Cruelty
Of all the cruelties of man
practiced here without a ban
and carried on both night and day
is cruelty to soul displayed.
Openly or subtly
abuse or negativity
tears up what another was
and cruelly destroys their love.
Tearing up what once was whole
tearing up another's soul.
And the soul can atrophy
with great pain as it may be.
And those who let the soul die
can find it written in their eyes
of all the wounds and suffering there,
but do not see, and do not care.
Broken Souls
The halt, the maimed of heart and soul
are precious to our Lord.
Their struggle to endure,
their suffering to the core.
Shattered in their being,
life is agony
but in the world beyond
the pieces heal.
In the Father's hands
the pieces are made whole
and radiating warmth
heals a wounded soul.
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Retribution
Can it be that cancer
and many modern ills
are retribution to us
of those our nation killed.
Vietnam and Korea,
napalm, atomic bombs.
Devastation far from home
where we don't belong.
Also sins within,
among the people here.
Mistreating our own people
because we didn't care.
Perhaps our sins return,
on guilt and guiltless too
for our nation's guilt
for things it shouldn't do.
Dormancy
Sometimes there's something in us
others cannot see,
and we call this something
latency.
Sometimes there are long years
we seem to get nowhere
and it is not apparent
anything is there.
Sometimes there is a dormancy
that even we don't know,
that suddenly awakes
and starts to show.
It may be an idea
or be a quality
that begins to blossom
into reality.
Even with the saints
there is a certain time
apparently they're living
an ordinary life.
But time removes the curtain,
revealing strength of soul,
and we see what was hidden,
we see them whole.
And so when we tread endlessly
upon our thankless way,
it may have more value
than we think it may.
Beauty draws us on toward God
as punishment can't do,
for what we love inspires us
to live the same way too.
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Praying Hands
Praying hands upon the wall
have a tale to tell us all.
Story of two brother's love
whom artists wanted to become.
Agreed upon a little scheme
so both accomplish that great dream.
Since they were poor when they began
one would labor with his hands
that the other start to paint
and both of them not have to wait.
Then the other way they do
and he would put the other thru.
So one went on to study art,
the other toiled with all his heart
to send his brother all he need
so he could study steadily.
An artist one of them became
but when the other could have claimed
his turn to paint and study too
his hands too gnarled for this to do.
So the other in return
thought how to pay this debt he earned,
and thought to paint in gratitude
his brother's hands in prayerful mood.
He painted them with love and care
for they really were a prayer
of all he felt for his great love
that labored daily as he must.
And it became a work of art
that easily does touch the heart.
People saw the message and
they called his work the praying hands.
Love and prayer are closely intertwined.
We say a constant prayer for what's on our mind.
Prayer may be more formal
or an informal kind,
talking thru with God
till we some answer find.
It may not be as big
as we would like it to
but some little thing
that we can do.
He often leads us gradually
and doesn't go too fast.
We have to work for months and years
his messages to grasp.
Sometimes it is most clear
what he would have us be,
but changing is another thing
we work with constantly.
Sometimes to stay the way you are
is an achievement too,
to overcome a circumstance
and still be only you.
We have to get his message clear
and try for it to be
a part of all our life
that we live constantly.
To talk with him for guidance,
the best that we can do,
and listen as he teaches
what is best for you.
God is in our being
and wants us to become
displaying of his qualities,
that he's the only one.
Do we know the soul?
I see it in your eyes,
that you have known so many things,
and are thus very wise.
The day the sun stood still, Joshua cried-
Sun stay in thy place, and moon on the other side.
And God hearkened to his cry,
for he was on their side.
And the sun stayed there all day,
while he destroyed his enemy,
for God was with the Israelis.
And hearkened to the voice of man,
but never did it e'er again.
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God Always Holds the Last Card
Whenever in your life
you're backed against the wall
remember it's just God
who makes the final call.
If your life is in his hands
he decides the fate
even if he calls you home
and does not vacillate.
Daniel in the lion's den
was thought to soon be dead
but God controls our fate,
it's always up to him.
God always holds the final card
after death as well.
No one is a winner
without his seal himself.
What would God say
was the greatest thing you had ever done?
Most likely something you've forgotten.
Just as we recall the things
of long ago another did
and tho they seem most clear to us
they've long ago forgotten it.
And in the memory of God
it may often be
the things we thought were big and good
were nothing actually.
Likewise maybe God alone
has seen a passing deed
and of all the things you did
pleased him most especially.
Something small, forgotten,
you cannot yet recall
but deeply felt within
and done with heart and soul.
And then we're not aware
of what effect we have
or what the outcome is
of an unconscious act.
The best thing that a person
ever said or did
may be something small,
unknown or yet forgotten.
If he told you what it was
you wouldn't even know,
or over passing years
forgotten or unknown.
He opened the Gates of Heaven,
from which a radiance poured,
and streamed into a pathway
up to the adored.
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Prayer of a Nun
Lord Father God,
We ask you to bless these little ones
and keep them in thy care.
Protect and nourish them
that thou art ever there.
The burdens of this world
we ask that you assuage,
and help us all to do thy will
from infancy to age.
Thou art our shepherd, art our guide
and help us to be good inside.
Help us to be more like thee
in goodness and in piety.
Our sins we ask that you forgive.
You know our hearts and how we live.
And ever to be close to thee
for all time, eternity.
Prayer of a Monk
Dear Lord in this world
the burden of many a heart.
Lives weighed down with sorrow,
asking where thou art.
Dear Lord a ray would help them,
a ray of light from you,
lighten someone's burden
that cannot see it thru.
