Spiritual Things Matter

There is a time that will surely come
When all that has been, will become a question.
A question, not to be answered by the learned
But one to be lived, again and again.

What have I wrought with my life thus far?
Has it been purely to protect myself alone?
Is there a purpose to this life I live,
Or, is life just waves of motions, taking their turn?

Does my touch, or my smile, or anything at all
Have any effect on this vast world?
Do my passions count as I long for keener awareness
For that, Loving Being, far greater still?

Friends will come and friends will go -
While we grow and change along the way.
Do they,  as I,  just try to find a certain rhythm
That makes some sense to their searching minds?

Quietly, I kneel in surrender
Laying my questions on the altar of my soul.
There, I am met by Wisdom, which is far greater
Than the many questions born out of such limited terrain.

~Viola Jaynes
May 2009

_{Photograph by: Ryan Eng}

At the heart of our loss is gain
Unseen, and yet eternal.
At the heart of our gain is loss
Through too much knowing.
At the heart of our joys are mysteries
That remain untold.
At the heart of our tears is wisdom
Embracing the cycles of life-
Thus, finding stillness and peace within.

~Viola M. Jaynes
Nov. 2008

^{_{Photograph by: Lionel Bodilis}}
~Teri~

May you find peace in the midst of turmoil today.
May you find comfort in your own tears.
May those tears flow freely with fond memories to pass on,
And may the presence of your beloved always be in your heart.

I pray for you today, that the joys of yesterday will never be forgotten,
That the pains you shared together have created a lasting bond,
That you embrace yourself gently as you tenderly say goodbye,
And that your goodbyes will only be in passing.

May you find comfort in the mysteries of life and death,
For life brings tears that flow with so much wisdom,
Proclaiming that nothing every really dies but only changes -
And in that change comes greater awareness of the Divine.

~Viola M. Jaynes

*Dedicated to Teri as she finds comfort in her loss.*

_{^{Photograph by: K. Alan Lewis}}

Quietly life burns like a gentle sparkling fire
Mundane with tasks we know all too well.
Politely greeting and meeting
Attending to duties as citizen and friend.

All at once an arrow pierces our heart
It kindles alive this fire in our bellies.
Strange it seems – the energy that bursts forth
Vast powers from within rising to the surface.

Passion heightens the mind and our senses
Nothing at all becomes impossible to reach.
The heart courageously beats the rhythm of this fire
Going forth, hoping that reason is not forgotten.

Oh, the passions that consume our lives
In beauty that bursts forth in deep satisfaction.
Creativity is passion’s gift, bringing untold dreams to fruition
During rare and exquisite moments of raptured awareness.

~Viola M. Jaynes