Simply Go*d

I am using (with permission) “Simply Go*d” as the title for this post – having borrowed it from a book title I recently came across. I love this title as it can be read as either “good” or “god” and both words make sense in the same sort of way. We are all “simply Go*d”. We can all worship “go*d”. But, beyond the clever title, the book engaged me very much. The author, Susan Kirsch, begins the book by talking about her own daily spiritual practice (which takes her 20 minutes each morning).

She begins by walking to the bathroom (she had me right there! If walking to the bathroom could be a spiritual practice, I was in!). As she walks, she notices her legs and her ability to walk and recognizes the privilege it is. She then turns on the tap and gets a glass of water which she drinks while appreciating this freely abundant and available source of all life – as she contemplates those who must walk dusty miles to a well to fetch water in a pot.

She goes on to do some yoga and then lights a candle at her altar with another prayer “Make me a light in the world”. She does some brief reading from sacred texts, selects a tarot card and then makes two entries in her journal. She uses a journal with blank pages and she begins by making an intuitive drawing with oil pastels on the right side of the page. She calls this her “play page”. A page beyond words -- she fills the page with color and shape. She writes “I welcome the blank page as a metaphor for the upcoming day.” And then she writes on the left hand page – stimulated by the tarot card, her own drawing or just trying to name the blessings she notices.

I intend to take up this practice myself!! It is a lovely variation on things I already was doing but that had become stale for me. So lovely to have a new palette to play with.

Here is one poem of hers, reprinted here with her permission. And, if you want more, you can order the book here.

Wealth Beyond Measure. By Susan Kirsch

Let the bankers

straighten the ties

that choke their necks

behind button-down shirts.

You and I have wealth beyond measure.

Don’t worry.

Forget the balance in your checkbook.

Appreciate the oxygen in your lungs

the radiant smiles of children

the determined ladybug

climbing the potato vine.

We have wealth beyond measure.

Fragile figures

in your retirement account

deceive.

Instead of retiring

Emerge!

Create an emergent account.

Make monthly deposits of courage

to pursue your passion

and dance your dreams.

Weave your wealth in the realm of angels

who use paper currency as kindling

while they wrap you in their golden wings.