Soul Care

      I had to go looking for inspiration to create a post for the end of this week.  With Christmas looming, there would normally be no shortage of topics to explore, all lending themselves to savoring the wonders of this season.

   Somehow, I was unable to get up the energy to post a recipe of my favorite cookies or another story about Orange Sneakers.  Not this week.  My heart is just not ready to put on the child-like joy I usually feel right about now in the year.

     I often visit Abbey of the Arts for spiritual nourishment and especially to join in the poetry party held monthly by Christine Valters Paintner, PhD., a Benedictine oblate.   The challenge this month was  to write a poem on the topic of 'kinship with creation,' using the photo below as inspiration. Click on the link above to explore more Abbey of the Arts.

   Here are three linked haiku that came out of my meditation on the photo and topic:

________

an innocent deer

leaves a trail to follow

toward the light

________

in stillness

trees lift their branches

toward heaven

_______

do song birds

find the silence comforting

in winter? 

_______

Photo Credit: "Snow Tracks" by Brent Bill

I am also  sharing  with Recuerda Mi Corazon for Haiku my Heart on Friday.    Hop on over there to find poets and artists with abundant  heart and soul nourishment!

*****

Take-away for today:  The spirit is the fourth spoke in the wheel of holistic wellness and may indeed be the key to physical, mental and psychological health.   There are many paths to spiritual wellness.  What nourishes your spirit?