Love
Rockweed Love
Click for meditationRegarding "Rockweed Love"
We were in Maine
Again this past summer, and
As customary, one of
Our daughters with her
Young family was with us.
We were at the beach
Almost every day, and
Our two granddaughters
Frolicked in the cold
Waters with no ill effects.
On the next to last day
There, as we were
Getting ready to leave
The beach and were washing
The sand off our feet,
A little voice standing
Beside me spoke
With the innocence and
Prescient wisdom of a
Child. It was one of my
Granddaughters, age
Eight. And out she was
Holding her palm,
Wanting to show what
She had miraculously found –
A piece of rockweed
Seaweed, a free-floating
Type of algae, its appendage
Drawn into the shape
Of a perfect heart!
It symbolized so much –
Her love for me, mine for her,
The Love of the Creator
For us all, and the love which
Flows from each of us
As the Second Commandment
Shouts out from the
Shores of Down-East Maine
And then echoes back
Out into Penobscot Bay…!
Leo Carroll
October 14, 2021
“Papa, look! A heart!” and
My granddaughter
Extends her wrinkled
And waterlogged palm to
Show me the mercy
And message come fresh
From the cold sea,
Her hand innocent, her
Face in awe and
Wonder, sensing that
Her Papa would see what she
Herself believes…
Cold Moon
("Love")
Click for meditationRegarding "Cold Moon"
A December full moon
Is referred to as a
“Cold Moon.” It can also
Be called the “Long Night Moon,”
Because it occurs so close
To the winter solstice, and is
Associated with the
Longest night of the year.
If the skies are clear,
It can be an absolutely
Beautiful sight,
Bright white-yellow
In color. And it was on such
A clear night when I
Happened to open
My front door and stick
My head outside to
Take a deep breath of fresh
Air, and I saw it – a
Beautiful orb in the night
Blackness, and
Peering down at me
Through branches almost
Bare of their big,
Pie-plate sized oak leaves.
I stepped out the door
Onto my front walkway and
Just peered up at it,
Amazed that such a spectacle
Could ever exist…and
Particularly just for me!
And then I remembered that
This was not the first
Time I had stared up in a
Mesmerized fashion
At a Cold Moon! It had
Happened years and years
Before as well, and under that
Long ago sky with such
A marvelous moon, I had
Whispered about
Something that only
The Cold Moon heard…
And which memory of e’en
Now can still cast me
Into a December swoon…
Leo Carroll
March 15, 2021
A cold moon, really cold
In its name and the
Gleam of its Decemb’r bloom,
Shining through branches
Of barren oak, the
Same oak tree which
Years ago listened…when
I whispered of something I’d
Ne’er before of
Spoke…
Christmas
Click for meditationRegarding "Christmas"
Sometimes
My mind is unable to rest,
As if it was on its own
Independent mission, and
I was along for the
Ride as an involuntary,
E’en unwelcome
Guest…My mind can
Seem like it is freewheeling
With its neurons running
Wild on pathways
Forming new synapses…!
But somehow on
Christmas Eve, Something
Greater Than I laid
Down the gauntlet for
Me to hush, and my mind
Slowed down as if it
Pulled off a rural
Exit ramp, and I exhaled
A big breath as a child
Born 2000 years ago once
More let out its first
Cry, and the attending
Animals stretched out
In awe beneath the winter’s
Night’s sky…
Leo Carroll
December 29, 2020
No poem cometh…and
Momentarily I am
Mute in the
Silence…and e’en
My unharnessed thoughts
Are made to be
Bridled and to bow,
As my mind recuses
Itself before the
Awe of today’s humble
Majesty, and I realize
To do nothing is
All I am allowed.
New Wine
Click for meditationRegarding "New Wine"
In the Gospels, Jesus
Teaches His followers about
A transformative and revolutionary
Way to renew their spiritual
Lives — to “love thy neighbor as thyself,”
And in so doing to gently satisfy
The letter of the Law.
