Lesley S. King

Let the outer be and through Bhakti create inner harmony.

These flash floods tear through and erode one’s homeland. They wash away the topsoil and leave in their wake gullies, ditches and silt.   The first impulse— divert the flow off the land, renunciate it, so it won’t cause so much trouble!   But then the Divine presents a perma-love way: use the flow to […]

Keep being me and choosing You even though it feels like the harder thing to do.   In the end this choice of the Friend delivers the highest on the outer and within.

I used to think love blossomed in an edgy brilliance like those thistle flowers too prickly to touch and then surely eaten by night rabbits.   But then the Beloved took my hand and flew me into a hurricane the cool blooming chaos of my dreams.   All my worst fears swirled there in the […]

If I could only see myself the way I see my garden…   In its fledgling flax and parched penstemon I see graceful limbs and bold blossoms opening to the desert sun.   In the microscopic thyme that barely survived the winter, I see a brave heart. Kneeling to it, I say, “I thought you […]

I concentrate to play each note right Pluck the base, strum the treble. Focus on the beat, one-two-three-four. Oh, but don’t forget the syncopation!   Then comes the arpeggio: Fingers move so fast they crash into each other!   And of course the words: I must sing in tune and remember the harmony.   Ahhh—I […]

  When the lights go out in your house and you can’t even find a candle…   When yellow gas seeps under the door frame and through the vents…   Hold steady and call on the Brilliant One inside.   That light is brighter than the darkness that hides in every corner and nook— that […]

How would I ever get home if not for this road with all its potholes?   Sometimes I scream in the dark when my headlights aren’t bright enough to light the way.   Or when fog and icy rain lead me to follow random taillights into ditches and even over cliffs.   Or when road blocks […]

I thumb through the photo album. There I am in at age six wearing a Sunday plaid suit. Defiant, I dart my tongue at the camera.   In high school, a pudgy face and body from boarding school starch, I slouch in the Y of a tree.   In college, tan, golden hair, I fondle […]

Give up hope, for better health for peace with your neighbor for a lasting relationship.   Trade in those plastic poker chips for actual gold.   Mind says, “No!”   “If I lose hope I have nothing left in my pockets.   “Without hope, the Grand Canyon yawns between my ears.”   Exactly!   Nothing […]