The Unclad Soul

I saw a child in a grocery basket Singing in the produce section And I smiled at the cheerfulness Of children. I saw a white crane perched on a dead tree At peace in a pond at the golf course And I wanted to stand with it In the sunshine. I saw an old man with a cane Hunched over and walking wearily And I thought how nice if I could Carry him to his destination. I saw a woman sitting at the bus stop In the cold, her face covered with a scarf And I thought how selfish when I complain My car heater takes so long to get warm. I saw a couple kissing in the parking lot With shopping bags resting beside them And I reveled in how love often ignores Its surroundings and blooms fearlessly. I saw teens volunteering at an SPCA stand Outside the mall, warmly holding and petting Dogs and cats and chatting with customers And I thought we don’t give teens enough credit. I saw the sun setting gloriously as I left work The colors stunning a...

The human body – what a miracle. Despite all we do to it—abuse it, take it for granted, it still operates with amazing precision. Walt Whitman wrote, “If anything is sacred, the human body is sacred.” It is more than a work of art; it is the work of genius. The mind – a complex computer with nearly unlimited capacities. Think of all we do without even thinking about it. Breathing, swallowing, sleeping, waking, walking, running. My typing, at this moment, without actually thinking about it, my fingers run across the keys effortlessly as though they somehow instinctively find the right letters on their own. It’s all the involuntary work of the mind. Creation gave us a brain but life gives us a mind. If we are aware, life will feed and nurture our mind. The ancients called the mind “a palace.” Such a gift. Intimacy – touching, kissing, making love, holding one another; it’s all so vital to our humanity. We shrivel and withdraw, we isolate and grow remote when there is no real i...

“There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing.” ~ Mama, in Lorraine Hansberry’s, “A Raisin in the Sun”

An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language. ~ Martin Buber, Theologian/Philosopher In the photo above is Maggie, my son Luke's dog. She had been terribly abused by her original owner when Luke bought her and took her home with him. When I first met her some years ago she lowered her head, growled a little, and ran under Luke's truck. In time, after trying to gently approach her, she came to me. I wanted her   to know I meant her no harm; that I only wanted to love her. Her eyes still show some of her deep hurt and fear. And there is a bit of sadness in her expression. But, through Luke's love and care, she blossomed. She has such a stately presence now. When she's not inside the truck next to Luke, she is running alongside it when he’s going to feed the cattle. She is loyal to him in every way and protective to the end. She goes with him everywhere. She adores Luke. When I'm at the ranch she sits at my feet while I pet and love...

“Dogs lives are short, too short, but you know that going in. You know the pain is coming, you're going to lose a dog, and there's going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share her joy or delight in her innocence, because you can't support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There's such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price."  ~ Dean Koontz, Novelist/Physician Perhaps our pets are reminders of how fragile all of our loves are: love of spouse, love of lover, love of children, love of work, love of country, love of life. Nothing is permanent. How that awareness ought to move us to such a deeper loyalty and love for all the people and ideals and experiences we cherish.  (c) 2013 Timothy Moody

What I Believe (Not an exhaustive list) I believe in autumn with its cozy evenings and crisp mornings, its falling leaves and fading colors, its slow pace and its call to long forgotten memories. I believe in movies and the movie theater with its dark anticipation and couples huddled around a box of popcorn sharing a large soda, its giant screen and high back seats, its opportunity for escape and the chance to be transformed in 90 minutes. I believe in children with their shining eyes and raspy voices and endless giggles, their open arms and sparkling unblemished hearts, their enduring energy and their flawless uninterrupted sleep. I believe in the Christmas of my childhood with its manger scene beneath the tree, its limited gifts, its shiny foil icicles, its wintry feel, its reverence for something no marketing scheme could ever match. I believe in Roe vs. Wade, in Gay rights including the right to marry, in Equal Rights, in Civil Rights, in a woman’s right to choose with...

Dogs really are our best friends. Ingrid has a little Chihuahua named Brownie, because of course, that’s his color. Cutest little thing you ever saw. Every morning when I pick Ingrid up for school Brownie comes running to me. He goes to the sofa where he can barely jump high enough to get on, but he eventually makes it. He waits for our morning routine in which I rub his back and scratch behind his ears and tell him what a good boy he is. I talk to him while Ingrid is getting her backpack ready. He snuggles his little head against my leg and while he wheezes and wiggles I love on him a little bit. One day as I was taking Ingrid into her school she had on her heavy black coat. As I was brushing off some of Brownie’s hairs I said, “Hang on, sweetie; you have Brownie’s hair on you.” She said, “Oh that’s okay, Poppy. I want some of his love on me today.” Of course, why not? Leave those reminders of her little loving companion. Our pets give us so much comfort, don’t the...