These Feet ...

A poem that evolved from yesterday's ponderings.   This is a work in progress, as am I ...

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"These Feet"

1    Walk, skip, run ...

2    And when I'm lucky, dance with these feet  the Creator,

3    In His infinite wisdom unto me so gifted.

4    I will walk through this journey, my so-called life,

5    Joyful arms out-lifted on a glorious adventure unscripted. 

6    Free-will  our inheritance enlisted,

7    These feet carry a warrior with a gentle heart,

8    Willfully serving His higher purpose.

9     His voice ever near and endlessly heeded,

10   I am an empty vessel waiting  to be filled ...

11   A burning spirit, sealed in fire, watching, waiting,

12   Listening, ready to be used as I am needed.

13   Renouncing Fear , these feet journey ever forward

14   Knowing full well moments there shall call

15   Where these feet shall scarcely find the will to crawl.

16   To my knees then will I swiftly fall, but even then

17   Fear will NOT rule:  my will remains immune to worldly strife.

18   Unyielding Faith in the Creator breathes me Life.

19   My spirit calls unto Him to fill up the

20   Empty wanting that in this darkness is me ...

21   In my Valley of Darkness safe from harm

22   The Creator will me keep.  With His Infinite Love

23   And Merciful Grace, He renews a weary me.

24   Therefore, I shall not with worldly tears weep. 

25   Fortifying my strength, opening eyes, mind, heart and soul:

26   He fills me up and makes me once again whole.

27   Thus renewed, these free-willed feet

28   Choose to resume His Divine Bidding.

29   Joyful steps these feet trace in the sands of a so-called life,

30   Mindfully infused with Heaven's Eternal Pace:

31   The Cosmic Beat set with Supreme Perfection

32   Unto Nature's Rhythmic Feet  ...

33   With Nature, I strive to be One.

34   So move these feet, ever forward in motion,

35   A glorious notion in aid to simple hands;

36   A paired will awaits:  there to do as He insights.

@Copyrighted Poem, 2012.  All Rights Reserved:  Isabelle Black Smith.

“It is the marriage of the soul with Nature that makes the intellect fruitful, and gives birth to imagination.” ~Henry David Thoreau

The Shoes Make the Man?

I seem to be beating this cold.  It doesn't stand a chance.  Doomed to fail ... It picked the wrong host. ; )

Not many images and words flowing from me these days, but I did finally sleep some.  Now, I am feeling restless and need to go for a run.  So that must be a sign that I'm on the mend.

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Thinking about shoes today and how I'm not a big fan of shoes.  I love being barefoot ... well, when its practical and sometimes even when its not.  Anyhow, I am thinking about feet ... How they carry us where we want to go.  They enable us to 'pursue our dreams' in a manner of speaking.   Then my thoughts skip to the saying "The shoes make the man."  Do people really a judge a man by his shoes?  How shallow ... to my way of thinking anyhow.  Then the image of Jesus washing Peter's feet (I posted a painting of this story image from the Bible a few days back, in my post labeled "Jury Duty") comes to mind.  The latter Bible story really struck a chord with me as a small child and does even now to this day.

I often have dreams where feet are a part of the dream.  What does that mean?  Just a few days back, I wrote a post about reincarnation and a dream I have had of late that revolves around a pair of stolen shoes. I have also had a recurring nightmare for many years where I am running barefoot through the night and my feet are being cut and badly bruised along the way ... then in the middle of the dream my feet are washed just before the real horror of the nightmare unfolds.

I know 'feet' seem an odd thing to ponder, but at times my mind has a will of its own.  Although, I am quite often surprised at some of the profound places my strange pondering ends up leading me.  Where will this pondering of feet ... shoes ... go?  I haven't a clue.  I'm off to go for a run now; I'll let you know if I reach any profound conclusions along the way.