Jesus taught a liberating
Theology of how to
Live a good life, and when
Questioned He told the
Famous parable about the
Good Samaritan, to clarify the
Meaning of the word, “neighbor,” i.e.,
Anyone we encounter along
The pathway of life.
Jesus said that to accept
This new teaching would be to
Take on His “yoke,” which He
Metaphorically visualized
As a burden “light.”
All we had to do was to
Relate to our neighbors as if
They were a manifestation
Of ourselves, and to treat them
The very same way we
Would like to be treated.
And thus, the Gospels outline
A soothing yoke to be put
Upon the fragile shoulders
Of humanity – just like
Newly fallen snow kissing the
Faces of pansies in an
Easter Week planter,
Beauty upon beauty, Love
Upon love, Divinity upon divinity,
And Creation upon creation.
Leo Carroll
June 29, 2020
New Wine
And so was heard,
“The yoke I give you is easy, and
The load I will put upon
You is light,” and across the
Waters and continents
Blew the Word, and at that
Moment the pansies
Knew by the new-fallen
Snow they would not be hurt…
And so they confidently looked up –
Easter petals lain up’n by an
Overnight, fresh snow –
Beauty gently placed
Up’n beauty, Love up’n love,
Divinity up’n divinity, and
Snowflakes up’n pansies from
Heav’n to earth bestowed.
New Wineskins
After the snow
Came the beauty, but I never
Expected it would be in
The form of words…But rather just
The honor of fulfilling duty,
But not the Balm of Gilead to
Assuage the hurt…
Abraham
Could a person ever
Possess the towering presence
And gravitas to “negotiate” with
God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of
Heaven and earth and all things
Beyond and beyond…?
The answer would seem a
Resounding, “Absolutely not,”
Because humankind has
Neither the eyes nor the ears
Nor the mind to behold
The essence and likeness of the
Lord God. In the minds of
Believers, however, if a name
Were ever to be humbly
Proffered forward to
Negotiate with God, it
Probably would be that of
“Abraham” – – considered
By scholars to be a common
Patriarch of Judaism, Christianity,
And Islam. And, in fact, in
The Book of Genesis,
Abraham is actually
Portrayed as trying to
Convince God (Yahweh)
To spare the evil towns of
Sodom and Gomorrah.
In a surreal dialogue,
Abraham asks God if He
Would spare the sinful towns
If there were only 50 just
Men living within them…?
God consents, and
Says He would do so…
Then Abraham takes it a
Step further, asking
What about if there were
Only 45…,40…,30…,20…, and
Ten just men…? To each
Question, God relents and says
He would spare the wicked
Towns. And so when the final day
Did come, and Sodom and
Gomorrah were destroyed,
There was only ONE man who was
Saved, and his name was “Lot.”
God drew the line in the
Sand at ONE just man!
This is an important lesson.
God is infinitely more
Compassionate, forgiving,
And magnanimous
Than we are, and in the
Book of Genesis all it took
Was ONE just person
To soften the heart of God.
And thus, the Creator is endlessly
Searching for that simple
Mustard seed which exists in
Each of us, and which
Has sprouted and flowered
Into a tree magnificent.
Today, there are examples of
Corrupted corporations,
Governmental organizations,
Institutions of higher learning,
Religious denominations,
And on and on, all of
Which have egregiously failed
Those they were serving.
This is a sad fruit of the
“Human condition” under
Which yoke we heavily labor.
Things are imperfect, very imperfect!
We hope for the best but
Sometimes get the worst!
The temptation is to
Throw the baby out with
The bath water! But to that
Approach, God disagrees…
In all things there is
Something good, even just
ONE thing! The story of
Abraham teaches this truth.
We need to be open to
The existence of good and
Nurture it like a dying ember.
All good can be made to bloom
Into something bright, and
We can be the ones to the breath
And loam provide…