time flies

this weekend i was one of the chaperones for the student ministries grade 8 trip to niagara falls, and it was a blast. being my family's favorite vacation destination, i've spend a good amount of time there over the years, and going back is always a pleasant assault of memories. some things have changed so much (the huge hershey's chocolate store is a definite plus!) and some things haven't changed at all, and that just makes me so happy. the flying saucer restaurant is still there...gosh, how much did john, doug & i love eating there? dad & his meatball subs...

what a fun life it's been so far.

"We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it." George Eliot

ill-matched threads

since the moment i first read rainier maria rilkes' 'the man watching', i knew i had found my favorite poet. it's been confirmed again with the reading of "the book of hours: love poems to God". i have not yet finished the book, it has a way of decimating me when i least expect it.

here is a highlight.

she who reconciles the ill-matched threads
of her life, and weaves them gratefully
into a single cloth--
it's she who drives the loudmouths from the hall
and clears it for a different celebration.

where the one guest is you.
in the softness of the evening
it's you she receives.

you are the partner of her loneliness,
the unspeaking center of her monologues
with each disclosure you encompass more
as she stretches beyond what limits her,
to hold you.

this is my prayer for today: to stretch beyond what limits me...