August 19, 2011 - The Qu’ran, Surah 16:15

I am weak and afraid

I shake with fear

At times when I should

Stand strong, I shiver

When faced with

The cold truths of

Daily life; such

Mountains

To be climbed -

I made it to the top

Only to fall, face-first

Before my God

These truths, questioned

Become the very

Foundations upon

Which to stand

I could stay upon

The mountaintop

Listening for the

Voice of God

Upon the wind;

But I dare not:

Set upon the path

To the river’s shore,

I must return

To the waters

I must respect the

Gift of my own

Desire; the wonder

Of my ability to follow

God’s voice is not

Upon the mountain

It is in the rushing

Waters of the river

© 19 August 11

18 August 2011 - Maitri Upanishad 4.2

Like the waves in great rivers, there is no turning back of that which has previously been done.... [The soul is] like a lame man--bound with the fetters made of the fruit of good and evil.

Bottom Dweller

At the bottom

I lay, prone; sinking

Softly into the cool,

Wet sand

Eyes closed, I feel

The lives passing over

Me; the anguish of

Regret, the cold

Eddy of fear; I

Taste the salty

Tears of the lonely

And I know I am

The lonely, the sinful,

Caught in a whirlpool

Of my own evil,

I pray for release

Into the River’s current

I do not believe I am

Bound to my past

I do not believe

I cannot break free

I close my eyes, and

With a sigh, I

Let go of fear,

Let go of anger,

Let go of regret

…

Looking back, I see

The place in the sand -

Human-shape washing

Swiftly away…

No longer lame,

My soul is a dance

Upon the rapids

I am free.

© 18 August 2011

17 August 2011 - Ezekiel 3:14-15

"The spirit lifted me up and bore me away; I went in bitterness in the heat of  my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me.  I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who lived by the river Chebar.  And I sat there among them, stunned, for seven days."

In the Spirit,

I was afraid

Yet the Lord carried

Me in safety to

The place where

The lonely found life:

The River of Creation

Flows past those

Who are unaware:  Exiled,

They do not know the

Place beneath the surface;

The Life in the current

of God's Eternal Waters

Among them, I found

Despair.  Among them,

I found emptiness

I cannot return to

The River alone

Against my will,

I was set among

The lonely, to lead them

Into the River

Immerse them

In God's Holy Baptism

Drown them

In the Peace

Of Eternal Understanding

***

Who are these who

I am charged to teach?

Who are they but

My brothers and my sisters?

I sit at the River's edge

And wait.

(c) 17 August 2011