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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



Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Be yourself

“The mistake ninety-nine percent of humanity made, as far as Fats could see,
was being ashamed of what they were;
lying about it, trying to be somebody else.”
                                           J.K. Rowling, The Casual Vacancy
___________________________________________________

I think most of us have a moment,
now and again,
when we look in the mirror
and don’t like the person we see there
very much at all
at all

We have tried so hard
with work and accomplishments
to erase shame, hatred, cruelty, silence, ignorance, discrimination, low self-esteem or immorality.
But all we manage to do is cover it up,
with a thin veneer
that always at some point
rubs thin

and then, there we are
our worst flaw, showing through the thin skin
of our failed façade

we can only fool ourselves for so long
often for far less time than we can fool others
who see us for who we are

others often know our “story” our “narrative” better than we know it ourselves

Each day I have the honor of seeing people meet themselves
Some days, I have the privilege of meeting myself

Sometimes there is pain in these meetings
A sick feeling deep in the stomach
A tightness in the chest

At that moment there is only one hope
It is not found in denying, or seeking to run away from what we see

the only hope is to become ever more aware of our whole self
the bad, yes
but also the good, for there is always good (or so I believe)
and then with compassion for others, and self
forgiveness, for others, and self
begin with sacred help
to change our story

we cannot change the past
but we can change the future

and we can live
with a dignity
that lead us forward

nothing will ever erase the past
be we can move
every closer to that clear, bright, place

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