A pause for poetry 3 . . .

In these last weeks of summer, I am sending you a poem every Monday. Click here to learn more about my weekly practice of offering selections of poetry to you for your own contemplative pause. I encourage you to read these poems I'm sending aloud repeatedly and then spend a few minutes integrating what has moved you.

I invite you to join my fall workshops -- information to be posted on my website in September -- or to attend my regular Friday 30-minute sessions.

Here, given to me by a dear friend and mentor, I give you "Little Rule for a Minor Hermitage"

by Bonnie Thurston

Greet the day with thanks

for safety through the night.

Rekindle and nurture this hearth’s fire.

Care for life on this bit of land.

Work; pray; rest.

Avoid judgment.

Do not harm.

Think about what matters.

Attend to the body.

Welcome guest and stranger.

Take what comes with gratitude.

Give what is needed with gladness.

Greet nights with courage.

Review the day for small joys

overlooked in living it.

Then, trust the darkness

~ ~ ~

Peace and love to you in the week ahead.