Don't write.

The library says nothing, and speaks. There are no words to hear, but there is no end to what is said. And each person will hear something not heard before. Or since. To the one who now enters, it says:

Don't write.

What?

Don't. Write.

Don't write?

Yes. Don't write. Or, no, don't write. Whichever way, don't write.

Why not?

Because you are not ready.

Not ready for what?

What must be written.

And how do you know I'm not ready?

Because I have seen what you will, eventually, write. Must write.

How have you seen it?

Because it is in a book. And that book is here.

Where? I want to see it!

You cannot see it.

Why?

Because you have not written it. Yet.

A breath, a prayer

I was looking for a prayer to use for Evensong on Sunday which tied in with the theme of the Gospel reading. I remembered a wonderful site called World Prayers and searched there for prayers which included the word 'seed'.

One of the results was this wonderful prayer, which gives a wonderful approach to praying for peace and which I'm going to dwell with for a few days:

Wage peace with your breath.

Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds.

Breathe in terrorists
and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields.

Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.

Breathe in the fallen and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.

Wage peace with your listening: hearing sirens, pray loud.

Remember your tools: flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.

Make soup.

Play music, memorize the words for thank you in three languages.

Learn to knit, and make a hat.

Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief
as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.

Swim for the other side.

Wage peace.

Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious:

Have a cup of tea and rejoice.

Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Celebrate today.

Things I have noticed #1

The longer I travel the journey of life, the more I notice that things do not stay the same. But right now I am finding that the rate of change is increasing; there are more and more things about which I do not feel the same as I did, say, two, three or five years ago.

Some are significant because they are huge shifts in my thinking or my outlook; some are significant because they occupy a small but regular part in my daily life.

Things I have noticed which are changing include:

1. I cannot write with music on in the background.

2. I cannot get the hang of A Game of Thrones.

3. I find a great deal of inspiration in the Divine Feminine¹.

4. I am becoming a vegan.

5. I am becoming more and more fascinated by the historical Jesus.

6. I am losing my taste for coffee.

7. I sometimes find it difficult to hold onto my concept of the God of the Christian faith². 

8. I find it hard to listen to loud music for more than a few minutes at a time.

9. I get excited by the Spring leaves on trees.

10. I feel that I own far more things than I need.

¹ Brigid and the Old Testament figure of Wisdom are currently very important to me.
² I don't know why this is happening. It worries me.

I think that ten items will do for now, though there are more!