ONE DAY, SITTING UNDER MY FAVORITE TREE

I understand
We need light for clarity as well as its disinfectant powers
And darkness to grow underneath consciousness.

I understand
We need sweetness to lure us to habitual goodness
And sour to teach the necessity of a few bitter lessons.

I understand
We need pets while young to teach us about love
So that when we’ve grown up, we won’t fear vulnerability.

I understand
We need strong appetites both for learning and life,
Hearts that yearn after greater emotional consciousness,
And minds unafraid of any categories of emptiness.

One day, sitting under my favorite tree,
I hear a song I’ve always yearned to hear –
Starting low and steadily becoming stronger –
One voice – swelling into many –
Suddenly, I hear myself
Singing along with the rest of the world –
Aurally blossoming in a personal/communal joy –
One soul, one world, one God –

All of it – hopefully – in harmony!

DIVINE SWEETNESS

Everyone who’s ever experienced God
Talks about the “sweetness” in loving God directly
And also indirectly through other people or creatures;
Or by, suddenly, intuiting God’s “presence” nearby;
Or even, perhaps, in overhearing a subtle “whisper” of God.

Atheists and agnostics have little interest in such experiences
Because they’ve gotten trapped inside their own minds.

It’s the human “heart,” however, that, in truth, experiences God
Because, after all, this is a love affair –
So sweet, we often lose our ability to even “think” –
And only remember, much later, what God “tastes” like –

That is, a sweetness – to “die for.”