For Michael

So, my good friend, Michael is off to join the Franciscans next week. He is one of the wonderful men I've had the priveledge to call my friend. Lots of memories have been made in our growing seven year (wow!) friendship. Good conversations, lots of laughter, a few tears, hopes and Life have all been part of the journey.

Words that express in ways I’m unable...

"When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it's bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space." ~Pema Chodron

"The seed cannot know what is going to happen, the seed has never known the flower. And the seed cannot even believe that he has the potentiality to become a beautiful flower. Long is the journey, and it is always safer not to go on that journey because unknown is the path, nothing is guaranteed.

Nothing can be guaranteed. Thousand and one are the hazards of the journey, many are the pitfalls - and the seed is secure, hidden inside a hard core. But the seed tries, it makes an effort; it drops the hard shell which is its security, it starts moving. Immediately the fight starts: the struggle with the soil, with the stones, with the rocks. And the seed was very hard and the sprout will be very, very soft and dangers will be many.

There was no danger for the seed, the seed could have survived for millennia, but for the sprout many are the dangers. But the sprout starts towards the unknown, towards the sun, towards the source of light, not knowing where, not knowing why. Great is the cross to be carried, but a dream possesses the seed and the seed moves.
-Osho [Chandra Mohan Jain], Dang Dang Doko Dang, chapter 4

“I've grown certain that the root of all fear is that we've been forced to deny who we are. Because when you get right down to it, even the fear of death is nothing compared to the fear of not having lived authentically and fully." ~Frances Moore Lappe'

and a longtime favorite:

"The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt." ~Frederick Buechner

“Hi, Mom!”

I mentioned my mom in my last post and well, I think now is a good time as any to mention that she has entered the blogging world. With so many of my friends dropping off the blog world, it’s nice to have a familiar place to check. I've been meaning to do this for quite awhile, in case you were wondering. :)

Please make her feel welcome. She’s fantastic!

how does your garden grow?

My mom has always had a green thumb. She has often taken nearly dead plants and brought them back to thriving and wonderful plants. This is stark contrast to what I do to plants. It isn’t that I can’t grow plants; it’s more that I forget to take care of them after they have begun their little life in my care. I’m making progress, though. This year I decided to grow some herbs and veggies in addition to my ever expanding flower collection. I checked on the little guys the other day and they are growing up. I was afraid that they weren’t getting enough sunlight where I planted them, but it looks like they’re doing just fine…well, except for the poor little cantaloupe plant; it doesn’t look like it’s gonna make it (okay, okay the begonias Tim bought me didn’t make it and neither did the perennial I bought a few weeks ago). Horray for my little garden!