Month: March 2015

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Winter Strains

Merging Traffic

God of all generations,
in silence I hear your voice
echoing forth from deepest recesses
where flesh dances with spirit
and is suckled by mysteries divine.

It awakens in me a familiar longing–
a hunger for rest and peace
and refuge from angry, counter winds
that shake and rattle an aging heart
still struggling to be free.

And in night’s pause, yet I am courted
by promise of fire and light,
by treasure eager to be discovered
as gift for those who seek your love,
as love you gift to all.

It is the season, now, for deepest truths;
for surrendering fancy and fad;
for transcending hurts that bind and smother;
and listening carefully above the din
for the song that leads me home,
the timeless song of home.

© 2005 Dennis Ference

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Bleach Alternative

A helpful perspective on being with those negative feelings.

Musings of a PsychoTherapist

Think of your pain, hurt, sorrow, and any other negative feelings as a small amount of bleach. Bleach alone is very powerful. I should know. It ate a hole through my favorite shirt.

Anyway, if I was more adept at laundry I would know that bleach’s power can be weakened with the proper amount of water. Add enough water and the solution dilutes so much so that only traces of bleach may be found.

You may ask what the heck am I talking about. Well, each time your negative feelings surface, if you sit with them, explore them, and even talk about them, it is like adding water to the bleach of negative feelings. At times it may only be a drop or two, other times more. But each time you confront your feelings instead of run, those feelings lose their strength. As time goes by, whatever triggers you may…

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Merging Traffic

Since I have been a blogger for over a year now and have posted over 200 posts on Merging Traffic, I thought it might be a good time to reblog my first Merging Traffic post. Thanks to those readers who have followed all this time. Peace! ~Dennis

Merging Traffic

I look down from the sky
at the loops and curls
of the freeway lacing up
the heart of the mighty city
and marvel at the ingenuity and
complexity of the human mind.
Yet thousands upon thousands
cannot weave daily through
this engineered maze without
adhering to a simple concept
and sign: “Merging Traffic.”

Now, at 70, “Merging Traffic” is,
for me, a symbol of Life’s larger
vision: a joining of the many
into One—the eager and new
with the tired and worn,
the smooth and efficient with
the sputtering and lame, the pure
and flawless with the sullied
and scarred.

Yes, I’ve traveled this way
for a long, long time
and have, at last, succumbed
to the lure of the One.
But like users of freeways
everywhere, I still often buck
and chafe at the state of things
and at all that merging traffic.

© 2014 Dennis Ference

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No, Part 2

A good reminder of the power we sometimes give to other people when we surrender to our fears.

Musings of a PsychoTherapist

Imagine yourself standing in the middle of a room, face to face with someone, anyone. You may know them well, or not at all. Imagine now taking one step back. As you do this, the other takes a step forward. You take another back, and another, while he/she continues to press forward. You look at this person with dismay, concern, maybe even fear. Yet, as you continue to step back, he/she continues to move forward until you find yourself out of space. You feel cramped, closed in, possibly violated, and compelled to lash out, as you are now literally backed into a corner. 

How dare that person violate your personal space?  The nerve!  But wait. Did you at any point communicate that violation?  Did you demand your personal space be respected?  Or did you simply hope that as you said nothing and quietly backed up, he/she would get the message…

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