Slowly, I Wake

Slowly, I wake; slowly do I move

From invisible sleep to visible world,

The boundary itself lies unseen,

Beyond my thinking grasp, yet vaguely there.

 

So much do I take in during each day,

My vision goes for miles and miles,

Sees images all over the moving world,

Touches and reaches out into the air….

 

As much as is visible, more is invisible—

Unseen, unknown, hidden in darkness,

Yet I sense it there, waiting beyond.

I sense something is aware.

 

I shrink within from the smallness I am.

Nothing to do but take off my shoes,

Kneel in trust, feeling great Love out there.

No, even further Out There.

 

Yet also found deeply within…

It is as silent as moonlight,

Whispering wordless promises,

Inside a secret, inside dark mysteries.

 

Finally I turn myself into a mirror.

Whole, mature, I feel the whole universe in me,

And I am in turn a universe smiling back,

Being the Whole and Seeing the Whole as One.

Every Path is a Return to God

Every path is a return to God.

How could it be otherwise?

But before, you must reach

Your arms into emptiness,

Silent darkness, and run through

A world of lies until you

Finally glimpse the deeper truth.

 

Along the way, you’ll suffer–

No matter which side of the road

You pitch your tent for the night.

Perhaps you’ll gaze upon the stars,

Feel you’ve lost the entire universe.

But within the heartbreak, you’ll

Learn deeper ways to see Light.

 

Even those who love you,

May see you on one side or the other,

When perhaps by grace

You know you only belong to God.

Many times, you’ll look and think

You see deeply into the truth of yourself.

But your eyes are not the whole of you.

 

Each of us changes, some of us

A hundred thousand times and more,

Searching through wave after wave of

Transformation in attempt to touch the soul.

Maybe you’ll find a distracted man

To be your guide, a beautiful woman

For healing, a blind man who might prophesy.

 

You may find hope in those who interpret dreams,

Yet find later that the hope you’ve found

Has led you to darker confusion, bewilderment,

Storms that dissolve foundations that take you

Deeper into Presence, into laughter—

Where crying out for mystery gives way

To even deeper forms of longing…..

 

Be gentle if you can, to others and yourself,

For the mistakes you’ll make are many.

How many will it take to teach you how to forgive?

A sailor who only sails upon calm water

Never learns to master his art, to sail

Through ocean storms or survive the risks of love.

Only then might you grow outwardly old,

Inwardly young, and live the resurrection.

 

Keep Open the Gate!

Jerusalem is never far away,
Massive gates sometimes open wide,
Swing closed when what lies behind
Surfaces in teeming city of the dead.

The war is old, as is the singing in the streets,
Rabble roused before the temple square,
Tall barricades in place by order of the priests–
They fear the dreaded victory that waits.

High upon the lonely hill, the savior died.
Still he lives to raise the band,
To flourish in the fray, to march, to strive,
Arms waving, dancing in their hearts, alive… Alive!

What of the gates that close upon the heart?
Fortified, they guard the holy city deep within.
Blow the horns and wake the soul!
For Heaven’s sake the battle must be won.