Laurie Klein, Scribe

immerse in God, emerge refreshed

  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
    • Small Wonders
    • Soul Mimosas
    • Springboards
    • Wellsprings
    • BiblioDiva
  • Reveries
  • Links
  • Contact
  • Press Kit
  • Playlist

Yes & No Answers

by Laurie Klein 12 Chiming In

Yes. Those 3 letters brim with promise.
Yes can encompass zest
or solemnity,
courtesy, courage or compromise.

Yes can mean guilt,
resignation,
or quiet acceptance—
depending on when and how and why I say it.

Yes may mean “I’m afraid to say No.”

Yes & No

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“To allow oneself to be carried away
by a multitude of conflicting concerns,

to surrender to too many demands,
to commit oneself to too many projects,
to want to help everyone in everything,
is to succumb to the violence of our times.”

So said Thomas Merton.

Then I read this:

“One faces the devil’s bargains frequently when planning the structure of one’s day. How much can one crowd into the day?” asks Robert Johnson.

Violence and devil’s bargains—isn’t this hyperbole? Spiritual hype?

Johnson’s meddlesome “how much” question chafes.

How casually I attribute my productive pace to:

  • Personality
  • Birth order
  • Childhood’s family work ethic

All gifts, I would add … that can be abused. When ticking boxes off lists I feel heroic, almost prolific.

Currently, I’m packing for travel. Bustling ensues. I toggle between fast-forward and pause.

There must be fresh ways to sanely pursue the essential—lest I mortgage my reserves into the next decade.

“Listen deeply to your body’s longings for movement and stillness, saying yes to them in whatever way is appropriate for you,” writes Christine Valters-Paintner.

Discernment sometimes begins in the body.

Yes is worth the wait

 

If amid hubbub I can wait with expectation, discerning my “Yes” may also entail speaking a holy “No.” Perhaps out loud. Perhaps, repeatedly.

The words yes and no even trigger arguments among grammarians trying to classify them into conventional parts of speech. Small and slippery, they can be nouns, adverbs, interjections, even minor sentences.

No wonder I’m conflicted.

While I’m away (sans laptop), I hope those of us pondering this will more easily discern when and how and why we say, “Yes.” And “No.”

Meanwhile, you might enjoy my offering in Jenneth Glaser’s winsome Poetry as Therapy celebration. Daily, for the month of June only, Jenneth features stunning photography, music, meditations, affirmations, poems, and prayers. Click the link below to catch up on earlier posts.

https://mailchi.mp/8d4d29876d22/welcome-to-day-15-of-the-poetry-as-therapy-online-retreat-2018?e=408e5c4767

You might also enjoy my e e cummings photo mediation: Natural … infinite …

I’d love to get your take on saying Yes and No. I’ll respond as soon as I can, depending on computer availability.

lauriekleinscribe logo

Photos: detail of collage, by Laurie Klein, and our scummily artful birdbath, beneath the eave.

Filed Under: Small Wonders Tagged With: essential, expectation, listen, No, yes June 27, 2018

Trapped

by Laurie Klein 28 Chiming In

Trapped.

trapped in motion

A hummingbird flails against the open glass slider—inside the house.

Dare I usher this manic three-inch wonder outside?

Inching closer, newspaper in hand, I cradle and lift until—with a cranky chirk—it swivels midair, then rockets away.

In this moment there is life and food
for future years. —Wm. Wordsworth

+++

I just reread this old journal entry because now, 19 years later, several Beija flors, or flower kissers, have converged on our new feeder. Iridescence shimmers, flushing copper to gold, then green.

The green arrests me.

Last night I read exceptionally good news about a fellow writer’s success. In a hummingbird heartbeat, I felt threatened. Territorial. Envious.

And here I am. Jealousy I don’t want to feel and fail to swallow constricts my throat. My soul.

O the tempers and vanities that beset me.

Ego vibrates, carping after the inaccessible, like a beak against glass.

