Monthly Archives: April 2019

HEART OF GOD

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My grandson, Jules, was recently born
Knowing a good part of what I’d like to know
The moment I die.

And that is – a moment of purity, serenity, and composure –
Before, one day in the future, hopefully, flowering into ecstatic joy.

From the moment of birth – God’s gift of first in-breath –
To the moment of death – God’s gift of final exhalation
Is usually a long and eventful road.

I myself would like to end up with Jules’ ability to gaze out at the world
With such unknowing “wonder” –
In fact, at the end, I’d like to achieve that same look –
Accompanied, of course, with a conscious compassion for the entire world.

I’d like to understand what Jules experienced as truth at his birth –
And then end up achieving a mature ability to love.

Jules, someday I’d like to be able to “see” as clearly as you did on day one –
While, over my lifetime, developing a heart as big as the entire world –
Perhaps even paralleling, in my own small way, God’s own infinite heart.

Yes, I want to go out as clear-eyed as this newborn baby arrived –
While, over time, diligently developing a heart of God.

GOD IS FREEDOM

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God is not power or any variant of power –
Instead, God is freedom –
Because without freedom, there’d be no point to power –
Which is why the weakest and most vulnerable human being on earth
Is more godly than the most powerful –
Provided, of course, that she’s also more free.

Each individual human being is born free –
And then goes on to develop into a “someone” or “something” –
Usually an ego playing out a role –
But, in spite of reaching worldly success, fame, or riches
If one lacks freedom, then such goals will amount to “nothing” – in any true spiritual sense.

So, given that we’re born free
And life’s ultimate goal is to return to that original freedom –
Letting go of our roles in order to become a holy “nobody”
Is how, finally, we’ll be able to achieve total freedom –
Maybe even becoming as free as God is free.

Freedom is the precondition to any spiritual gifts –
Whether love, truth, justice, or beauty –
Because, without freedom, none of these is possible.

Ultimate freedom, of course, comes with freedom from the terrors of death –
Because if one is free to die, certainly one will also be free to live.

Jesus understood this – along, of course, with everything else!

THE SPLENDOR IS OVERWHELMING

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One day I awoke and discovered
A Persian carpet woven with flowers and other plants.

Another day, sitting quietly,
The soft browns of our oak furniture came into prime view.

One day, thinking about the prospect of dying –
Life itself, suddenly became much more intriguing.

On the day I finally gave up all my residual intensity –
Was when I began to hear tinkling bells,
Became aware of the quick movements of small birds,
And memories of the seashore suddenly reappeared.

The day I stopped counting –
Was the day I gave up trying to control my world
And also was the exact moment I stepped through doors of natural happiness
That only God is capable of flinging open.

God has been carefully watching us  – waiting for some indication
Of a recognition of God’s presence –

So, if your mind stops – even for one second –
And you’re able to take a good look

The splendor is overwhelming
And you’ll begin crying about everything you’ve missed in the past.

MEMORIES LIKE MOUNTAINS

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Joy jumps up – almost out of nothing –
Hope also arrives from nothing.

Nothing is eternal as love –
And nothing is as unbreakable as truth.

All night long, beauty remains a dark One –
Until morning, when it shatters into a trillion different colorful images.

As we grow older, memories become like mountains –
Mainly lying behind us –
While ahead only a few sparkling streams remain to cross.

While still young, though, Nature called out to us like the children we were –
Bursting with life – and with love taken for granted.

But as we age, our attention migrates to ever greater abstractions
Which become steadily easier to understand and accept
Than those earlier complex bursts of childish life-love.