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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, May 25, 2016

Loving poorly

“Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.”
                                                                                      ― Henri J.M. Nouwen
_________________________________________________________________

I love poorly
and sometimes

I hit the trifecta

I love God, poorly
my self, poorly
and others, very poorly

it’s not that I don’t want to
I really do love the Sacred,
and want to be a person who lives a sacred life
worthy of my inheritance as a sacred child

but I am not.

I really would love to love myself
but sometimes all I can see are the “warts”
those things I’ve done that I am not proud of,
those things that have happened
that have left scars

we all have scars
I hid mine, but they are there,

and so I cannot love myself well enough
to have the kind of peace and security
the kind of self affection
that allows me to forget myself
and focus on that person in front me

and so I love others poorly…

too many times,
I don’t look, I don’t see
I don’t listen, I don’t care
I am not passionate, or compassionate
I do not act for others

I am too busy protecting and promoting myself

yes, I love poorly
and so I make amends
and I pray for pardon
and I practice self-compassion
and I ask for forgiveness

mea culpa
mea maxima culpa

and it comes, as I live and work
among that fellowship of the weak
that is my community
that is my church

forgiveness,
compassion,
understanding

and yes,
love


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