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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



Monday, March 10, 2025

The tiny gods

Dear ones beware

of the tiny gods frightened men

worship

          Hafiz

 

Even

after

all this time

the Sun never says to the Earth,

 

"You owe me."

 

Look

what happens

with a love like that,

It lights the whole sky.

          Hafiz

_________________________________________

 

Through the trees the rising sun

colors the sky

purple and orange

an ecstatic and profligate burst

of grace

 

most mornings

my feet would lead me toward the light

my eyes would feast and

my heart would sing

 

but on this morning

I sit

not frozen

worse

indifferent and dispirited

 

the soul, if it is awake,

does not handle evil well

it is assailed and battered by

the actions of little men (and women)

 

who destroy rather than build

conceal rather than reveal

grasp rather than give

 

those tiny souls who worship

tiny gods

of wealth and power

who worship those things made

by hands soiled with avarice and enmity

 

who plod through life resentful

whose hearts, and minds, and lips

mutter

“You owe me”

 

“Where, where is love? Does it fall from skies above” (Oliver)

Where oh where is love

in this time of unraveling?

 

It is everywhere

It bursts froth in the brilliance of the sunrise

It is found the sun, glinting off the snow

In a kitten’s purr

 

It is found in a smile

the touch of a hand

a gentle word

 

Till the soil of my heart

O God

Break apart the hardened surface

the hard clumps of hostility and cynicism

the deep roots of despair

 

Do not let the tiny people with tiny gods

and shrunken hearts

and empty souls

 

rob me of hope and joy

 

O Beloved, you like the rising sun

can dispel the darkness

You can light up the world

 

I can do almost nothing

to dispel the great darkness

the cloud of betrayal

the sullen weight of resentment

that oozes down

from high places

 

But perhaps you can shine through me

Help me to stand

To speak

To love

 

do not let me cower in the dark

for a love like Yours

can light up the sky

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