Welcome to The Polly Papers, my reflections and meditations on the surprising, puzzling and unusual glimpses of the Spirit of God in the world. This audacious attempt to capture, in words, a glimpse of an elusive yet accessible being is expressed by a phrase from a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke:
I am circling around God, around the ancient tower,
and I have been circling for a thousand years,
and I still don’t know if I am a falcon, or a storm,
or a great song. (link to full poem)
In a way, it similar to decoding our spiritual DNA. Just as the body has its basic building blocks in the genes strung along a double helix, so I believe do we have a spiritual spiral linking all the material available for growing into God-essence. I hope that some of the pieces you will find in these pages will help you unlock your own spiritual DNA. (more)
Presence
Someone once asked me to name my favorite trip from over a lifetime of a travel. I couldn’t answer. Because I have been so fortunate to have seen extraordinary places on our blue planet, how could I possibly choose? The question stayed with me in the next few days. If
A Robin
While eating breakfast this morning, I glanced out the window to see a robin hopping about in the grass. With one swift peck, it found a worm and swallowed it. The bird stood still for a moment before beginning again to explore the ground, a peck here, another there,
The Little Engine that Could(n’t)
My son loved the story of the little blue engine that pulled the train over the mountain so that all the boys and girls would get their toys and lollipops and good food to eat. He took it so much to heart that, when things were tough in his adult
Five Reasons to Go for a Walk on a Cold, Gray March Day
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…and see if I could learn what it had to teach me… H.D. Thoreau Tomorrow is the vernal equinox although you’d be hard pressed to believe it if you looked out your window this morning. It’s
Stop, Look and Listen
Each year at this time, I write about the swing of our northern winter towards spring. And so it was that last week, as I gazed out my window at the bird feeder, I noticed countless chickadees, titmice and finches vying for a spot, flying in and out at close
Grace
The day had been long and arduous, bitter cold with a biting wind, too many errands and way too much traffic. I was dead tired and longing to get home although I still needed to pick up the book waiting for me at my local library. Having arrived shortly before