice but no one is there to share the stars i’ve heard it said there is a place where melodies and harmonies take flight like lullabies that never say goodnight music you can taste and hold in hand or pull towards your heart music that covers you with a blanket of love and grace the softest peace a delicate abyss of joy so i run to this place in the darkness and the storm i lift up my eyes when it feels i can’t breathe i fall into faith when the tears want to stay i tell my story and let the music fill in the gaps the star maker knows each page of sorrow each gaze of wonder the calming comfort of trust if i’m in the pain of the valley or the delight of the clouds the star maker knows my name he knows my now and my yesterdays my what is to come i breathe in timeless hope i fall into a vast fissure of love and rest another valley is near but He is nearer
another morning at the gym felt good to get the workout in good to move and feel alive but then again there's the stuff inside this heart of mine that needs to be revived to beauty wonder peace be still quiet surrender and some delight and some letting go of my will i really could use the shore but who really needs the shore i take that back i guess i do but having said that i looked for morning treasures and this is what i found
i found a joy to the world star shining in my garage and tons of diamonds in my backyard
it seems that someone spilled a bunch of green and i don't really care it's new life it's spring the winter has passed the hollow spaces between all branches like the hollow caverns in my soul will be filled with green and red and white and iris purple life and also i happened to find harry's pianese snitch does that mean i win i'm thinking yes
and then i saw black diamonds on the rear window of the sedan they're glistening as they reflect the light i'm listening and in my heart all seems right as i treasure these delights i'm open to the Way the Truth the Life
In my previous post I indicated that we (my wife and I) were attending a spiritual retreat in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. After our last session today we were encouraged to experience delight. We decided to walk to the Chelsea Market, then walked the High Line to the Hudson Yards. These images are just a glimpse into an evening of delighting in New York City!
We (my wife and I) are grateful to be back in the hometown that we grew up in on Long Island. My parents still live in the house I was raised in, so coming home is always filled with nostalgia and the telling of old stories and discovering new memories.
It is rare to visit Long Island and not go to the beach to take pictures, but the weather has been dark, rainy, and windy. More like a blustery day in November from a Winnie the Pooh story than springtime in New York.
So, since walking through torrential cold rain along the shore did seem to have its drawbacks, I decided to take pictures of my home and found myself drawn to the… well… probably thousands of… knickknacks? Home decor items?… that are just… everywhere. I suddenly realized that my childhood home is like living in the pages of an “I Spy” book.
I am quite sure that Better Homes and Gardens (is that magazine still around?) would not feature this home in an article on “How to Decorate Your Home with 1,000 Little Things” or “The Latest Home Decor Trend: I Spy Living.” But I sure had fun finding little treasures on this Winnie the Pooh blustery day.
Retrobox! How cool is that? And tiny Santa pants, and a snow covered cottage, and – this is one of the themes in my home and life – “Coffee please.” Coffee, in case you are wondering, is the fountain of youth. Just ask my mom who is about to turn 97.
Music is another theme in my home. My dad would play energetic Puerto Rican (another theme) beats in a Spotify-less world where the radio host would announce the next song or two by completing a string of basically slurred Spanish words delivered at the speed of sound with a hearty, “LA SALSA!”
Jesus is another… not a theme… I would say a presence in my home. Reverence… spiritual interest and pursuit was imprinted on my heart in my growing up years. I am grateful for how that influence shaped me.
The deepest, most precious, immeasurable treasure in my home is love. This is my bride embracing my mom when we arrived in the evening. Moments like these adorn this home. It was not a perfect home. It has known heartache and sorrow. But at the center of a thousand knickknacks is a story of love… warmth… family… a wordless embrace… love.
it's a 4272023 morning the kind of morning that will never be here again the fire leaves are awakening big blue skies are smiling the proud trees are welcoming a 4272023 morning the silent digital sentinel on our wrist counts the seconds that will make up the moments of this gift we call a day the unrepeatable you this world of image bearers in all our collective journeys we share the sorrow the waiting the singing the building the crying the disorientation the confusion the celebration the shame the brokenness the wonder the exhaustion the despair the longing for meaning the searching for love it's who we are glorious and ruinous on this 4272023 morning let’s remember together our Creator is here for you and me for all the world the Light has overcome the darkness so we can open our hearts and become fire leaves illuminated dazzling sparkling welcoming the Light the everlasting Love awakened by eternal songs of redemption so this 4272023 morning will soon be gone what will we leave behind words of comfort love and laughter shared tears forgiving eyes grateful for a 4272023 morning and grateful for you
it’s time start another latte la dee da day man the traffic is insane today well like every other day routine kicks in meetings where no one really meets a zoom here a zoom there a formica connection can look so nice a cladding smile hope they don’t see my empty eyes what does it say when the best part of this day is traffic on the way home to my netflix series or was it hulu what’s a lonely soul to do there’s a war somewhere everybody’s yelling but no one’s really saying anything that sounds like truth or has some roots that sink deep in my heart so i lift up my eyes and through the tears i cry why why did i say it that way why did they make fun of me why does the sadness stay why God do you sometimes feel so far away you see i’m in the boat the horizon is gone and the storms rage within and all around so wake up Lord wake up i don’t know what to do but i know you are here in my messy today in my messy yesterday oh won’t you wake up my soul because i see the Tree You there for me i’ll linger here and sing a song to You the melody may be sad but for now it’s all i have so it’s Yours and i am too
it's not that the light has surrendered or darkness has won it's not that the day is done or the night has begun it's the rhythm of all things the spinning and turning the inhaling and exhaling the rising and setting it's the beauty that accompanies all that is held together the colors that connect your soul to the Artist of infinite insight to the Artist who created colors colors so exquisitely subtle shades and hues as countless as the sand on the shore it's the clouds and their random patterns their playful textures it's the breathless moment when our eyes are transfixed when we are able to analyze and explain and yet have no understanding when our minds our hearts finally see something greater we intuit the real and that place of longing awakens for love that lasts for peace that endures for hope fulfilled for faith that comforts let's chase Light embrace the colors take the long narrow way of other-centered living and loving and seek the Artist of our souls
rutakintome pictures 
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