Jealousy escalates. If I’m honest, I want to win. I want to impress.

Like hummingbirds at the feeder, my thoughts bicker and bully, sideswipe and joust for position.

My ego plunges an all-or-nothing beak into any bright opening, no matter how small.

Sometimes I struggle to discern truth in the world.

This feels like truth:

Make a careful exploration of who you are
and the work you have been given,
and then sink yourself into that.

Don’t be impressed with yourself.
Don’t compare yourself with others.

…take responsibility for doing
the creative best you can with your own life.*

When feeling trapped by comparisons, these are words where my soul can hover.

God gently slips his newspaper beneath my beating thoughts, lifting me safely, cleanly, up and away.

lauriekleinscribe logo

How do you disarm envy?

*Galations 6, The Message

 

Filed Under: Small Wonders Tagged With: ego, envy, hummingbird, jealousy, success, trapped June 6, 2018

“Squirrel!” Or Harnessing Distraction

by Laurie Klein 14 Chiming In

“Squirrel!” Like the talking dog in the movie “Up,” I’m distracted.

While reading, peripheral movements at the bird feeder have snagged my gaze. A small rodent poses atop the Squirrel Begone Baffle.

Book forgotten, I fetch my camera.

ambition

I am easily baffled. Prone to distraction:

  • hunger clears its throat when I mean to pray, then my feet escort me kitchen-ward
  • a traffic accident occurs and I rubberneck
  • during party conversations my ears mimic satellite dishes; I eavesdrop on other conversations

Some days my head locks onto the wrong setting: S.W.I.V.E.L.

Squirrel!

A tree squirrel can rotate both hind ankles 180 degrees, allowing breezy, head-first walks down a tree trunk. Or the quick-shinny up a metal pole.

To learn from this one—albeit after the fact—I launch an imaginary conversation: “Do you have a message for me?”

Then I give him a voice and let him answer. You seem less agile, he seems to say.

Didn’t see that coming. Cheeky rodent. “Um, are you perchance … packing a metaphor?”

The squirrel does a double-take. Who me?

“Yes, you.”

Claws re-grip the pole. Coast is clear.

“Meaning …”

Dare …

squirrel makes his move

 

Standing fully extended,

the squirrel looks relaxed, yet

primed for action.

“Show-off,” I say.

I’m enacting my hunger.

I suspect he says this because in his furry mind, he suspects I am not.

So I change the subject

Whiskers, or vibrissae, surround the squirrel’s nose, mouth, and limbs. Vibrissae ferry nerve impulses brimming with tactile information straight to the brain.

Which restarts the dialogue. “Okay, Scamp, those whiskers suggest I pursue my current project with all my resources?”

The small head cocks, vibrissae quiver.

“Or … you’re implying a leap of faith will override my latest baffling obstacle: fear of finishing.”

Silence.

“I’ll discover balance in time for the next upward push?”

Nothing.

“Following my hungers, the God-given kind, might aid my mental agility?”

Tsk. Follow the ache; embrace the fun.

“I get it. Tend the small hungers within my reach. Then extend the reach.”

squirrel with seed
Timing. Intention. Readiness. Grace.

lauriekleinscribe logo

Distraction: harnessed via imaginary dialogue. If you try this, let me know what happens?

Dug, the talking dog, in “Up”—(watch here).

Double take post 1: 

Double take post 2:

 

Filed Under: Small Wonders Tagged With: baffle, contemplative, distraction, double-take, squirrel! April 11, 2018

Making Waves

by Laurie Klein 6 Chiming In

Waves . . . oh how this world waves.

Evening Blues on the Beach

Breakers fling themselves at the shore
Beasts flick their ears to scatter flies
Gills ripple underwater
Land heaves and undulates

And we wave back

We wave to . . .
point out the marvelous: Look at that!

