All the Collective Love of the Cosmos
Up before dawn, enveloped
in the dark, in the bubble
of my car, as I drive over
country roads, listening
to Mindy Jostyn sing
“Morning Song”and I feel
God
with me. Not as a corporeal
being. Not as a Matter-being.
Not just as Moz or Dad –
but as the power and presence
of all the collective Love
of the Cosmos. Loving me.
Wishing me into a new day.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
Season of Shameless Plugs (Day 6)
A Poem Lives on My Windowsill
In 2015 I published a collection of poems called A Poem Lives on My Windowsill. Here’s one of the poems from it:
A Simple and Unremarkable Perfection
It’s a miracle of perfection.
I am warm and fed and I can hear
my loved one tapping the keys on his laptop
and clearing his throat
near me
I have chamomile tea with cream and a chunk of
sourdough bread and the wind is moving
the rain-splattered screen on the window
and making the lights behind it look like they’re dancing
I feel no pain or fear
I know I’m completely safe
and I imagine coming through some terrible danger
and finding myself in this room
and what a miracle that would seem to be
and how much I’d appreciate the simple unremarkable
perfection of it
and I am filled with gratitude
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Can’t reason with delusion; can’t reason with error
Can’t reason with illusion; can’t reason with terror
Just love, love, love
We’ve all of us been there; we’ve ALL been insane
This time it’s OUR turn to heal someone ELSE’s pain
Just love, love, love
The battle’s already won – that’s the deal
No need to respond to a lie as if it’s real
Just love, love, love
Don’t respond with hate, or anger or fear
Give nothing for the rage to bounce off of –
‘cept a cushy wall of kindness and cheer
Just love, love, love
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
“And Love is reflected in love.”
-Mary Baker Eddy
I’m no one’s competition anymore –
and I’m so grateful I’ve moved past that.
Any youth and beauty I might have had before
brought me into a rivalry I was never good at.
Now I’m just a happy old bat!
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
“As the physical and material, the transient sense of beauty fades, the radiance of Spirit should dawn upon the enraptured sense with bright and imperishable glories.”
– Mary Baker Eddy
The sun doesn’t choose to rise
on some and not others.
Everyone’s blessed.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
(Photos of the sun rising in Bow, Washington, this morning. Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)
“He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
– Matthew 5:45
“Love is impartial and universal in its adaptations and bestowals.”
– Mary Baker Eddy
Sitting in a camp chair on the back deck
in the sunshine, I open my eyes and see
the answers to my “When will I ever…?”
questions: “When will I ever find my love?”
And there sits my beloved partner of 36 years.
“When will we ever have children?”
And there sits the youngest son, eating lunch.
“When will we ever own our own home?”
And I look down at the deck beneath my chair,
attached to our house at my back.
“When will we ever have another cat?”
And there’s Clara Rose with her nose
between the slats of the deck, looking out
on our field of autumn auburn trees.
I am sitting on a deck full of blessings.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
“…let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
– James 1:4
“To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.”
– Mary Baker Eddy
I love gold stripes
on the road in autumn
as my window wiper wipes
raindrops off my windshield
or the sun shines through
the leaves making them look
like stained glass set in a blue
sky .
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
(Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)
What is it about pumpkins? I was wandering through Gordon’s Pumpkin Farm yesterday and I realized I was smiling under my mask. Smiling at pumpkins. (!) They are a friendly vegetable, aren’t they?
Ode to Pumpkins
Shiny round-cheeked pumpkin
Nestled in my autumn garden
You may become a lantern.
You may become a pie.
You may become a hardy soup
on my stove top, by and by.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Limerick to a Pumpkin
There once was a punkin’ named Jack
who appeared in the patch in the back.
He was orange and round
and grew up on a mound –
He was the star of Halloween –
that’s a fact.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Pumpkin Haiku
Round friendly pumpkin
Waiting now for Halloween
Soon he’ll be compost.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
And now some pictures of local pumpkins…
And now a haiku…
Empty country roads
I’m dodging caterpillars
Tiger moths in spring!
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
We’ve learned a lot about ourselves
in the last four years, haven’t we?
We’ve learned what we’re made of,
what needed to be fixed, what’s
important to us, and what we love.
We came together, worked shoulder-
to-shoulder, side by side,
bolstering each other up,
sharing inspiration, sharing the ride,
sharing a good laugh now and then,
letting Love guide.
We’re maybe not looking our best –
we’re battle-weary, battered, bedraggled –
but we’re not beaten.
And look at all we’ve done together!
We will always share this bond, my friend.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 