Welcome

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



Thursday, April 30, 2015

For God to be God

“Argue not concerning God,…re-examine all that you have been told at church or school or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your soul…”
― Walt Whitman
___________________________________

some seem to think that for God to be God
God must coerce and control

that for God to be God
God must demand, and judge
and punish

that God must hold people accountable
and make them pay if they do not “measure up”
(what that means appears to be open to interpretation)

some think that for God to be God
God must be BIG, really big
rigid and stern
distant and aloof

only then they insist can justice and morality be served
and righteousness, dare I say holiness
be nurtured

those who think this way
severely underestimate
the power of
Love

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Tripping over joy

“TRIPPING OVER JOY

What is the difference
Between your experience of existence
And that of a saint?

The saint knows
That the spiritual path
Is a sublime chess game with God

And that the Beloved
Has just made such a Fantastic Move

That the saint is now continually
Tripping over Joy
And bursting out in Laughter
And saying, “I Surrender!”

Whereas, my dear,
I am afraid you still think
You have a thousand serious moves.”
― Hāfez
_______________________________________-

the spiritual life is a matter
of tripping over joy

stumbling
into the arms of one who loves us deeply
passionately
joyfully
expectantly

we are not asked to trod
to trod
to trod

but simply to
skip
or dance

until there is nothing left to do
but to collapse
laughing

in Sacred
embrace

Monday, April 27, 2015

If I were to die tomorrow

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

_______________________________

if I were to die tomorrow
as well I might
(let’s face it, it’s always a possibility)

I would want to tell those I love
I love them
I would want the snarky remarks of the arrogant
to bounce off of my soul like rain off a roof

I would want to drink in everything
everything
everything

I would want to hear it
see it, taste it

I would want to feel it against my skin
the warmth of the sun
the touch of another’s hand

Ah

and if I were to live forever
I would want to live the same way
joyfully
fully
drinking it all in

and then giving it
all
away

always
always

generous