DANCE

The supreme physical expression of human joy
Is dance.

God (including all earlier gods) requested dance first
Before images, ideas, and all other expressions of worship.

First was the foot
Then the hand
And, finally, the head.

Dance expresses joy in life
And the immanence of God in our hearts,
Along with a strong desire for physically moving with others.

Dance is how children express their happiness
With spontaneous movements.

I think it’s important to become aware of dance going on all around us –
Especially that of our sky neighbors – the birds.

Also, watch patterns of waves forming over large bodies of water –
Watch wind as it touches, and then re-touches, forest leaves.

Notice the small shy smile appearing on your lover’s face
And your joy, in response, when you give your feelings permission to shine.

Why not give that permission right now
After all, the entire world depends upon it!

 

HOLY CORRESPONDENCE

Some poets enjoy exploring beauty in nature –
While others prefer “punching out” big ideas.

Some poets muse about where we came from –
While others look ahead to where we might be going.

Some poets get depressed and lie down in their cups –
While others become, and sometimes remain, righteously angry.

But the greatest poets – the truly great ones –
Look right into the face of divine nothingness
And express the inexpressible.

The truly great ones fall so deeply in love with the Holy
That they write shy “spiritual letters” to eternity
Which sometimes provoke surprising responses from God
And anyone fortunate enough to stumble upon this holy correspondence.

COLORS

When you’re looking at colors – but instead observe only shapes or ideas –
When you’re having tea with friends – but dream about being somewhere else –
Or if your ideas have turned out to be all derivative –

Dear friend, it might be time to “wake up” –
Sparkle; effervesce a little – begin living a “real” life.

It would be much like being slapped in the face
By “beauty.”

When you wake up this way
You’ll start seeing the colors you once experienced as a child –
The colors that make up God’s beautiful “face.”

APPETITES

Over time, God’s biblical names have turned to ashes –
And begun drifting down –
Each ancient name a wasted universe.

Even though the names are “pretty dead” by now –
God doesn’t miss them – at all.

People don’t want an original God anymore – it’s just too much reality to bear –
Instead, they’ve substituted smaller, ersatz Gods – stuffed animals, really –
In order to get themselves to sleep – while still being awake.

Since most people will never be privileged to see, hear, or experience God themselves –
They’ve authorized the construction of large stone structures –
Each topped by a white arrow that points straight up –
Symbolizing that something’s up there!

But actually nothing’s there.

So, when people decide they no longer want a real God any longer –
And begin worshipping their own fabulous human productions instead –
They begin feeling an increasing spiritual hunger –
That is, a strong desire to eat everything in the world
Whether money, fashion, wearable computers,
New ideas, exotic food, foreign vacations, and much much more –

As a result, it’s getting pretty hot – and heating up even more –
In a sort of reverse Vesuvius effect –
Each person an upside-down volcano – pulling “hot” materials back inside themselves.

God is appalled at this, but can do nothing
Because these people no longer exist as ordinary human beings –
Having become primarily appetites.

It is natural to eat – so long as it’s in suitable proportions –
It only becomes unnatural when it’s gotten completely out of control –
For example, when one tries to “eat” enough to fill the gap left by a missing real God.

Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed all warned us against this –
When our appetites become more important than other human beings, or even God –
When appetites take over and start devouring our human spirit.

The strongest materialistic forces in the world have been steadily pushing this –
With global capitalism out in front –

The advertising and public relations campaign runs as follows:

“Become appetites, little ones –
Don’t even think about God –

After all, you can’t “eat” God,
Can you?”

TENTATIVE ENCOUNTERS WITH REALITY

Everything – living and nonliving –
Shares, in some way, with God –
Even our sleepy selves.

But this effect tends to disappear
As soon as we experience it –
Yet is the reason it seems so beautiful!

Life appears to be, and is, exquisite
When we experience it slipping through our fingers –

We try our best to hold onto it –
But are able to capture only a few images
In memory or
Imagination.

As we mature, we come to believe
That the mind is “real” –
But this is a lie.

When we dive down into our personal ocean of unreality
Even kisses are only ideas
As we repeatedly lose ourselves in all the infinite dimensions
Of no dimension.

The truth is –

God, and the true self,
May be encountered, only tentatively,
One individual, and one moment,
At a time.