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

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

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

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