The phoebe sits on her nest
Hour after hour,
Day after day,
Waiting for life to burst out
From under her warmth.
Can I weave a nest of silence,
weave it of listening,
listening, listening,
Layer upon layer?
But one must first become small,
Nothing but a presence,
Attentive as a nesting bird,
Proffering no slightest wish
Toward anything
that might happen or be given,
Only the warm, faithful waiting,
contained in one’s smallness.
Beyond the question,
the silence.
Before the answer,
the silence.
Wisdom is change. Wisdom is both the process and the result of transformation. Wisdom creates, is in constant movement, bringing design to the universe... Wisdom is my commitment to life, my willingness to continue changing, developing, transforming. When I live my life and love the living, all of it -- the births and the deaths, the fullness and the loss -- I wring wisdom out of it. My life is distilled, and wisdom runs rich and strong, a fine essence, through every word and act.