Questions

How many heartbeats pass before
something resonates deep within?

Why does reading about God leave me
with long lists of forgettable quotes?

Does the origin of the urge for perfection
come from some prior perfect place?

What difference does change or reform make
to the moss quietly growing beside the rock?

Next to One Another

The vanishing disquiet of my heart
reminds me of the sacraments I missed
long ago; replaced with sacred moments
different from the last.  Others may look
upon how I search for the symbolic and say,
"It just didn't work well," but we never came
to any agreement on anything where protecting
our own wishes, desires and dreams mattered.
How can you tell if people are not interested?
How many bad looks does it take before
the fascination of slowly coming together
becomes, and even overcomes, anything
folded into two parts laying next to one another?

Where the Gospel Is Preached

What gospel will you preach?
The good news of common ancestry or
the fault line of difference?
The beauty of the sunlight through the trees or
of the setting sun sending light through countless
limbs waiting for spring's leaves?
And where does this "or" come from
and how does it insert itself into 
the most simplest of questions?
People move from one building to the next
avoiding the embarrassment of discipline.
Sharing lists with one another along the way
we are amazed at what can and should be done.
Certain combinations of humans continue 
to take care of their own as if a collective
birth mother had never died.  The pleasing
shape of conceits generated by the particular
grows with each new encounter knowing that
outside where the gospel is preached the pieces
still try to bring themselves together.

To an Unknown God

It has always been a challenge to bless
and uplift without pointing a finger.

The signs that honor our gods are posted
all over the town square.

Underneath any beautiful morning lie colors
waiting to be thrown into the sky.

My hope remains suspended between nothing
and infinity waiting for the divine particular.

One day there will be a way to bring all the 
pieces together without fear.

Hopeful Embraces

Someone once asked the question,
If I am eager to do what is good then who can I harm?
Did they not hear the interesting news that the sun
rose through the horizon and into the sky without any aid?
I called a friend in search of numbers pleasing to the eye
only to learn that the letter I submitted for recognition
had been destroyed because the issue was dead
and no longer used by those who were afraid to dance.
I wish there will be an announcement forthcoming
about the self-imposed resignation of those who failed
to follow the fixed paths of their own plans.  And,
I hope for the moment when embraces are placed
at the top of all personal agendas.

Once

Once, I had danced at the edge of it all
and felt nothing at the end of my fall.
I found courage and strength of heart
to know now that nothing plays a part
separate from any constructed whole.
I must not be intimidated by nor console
those who disregard gentleness as a way.
The human urge to stand and downplay
the other as if the other were fodder for
machines feeding upon what we most adore
pushes reverence beyond any known protocol.
Once will be enough to hear the new year call.

This coming year…

I resolve to see the unique events in time
as more spiritually significant than the
repetitive turn of the changing seasons.

I resolve to move through any dualism
that places another as a point on a line.

I resolve to keep my eyes open when they
are not closed.

I resolve to nurture the moss growing
outside around the rock in the garden.

I resolve to smile and to cheer for all 
that is unique and refuse to turn back
in fear of what the other may believe.

I resolve to be open and believe
what is true and share what is simple.

I resolve to ask, Where do I fit?, less often
in the hope of being wanted.

A New Will

Celebration!

The earth has turned 
in circles for a time!

Day gave way to night.
Seasons to seasons.

Looking forward,
spirits will re-weave anew
though we will once again
ask how to find their work.

Theology will become necessary
and the animating power
of one question will threaten
to tumble the great walls
we have conspicuously built.

Perhaps another question
will simply become a form of prayer
busily lost in the mouth of greed.

The drum circle drums 
will strike the beat on the day
when all venturing outside 
will cease and beneath the 
constant thumping of hearts
a voice will cry in the wilderness,
I am willing.