We wave to . . .
beckon guests: Come in, come in!
bid farewell: Come back soon!

hurry and harry our children: Mustn’t be late!

rally: You can do it!
flaunt: I did it!
be the whole parade: Look at me!

we wave to . . .
interrupt proceedings: Now hear this!
swing flares or flashlights: Accident ahead or Detour or Park here
wield placards: Travesty! Injustice!

furl and unfurl our flags: My country, right or wrong!
swing lanterns: One if by land, Two if by sea
brandish swords: Follow me!

We wave and it says I am here.

And sometimes, we waive our rights.

Or we make a stand, then waver.

Does it originate with the woman who waved Eden’s fruit?
Does it continue with one Palm Sunday colt (having the day of its life?)
and the One astride, born of starlight and Spirit,
sandaled feet brushing Jerusalem’s dust?

Wave, waive, waver

Fronds one day,
nails the next: two
callused palms
pierced by the wielded
mallet, our secret
names invisibly etched
beneath wounds

the crown still making waves
Hosanna in the highest!

What do you think about making waves?

Oh, and this might make you smile

lauriekleinscribe logo

Filed Under: Small Wonders Tagged With: Hosanna, making waves, Palm Sunday, waive, waver, waves March 24, 2018

Hope Deferred: Next Option, Please

by Laurie Klein 28 Chiming In

Hope deferred. Not what we had in mind.

Dreamer and I finally saw the cardiologist. For 3 long weeks we have awaited The Plan.

Remember the classic parental non-answer “We’ll see”?

Hopefully, 8 weeks hence, we’ll know more. A definitive word will be spoken.

Meanwhile: more meds.

A fellow wordsmith reminded me that poet Emily Dickinson eagerly awaited the enlivening glow of words, her eyes, ears and soul cocked, her pen poised.

Playwright William Luce says Dickinson relished words worth lifting a hat to. Like phosphorescence.

Hale
Vigorous
Robust

I long to lift my hat to one of those words.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, Solomon tell us.

Hope, however, also muscles up—via delay. Long after the disciples went home, Mary Magdalene hung around the tomb, waiting.

Waiting.

Who heard Easter’s enlivening word straight from the angels?

Who heard first, that day, from the Word, himself?

Hope deferred, acorn to oak

One who waited.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. 

lauriekleinscribe logo

What are you waiting for? May I come alongside you in prayer?

Filed Under: Small Wonders Tagged With: deferred, hope, lift my hat, wait, word March 7, 2018

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS

Subscribe

Please enter your email address below to receive emails from Laurie twice a month.

Your information is safe with me. I will never spam you. Read my privacy policy here.

Hi, I’m Laurie.

  • Scribe for wonder
  • Contemplative author/artist
  • Reader/performer/speaker
  • Imagination maven
  • Biblio*Diva
  • Expert on chocolate raisins
  • Click here to read more.

House of 49 Doors: Entries in a Life

House of 49 Doors: Entries in a Life
Buy This Book Online
Buy from Amazon
House of 49 Doors: Entries in a Life
Buy now!

Where the Sky Opens, a Partial Cosmography

Where the Sky Opens, a Partial Cosmography
Buy This Book Online
Buy from Amazon
Where the Sky Opens, a Partial Cosmography
Buy now!

Recent Posts

  • Under the Primer
  • Hold Fast
  • Runaway
  • Wholehearted Lent
  • Listening to You Breathe

Categories

  • BiblioDiva
  • Immersions
  • Small Wonders
  • Soul Mimosas
  • Springboards
  • Wellsprings

Tags

adoption adventure attention Beauty blessing Blues change chosen contemplative cookies delight emergence Gift grace gratitude hidden hope joy light longing love Magi music nest pain peace pearls possibility praise prayer regret Risk shelf life soundings space star surrender Time transformation truth waiting wellspring wonder word yes

Copyright © 2025 Laurie Klein, Scribe Laurie Klein, Scribe All Rights Reserved Laurie Klein, Scribe Privacy Policy