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Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Sunday, May 31, 2015

God clapping wildly

Wherever
God lays his glance
Life starts
Clapping
                Hafiz  (The Gift, p.85)
_______________________________

my children used to talk about
the dad look

that look in my eye that would emerge
when things had gone
far
enough

I used to think that the Sacred One
was constantly giving me
that
look

tired of my erring ways

but now I know
that the Sacred
is more like a grandfather
who has trouble seeing anything wrong

with this beautiful child

and who claps wildly
at every
little
feat

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Fear turned to Ash

Love is
The funeral pyre
Where I have laid my living body

All the false notions of myself
That once caused fear, pain

Have turned to ash
As I neared God
                                Hafiz
____________________________________

it was just a walk
my normal two mile walk
along rural roads

one cannot help but be broken open
out there
amidst the mountains
and trees

as one wanders beneath
that brilliant canopy of blue
and hears
the wild birds sing

one cannot help but be broken open
and sometimes
poured out

this day
I went to dark places
to failures
to do
to be

in my minds eyes I imagined
people looking at me
with eyes that despised
so many mistakes
so many flaws
so many people

they were of course my own eyes

and there was nothing to do
but to walk
and place one foot in front of the other

and there was nothing to do
but breathe
God
In

and in the hot fire
of Sacred love
find
peace

Friday, May 29, 2015

Quit thinking, start living

“Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.”
― Kahlil Gibran
__________________________

I have a room of books
about God
and faith

theology
philosophy
psychology

I have more degrees that is practical

and yet

none of that taught me
how to love
or be a friend
how to care
and listen
how to have compassion
or be generous

things I struggle with (if I am honest.
I had an uncomfortable walk with myself this morning)

And the books
and the study
did not bring me close to the Sacred

but
the sun on the mountain
and calves, playing tag in the pasture
the nuzzle of a horse
and the lick of Tess the cat

the sight of a ground squirrel
scurrying, with its baby in its mouth

ah, those are the things that touch my soul

it is the experience of the Sacred
it is the glimpse of the Sacred
in all these things

that lead me forward
through the dryness
to the verdant place
the oasis
of
Sacred love

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Where oujr prayers take us

“Go where your best prayers take you.”
― Frederick Buechner
________________________________________

today my prayers take me into grief
as I remember two friends
both tragically and quickly
dead

today my prayers take me into pain
as I offer to the sacred
the agony of those afflicted by
cancer, arthritis, heart failure
all the afflictions of
the body

today my payers take me into loneliness
as I listen to one
who is so
alone

today my prayers take me into
anger and hate
as they dominate
the social media

and dominate
the words of people
who have become fused
with darker things
and have become hate personified

today my prayers take me
into fear

O lord we are so good
at creating and nurturing fear

today my prayers will take me down many paths
rough and smooth
down into life
and into the uncertainty and darkness
and yes, at moment
into light and joy

for prayers can be of thanksgiving and joy

Oh Sacred One
Help me to go where my prayers take me
Into the grime and dirt
into those dark places

help me go to where my prayers take me
and as a carrier of the Sacred
may I take you with me
to comfort
to calm
to heal
to rejoice