The Quiet Strength of Later ©Dawn Minott |a Haibun

Have you found that that strong desire to do something that is wrong, unwise, or contrary to principles you hold dear often comes dressed in urgency?

There’s a coaxing, it seems, to seize what gleams in the moment. A sense that pleasure can only be attained if grasped now. Or, that the satisfaction from acting on impulse is worth any cost. But in the heat of desire or quick choices we’re often not able to discern risks that will in the end leave us with scars. And, the old adage rings true—all that glitters is [indeed] not gold.

I once heard Levi Lusko say: “now yells louder, but later lasts longer.” This reminder urges patience over haste. To know that to reap a good harvest of “ripe choices” is a slow process, but the reward is sweet. Much like a forced-ripe mango is never as tasty as one allowed to mature in its fullness on the tree.

In moments when tempted to act in ways contrary to our principles—wait! Waiting is not weakness. Waiting is a quiet strength. It is the courage to pause long enough to discern, to seek light by looking beyond the immediacy to see around the shadows.

heart waits in silence —
the way unfolds in stillness
vision beyond night
.

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In creative solidarity, Dee

Travel Story: The Trees of Palm Springs & Sabbath Peace ©Dawn Minott

Beforeword: Each day of my restorative retreat at the legendary La Quinta Resort began with a ritual of quiet observation. From the shaded patio of my casita, I would watch the desert morning unfold—light stretching across the Santa Rosa Mountains, breezes moving peacefully through the palms. Their tall, slender forms swaying effortlessly. These palms, I discovered, are not native to Palm Springs but distant cousins of the California fan palm, the desert’s true original. This became a kind of muse for me, inspiring this Shabbat Shalom reflection captured in a haibun (Japanese form blending prose and haiku).

In the desert of Palm Springs, two kinds of palms rise against the sky—the native California fan palm and those imported, such as the Mexican fan palm.

The native California fan palm grows only where hidden springs surface. Its beauty is not in its appearance but in its unseen roots that drink from underground waters deep beneath the surface.

On the other hand, the imported palms, though graceful and tall, survive only by the care of human hands. Their beauty is in their appearance, but it is borrowed. For, without the living springs they cannot last.

So it is with the righteous—those planted by the stream of living water, nourished in the secret place of the Most High are able to endure life’s desert heat and its winds of trial.

And so Scripture reminds us: “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree… Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.” Psalm 92:12–13

Our faith must be more than ornamental—it must be rooted in Christ, the fountain that never runs dry.

desert wind tested—
those planted in living streams
bend but do not break

Afterword: As the week turns and the Sabbath rest arrives, may these swaying palms remind us to bend so we don’t break, and to stay rooted in what is lasting.

Shabbat Shalom.

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Images/Video by Dawn Minott

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In creative solidarity, Dee

Pay Day© [A Haibun]

She recalled her dead mamma’s words: “Child, if you run from something you’ll run from everything. There are some things you gotta fight for. Some battles God fight for you and others He fights through you”. Her mamma’s words—palpable and empowering—stayed on replay till she found her fighting strength. Emboldened.

Bags packed in waiting
Drunken footsteps approaching
Today is goodbye

Today is pay day. The ritual has been the same. This started in May. May 15th to be exact. She remembers it, and each episode thereafter, as vivid as it was yesterday though it’s been three years, two months, one week, 14 days. Yes, she’s been keeping track of pay day ‘cause that’s when it happens. Today she stood. Today she fought. Today she left. Today the ritual ended.

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All rights reserved

Also contributing to Fandango’s One Word Challenge, episode; and Sheryl’s Your Daily Word Prompt, palpable.


Thank you for journeying along!

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In creative solidarity, Dee