Archive | August 2011

If

Aug22

If you expect perfection
Don’’t come here
This is the abode of the imperfect

If you expect a smooth ride
Don’’t come here
This is the abode of challenges and trials

If you expect quick results
Don’’t come here
Only the patient will survive

If you expect rest and comfort
Don’’t come here
This is where one must strive

If you expect clarity
Don’’t come here
This is the home of questions and thought

If you can’t take pain
Don’’t come here
Pain is a part and parcel of this lot

If you aren’t persistent
Don’’t come here
Only the steadfast will thrive

This is the abode of the imperfect
The student, the one tried
This is the abode of joy and love
Where there are rainstorms and sunshine

Lida Berghuis
August 21st 2011

Now I know why I love poetry!

Aug18

Now I know why I love poetry
Because I can be free a as a bird
I can rhyme or not rhyme
I can be serious or silly
I can discuss material or spiritual stuff
I can discuss anything, or nothing at all

Now I know why I love poetry
Because it sets my spirit free
I can travel anywhere
I can meditate on anything
I am free to be who I am
There aren’’t many rules to restrict me

Now I know why I love poetry
Because it saved me when I was lost
It consoled me when I felt lonely
It made me realize what’’s important in life
It brought me joy and helped me fly

I felt enclosed in the cage of tradition at times
Always yearning for freedom
Poetry is what opened the gate
And let the bird of my spirit out!

Lida Berghuis
August 17th, 2011

the landscape within

Aug15

The poet explores the landscape within
Or what we sometimes call spirit

She ponders and prays
Reflects and meditates

From a place deep within
Thoughts flow out on paper

Is this inspiration?
Is it under her control?

Sometimes the words are thrust upon her
Like a torrent, strong!

Sometimes like gentle rain,
Drop by drop, they fall

Sometimes simple, sometimes complex
But always full of spirit and soul

Her words can bring tears to your eyes
Make you smile, or make you whole

Lida Berghuis
July 13th, 2011

Encoded within!

Aug14

“The markings may be considered to communicate in the same way as a single eloquent gesture that it would take a thousand words to describe.

They pay homage to the universal urge of every people to set down in some concrete form the abstract thoughts of their minds.

For each of us the only certain territory of the sacred in our own hearts.”

Lorraine Prichard

Encoded within…

The secret language of the spirit
Engraved in our hearts
Where the sacred comes to repose
Where mysteries are exposed

Encoded within
This universal language of love
Of compassion
Of the need to be needed
And the need to love

The secret language of the spirit
Unknown and yet known to all
Communicated by an eloquent gesture
Heart to heart

The secret language of the spirit
Some express it in lines
Some in words
Some in music
Some in other arts
But it’s all the same language
The language of love!

April 27th, 2006
Inspired by Lorraine Prichard’s show: Encoded within!

old habits

Aug12

Sometimes I hold on to an old habit with dear life!
I don’t question it or wonder why!
And if doubt creeps into my mind
I dismiss it: ‘go away, be gone!’

Then one day, I try something new
Just by chance, or due to someone else’s view
To my surprise, the new way works
It works even better that it should!

Now, I really question my assumptions, my past rules
Why did it take me so long to try something new?
I realize that I have to be open to learning at all times
Old habits can always be replaced by the new

The old way may not be wrong but there may be better ways
I pledge to be open to change
There is no harm in trying a different way
If I don’t like it, I can always go back to my old way

Lida Berghuis
July 4th, 2011

We are brought to humility

Aug6

imageWe are brought to humility
As we live our lives
The tests and trials of life
Do this for us
The bravado leaves
The arrogance starts to fade
Capital I becomes lower case i

There is no easy way
To tread this path
Easy does not give results
Don’’t look for the easy way
If you want to go far

Humility is learned
One lesson at a time
The journey is long

And what is humility
What is this rare commodity?

Perhaps it’s knowing
Our place in the big design
Perhaps it’’s knowing
How much we don’’t know
Perhaps it’’s letting go
Letting go of the ego

What does humility lead to?
Perhaps it releases us from
Needing to be right
Perhaps it opens our hearts
To new ways of thought
Perhaps it protects us
From the big fall
Perhaps it leads us
To a place of calm
Where we won’t need to prove ourselves
All the time

Lida Berghuis
August 6th, 2011

Blue and white

Aug4

Blue and white
Is the house of the Beloved
Where He stayed
Where hardship rained
Where verses were revealed

I look out the window
At the blue sea
See white clouds in the sky
The sun streaming in
Sending assurance
That it will not set
For a long time

A cool breeze comes from the sea
A welcome relief from the heat
The heat of summer
Reminiscent of the tribulations
That befell the Holy family here
Reminiscent of the heat radiating
From the revealed Word
Ready to set ablaze the hearts

I try to forget the heat
And realize how privileged I am
Realize where I’m standing

From this muddy water
The lotus bloomed
And appeared in great beauty
In great majesty!

Blue and white
The land and the sea
The sky and the clouds
Blue and white
The house of Abud, in Akka!

Lida Berghuis
July 2011

Written during our pilgrimage this July to the Baha’i Holy places in Israel, after visiting the House of Abud, in which the founder of the Baha’i Faith lived under house arrest, prisoner of the Ottoman empire for several years.

fork in the road

Aug2

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it!”
Yogi Berra (baseball player)

I’ve learned this the hard way!
So many times, I’ve come to a fork in the road
And stood paralyzed
Not knowing what to do!

I’ve weighed my options
A thousand times
I’ve liked something about this road
And something about the other one!

What led to my paralysis
Was fear of making a mistake
Not realizing that
That’s part of life

No one road leads to contentment
No mistake can completely break us down
There is no way to have all the answers beforehand
We need to take a leap of Faith and jump!

Secure in knowing that
We can get up from a fall
Falling and rising
Integral parts of life

It takes courage to make a choice
It takes strength to get up after a fall
But each time we rise, we’ll be stronger
Our courage and strength will multiply!

Lida Berghuis
July 27th, 2011