Tag Archives: courage

The Tasks at Hand

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ducks

If the tasks at hand
seem impossible,
just remember
the voice that tells you so
is not you. It is only
the keeper of boxes, the one
that tries to circumscribe your light,
the one that battles your dissent
with stridency of tone
so you will not keep fighting

The tasks at hand are a gift,
presented to celebrate your capabilities.
You are well able to do them,
and they will show the depth and brilliance
of your being.

The tasks at hand are yours —
Rise up!

©Wendy Mulhern
May 24, 2016

This Way

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understory

I walked back today
along the path, in my mind,
where I had come, saw the crags,
the sharp ascents, the bracing view,
a good reminder
(as the way trends downward
into the understory, shaded and close)
that progress has been steady,
that the path rises, after this,
to further heights,
and there will be more views,
more stretches harder
than I have ever climbed,
more to change me beyond recognition,
and nothing for it
but to keep going.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 25, 2016

Take Heart

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Green Lake late sun

Don’t be afraid —
There is no journey you can take,
no long night you can go through
where you will be abandoned
in the middle

In your tiredest moment,
at the coldest hour,
in the bleakest outlook,
the most untoward turn,
hear your heart:
it doesn’t beat alone.
It pulses in response
to the eternal pulse of being,
indicating, thus, its steady presence

You will come through,
but you may feel at peace
before you’re even done,
for in each step
you are attended by the One.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 27, 2016

Walking Through

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Hileman Jan '14

I will stand my ground,
and if the sand shifts beneath me
I will settle my feet in again,
I will lean into the wind
and I will not be desolate

I will close my eyes
and blink into the knowing
of what holds me strong and steady,
I will wrap myself
in the practical rise
to the moment’s exigencies,
the mantle of resolute calm
for an unknown course
and many miles to travel

I will walk on through,
for there is no other way.

©Wendy Mulhern
December 30, 2015

To Heather, visiting from the east coast

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Heather, viola

For me you have often
stood in as my daemon —
spirit beside me
giving me courage,
feather-light anchor
securing my sense of my right
to be here

Even of late
on opposite coasts
I still feel us walking together,
seeking our heart instruments
and our song,
practicing light lessons daily

Now, while you’re here,
all the tasks of my day
suddenly seem light and easy —
buoyed by your presence,
in joy of your essence,
my spirit is lifted again.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 17, 2015

Well Drillers

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Well drillers

I recognize the goodness
of your sturdy strength
and your willingness
to get completely dirty
and to muscle the heavy equipment
into the ground,
your endurance
and your experience
and the way you signal to each other
above the motor’s din and through your earplugs
and you both know
what you need to do

The joy in this shows through
like the brightness of your eyes
in mud-spattered faces,
and how you hold yourselves
after the heat of the day
and the hours of work,
fortified instead of slumped by labor.

©Wendy Mulhern
September 11, 2015

Seeing the Salvation

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under oak

Stand still, for you won’t need
to fight in this battle. Not this one.
For your perception
will be lifted up. And none of the triggers
will even register

You will see that your work is
to stand clear in the Allness —
the comprehensive Love that buffers
each collision course with kindness,
makes each intersection blessed,
each impact blessing

You won’t need to fight in this battle.
Stand still, and let your view expand
until you see the circle’s sweet return,
until you hold the whole.

©Wendy Mulhern
February 18, 2015

Crucible

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far oak1

Oh, these things we are so proud of
and the things of which we’re so ashamed.
these things that cling to who we think we are,
these things we carefully arrange,
These things we call ourselves
and what we call each other
all must melt
in the rising heat of change

And what we are
beneath our self stories,
What we are
beneath all our facades
will seem a small coal
when we first see it
but we will know we must acknowledge it
as ours

As ashes fall away, we’ll see the glow,
and as we hold to it, we’ll see it grow:
It will survive the fire,
it will endure —
It may be faint as yet
but it is pure.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 18, 2015

Power

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cuddle2_0010-002 copy

Listen,
You have the power:
You can always do
what you want

You are the power —
You can bring your light
into the world

You feel the power,
vibrant and decisive voice within
that lets you know
what you are here to do,
how to begin
and how to follow through
and how to win
the realization of your grandest vision.

Though you have heard real life consists
of mostly doing things your heart resists,
it is not true,
For here and now
the life that ever brings you forth
aligns you with your joy
and seals your worth.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 30, 2014

Naming it

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Oh, I have been fooled
so many times,
so nearly constantly —
Cowed by an unnamed fog
to fail to move
(lest in moving I should fail),
to fail to see
(lest I see something that would wake me
to the need to move)

But now I will name the fog
and feel the fear roll off
in great waves,
billowing and blowing and dispersing
And I will stand
in new-created day.

©Wendy Mulhern
January 15, 2014