Peace & Love,
~M





Early morning ... It is nearly my magic hour of 3:00 a.m.  I seldom can sleep before this time unless I take sleeping pills which I don't like to do.  Well after my run, my fingers found a movie centering around the dance of Tango.  Very apropos ... Feet dance when the spirit is so moved.  Our feet carry us through life and if we are lucky ... fortunate ... enough we get to dance along the way, right?  It also occured to me while watching this movie, that dance is perhaps something that can bridge cultural and regional lines or differences maybe?  Dance is a language unto itself and a universal language at that?  Throughout the ages, and around the globe, are there not countless instances of man engaged in  dance?  We all share perhaps the inate ability to be moved to motion ... to dance ... when the music moves us.

I have to smile.  The universe moves in mysterious ways does it not?  Tango anyone?

Do You Believe in Reincarnation?

Have you ever had a dream that seemed so very real that it seemed as if you had physically been transported to another time and space?  A dream where the world is alive with color ... vibrant colors ... and there is texture and smell to go with sights and sounds?  I don't often have dreams like this, but I have had one such recurring dream lately -- over the course of the past few months. Dreams such as these make me think that they come from experiences in one of my past lives and I do wholeheartedly believe in reincarnation.

These are two paintings that come pretty close to elements within my multi-dimensional dream.  My dream centers around a stolen pair of shoes.  Is that odd?  ...  I recall that I could also feel a gentle breeze blowing across my face as I ran playfully amongst the trees, with the patches of the sun's warming rays breaking through the treetops from time to time.   So I wonder, have you ever had a dream like the above, with textures and smells that accompany an array of vivid colored sights and sounds?  ... "The stuff that dreams are made of " ...

Do you believe in reincarnation?  I would venture most people never ever really take the time to think on the subject and as such have no opinion (or instinct) one way or another.   Let's face it, re-incarnation is not mainstream or really a topic for 'normal' discussion.  Most often, I believe that because reincarnation is based upon a set of personal beliefs and experiences it is often difficult to translate into meaningful explanations for individuals outside of the immediate experience ... dream or memories of recollection.  Besides, most people walk through their lives half asleep.  The notion of pondering reincarnation probably never occurs to most and when it does they are all to eager to dismiss it because it is a concept that is so foreign and frightening to them (i.e., pondering reincarnation requires addressing death and one's own "mortality") ... because as yet, there is no tangible 'proof' that reincarnation is possible and does occur with regular frequency.  To my way of thinking, however, working within the narrow confines of our 'tangible', concrete daily reality is so very limiting when you consider the vastness of the ever expanding universe itself ... isn't it?

I always say:  "Change your perspective:  change your life."  Right now, I am thinking ... "Change your perspective:  enlighten your life."   We have centuries of history dedicated to the pursuit of worship of a supreme divinity, a God ... A Creator. We take His ... or Her ... existence completely on faith, do we not? As such, would it really be such a stretch to then also entertain the notion of reincarnation?  If you accept an improvable belief in God, I wonder how we would assume that He only gives us ONE chance to get it right?  We are, for the most part, a stubborn and narrow-minded lot, we humans.  Therefore, I should think that it would take at least a few iterations before we would begin to dissociate from a self-based focus of our lives, our world and the universe at large.  Once the focus shifts away from self then (and only then?) one can subsequently begin to tread upon the path of enlightenment on a journey back home to our Creator.

Well, these are my thoughts on reincarnation, inspired by a recurring dream.  I do sincerely appreciate other people's perspectives, however, and I accept that some of us are further along their journey home than others.   So take this discussion ... pondering ... for what you will.  Perhaps, I have given you something to think about?  Perhaps the unfolding of this discussion within you will be a step along your own personal path toward further enlightenment?  Whatever the case may be:  Peace and Much LOVE to those who pass this way.


[Paintings above are courtesy of ArtMagick.com:  1) "At Fosset, Under the Fir Trees", By Fernand Khnopff;  2) "April Love", By Arthur Hughes.]




12/19/2011 Early A.M. ... In rereading this very post coupled with thoughts on the true meaning of Christmas, the 'Christ' in Christmas, non-Christian religions and atheists ... and having had many interesting discussions with quite a few atheists:  I am left wondering if perhaps the subject of reincarnation might be a bridge to an understanding between all of the latter?  It is a rather intriguing notion to me ... I'll have to see where my pondering of this leads?