Introduction:
We all walk the same path with choices along the way to go this way or that. I have chosen paths in the past based on what feels good and what will give me the greatest return on my investment, the payoff. Fortunately my journey has taken me through many exercises that have fortified me. These have allowed me to quiet myself down enough to allow the “little voices” to nurture me and give me guidance. Many times it was a single word, a quotation from scripture, or an image that stirred my soul reaching out for more connection with my Lord and God. This book is intended to be a companion on your journey, a gentle nudge to keep you on the straight and narrow.
I have purposefully presented a simple subject title alphabetized for ease of access and use and reflection. Addiction, gossip, hatred, noise, work are all there. Each subject area has an original poem, a photograph I have taken, a scriptural passage, and a sidebar comment. This ensemble of material should be sufficient to get you in a frame of mind conducive to quieting down and letting the spirit speak.
Six areas have been reserved for you at the end of the book to add your own words on your walk. A photograph has been provided as a springboard into your own discernment, a point of departure from the secular world, and the first note in your song to God.
My adult religious schooling began when Anne and I went through Cursillo about twelve years ago and the three day retreat resulted in a profound effect on both of us. There were fundamental changes in the way I viewed my Catholic faith and a new found understanding of my responsibility to reach out to the community and find the faces of Christ. My operative: to whom have been given great grace is required great things. I went through the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola about eight years ago with Francisco Firmat. The exercises introduce the postulate to a rigorous, intensive prayer experience over a nine month period. It was during this period that a great deal of my spiritual poetry began to see the ink of my pen. These poems were the outpouring of a soul journeying through the exercises influenced not only by my prayer experiences but by those of my fellow travelers. My operative: quiet, quiet, listen, listen to the gentle nudgings of God. I began ministering to the needs of Christian prisoners at Terminal Island, San Pedro, through the Kairos movement about two years ago. It has been an easy walk for me in prison since I already had been actively searching for the faces of Christ on my walk and most of those in the prison were looking for something to provide value to their lives. Even those that showed up to the three day retreat just to have a few good cookies or to disrupt the proceedings, were infected by the Holy Spirit and redirected their lives towards the Lord. My operative: listen, listen with the heart; pray, pray with the soul; walk, walk with me for awhile.
My photography has allowed me to see the fingerprints of God everywhere: in the stamen of a flower, a vineyard of grapes, and the face of a stranger. I make use of my photography to capture and express the feelings sensual and spiritual at the decisive moment when the shutter of the camera is depressed. I have been practicing photography for 37-years and have been schooled by John Sexton, Ansel Adams, and many other Camel Valley photographers. My photographs have been published in various books, magazines and have appeared on album covers. My operative: isolate, isolate the complexity to the simple and find God’s fingerprints.
My poetry is the closest means I have at expressing my experiences as I go about my walk in secular and spiritual matters. I have been a poet since 1990 and have produced 2,500 finished poems. My work has been published in several anthologies, magazines, and self published chap books. Life to me is a great poem and I need to unravel its meaning and share the good news with my friends. My operative: if you cannot find a source of inspiration, look again.
The genesis of this book came about through the integration of photography, poetry and my faith walk. I shared my rough materials with friends on similar spiritual journeys and found connection. This was the encouragement I needed to undertake the preparation of this book. My operative: There is a God and I’m not. If this book moves you to a deeper spiritual connection with your God then I have been successful.
Bob (lilbob) Lanphar, March 2006
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; in all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs, 3:5-6
Addiction
Initially playful
Cat toying with mouse
Calls with gentle tickle
Peer pressure reigns,
Tiger purrs as claws alternately
Extend and retract.
Transitioning
Tickle is there, scratch now
Behavior draws for own sake
Avalanche of confusion from the distracter
“Forget your pain, join us.”
The deep
Festering wound quelled briefly
World and problems left spiraling, disoriented…
Holds on wall, smooth out
As acceleration increases to sucking force.
Bottom
The darkest, deepest pit
Prevents temporal, family, friend’s contact…
Only hope, Savior’s grace
Turning away from distracter and peers
Taking hold, one step at a time
Backing out, screams silenced with
Quiet nurturing of Helper.
A simple mantra,
“Praise be to God and His Son and
One habit overcomes another.
Thomas ā Kempis (1380-1471)
The Holy Spirit.”
Lights the way.
Amen.
A song of praise to our God.
Psalms 40:3
Appreciation
I woke up
Eyelids sealed shut
I reached for the crowbar in the corner.
Not there.
I stood
Feeling no floor boards
Dare I take a dance step?
I considered yelling for help
Until I realized
I had no mouth,
The words bounced against
The inside of my head.
I tried to concentrate
Correlate the mess
Until awareness
I have no memory.
With all of my being
I called out
“Jesus.”
I awake to a beautiful sunrise
I place my bare feet on the cool oak boards
Enjoying the firmness
I mouth the single word.
“Amen.”
When large numbers of people share their joy in common, the happiness of each is greater because each adds fuel to the other’s flame.
Saint Augustine (354-430)