Only thou the shepherd,
leading on and on.
Show us thy way
lest hope be gone.
Arise with light awakening,
and to take some hand
and lead us to thy bounty,
to the promised land.
Water for thy flock
and nurture of thy own.
In thy great awakening
lead us to thy home.
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Joan of Arc
When life gets tough and hard
and back against the wall,
think of Joan of Arc,
her trials do recall.
She was just a peasant girl
who was called by God-
simple in her ways,
the things that she knew of.
But she led an army,
dressed in suit of mail,
and crowned the Dauphin king of France,
but later sent to jail.
Questioned by her church,
the Inquisition then,
they kept her in a prison cell
and questioned without end.
They finally burnt her at the stake
in passion of revenge,
but she was loyal to her God
from first thru to the end.
And so the church has murdered
many sent by God,
and overjudged his wisdom
when they thought it odd.
We wonder if the saints come back
of their own free will
to aid a situation
that's come to a standstill.
Do they volunteer to come
to help us once again.
And if so are they treated
as foe or as a friend.
Meek as the lowly,
abide as the poor of heart.
Ever steadfast as thy part.
Closer to prayer than ever before,
unlocking that heavy old ponderous door.
In many ways God leads our thoughts
to know of him each day,
persuades us of his power and might
and yet his love and play.
A drop of water on a leaf
tells as much of him, and
beauty and the exquisite
as many lectures can.
He leads us to awareness
of every part of him,
aspects of his being
that we will need again.
It's not by mighty acts
we're always led to him,
but by a whisper of his love
and of his grace a hint.
Is there a prayer hanging in the air?
Is there a blessing coming down?
Say thy prayer.
Receive thy blessing.
God is everywhere.
God is the driveshaft and the power and the mainstay
of our lives, of which we are dust in his universe.
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Puzzle
The Sermon on the Mount
I puzzled quite a bit
as to things alluded to
and what they really meant.
The phrases altho clear
were often hard to grasp,
and tho easily read
their meaning held me fast.
It seemed to me quite Eastern
in its point of view,
setting forth a way of life
that to us was new.
Palestine itself is placed
between the East and West,
and all religious thinking
was Eastern in its trend.
The Sermon on the Mount
illustrates this thought,
and with every ounce of care
the meaning must be sought.
Some of it was passive,
as we find in the phrase
Resist not evil,
but meant in every way?
And o'er the years I pondered
but got not anywhere,
for tho I liked the message
I wondered if I dared.
I took a phrase to live by
and like an instrument
I set the frets a little way
to learn what each phrase meant.
I had to play each phrase by ear
and set it back and forth,
or bring in a second one
whose meaning took for course.
Thus I set it back and forth
and changed the frets each way
to give it little quarter
or give it much leeway.
I took this method in my life
with phrases here and there,
applied them in my living
and ways of life compared.
Gandhi also tried the way
of living certain thought,
and sought to find in life
how certain truths were wrought.
I cannot say I found the way
by moving frets around,
for only in one phrase
a lifetime may be found.
The second mile and love your enemies
phrases we've all heard,
yet can live a lifetime
their meaning just inferred.
In this unusual sermon
we may never know
all the things were meant by it
or all it tried to show.
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Ancient Art
Could it be that ancient art
and creativity,
mosques and tombs and temples
reflect divinity.
Could it be those structures
were divinely given,
by insight or the inner eye
or maybe in a vision.
The tombs of Egypt, it may be,
inspired by divinity,
for still unto the present day
we don't know how they're made that way-
How enormous stone was moved,
with the Aztecs, and Peru,
and how was cut so perfectly
and last so many centuries.
Language too divinely given
in Indian history.
God's commands directly made
as he wished them be.
And perhaps the rose window
may have been a vision
won in reverie
as divinely given.
The Mormon temple's exact dimensions
given he said by God.
Acoustics there so perfect
it is wondered of.
And so in things religious
we may see that they
are present in God's plan
his beauty to display.
And sometimes they are given
directly by his hand,
relay to us his message
in just the way he planned.
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City of God
"And they bowed and knelt to the Lamb, continually"
And the City of God was set on a hill,
with a light for all to see.
It was set on its 12 foundations,
to last eternally.
And tho it seemed austere and pure,
there was some room for play,
for there were also children there,
who lived there every day.
And a child pulled on the robe of a priestess,
"Can I go out and play?
I want to see the River of Life,
and trees along the way."
And she looked fondly at the child,
"Go along thy way.
I know you like the River of Life,
and see it every day."
Quite happy at her lenience,
he went out to play,
and walked along the River of Life,
which sustained him every day.
He found it bright, uplifting,
and inspiration there.
Made by the will of God,
materialized a prayer.
He sauntered by the greenery,
and roamed along downstream.
He stopped to see the willows,
and realized a dream.
When he had enough of this
he turned to go back home.
The City of God awaited him,
the only he had known.
And this lad was clear of thought,
and clear of mind and heart,
and worship of the Lamb
he found a thing apart.
"Go and see," the priestess said,
"and be quiet now."
He tiptoed to the central hall,
and then deep worship found.
And he became ecstatic,
and halfway in a trance,
the power overwhelming,
to be near God at last.
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Origin
Do you suppose one day
God decided just to play
and cast some starlight into space
until it found a resting place.
Then in space were many lights,
large and small and dim and bright.
He often liked to pause and gaze
at all the stars that were his play
and wonder at the number there
tho of course he didn't care.
More than any eye could see,
cast in space so generously.
But he had only just begun
and thought that he would make the sun
and added several here and there
for he had many suns to spare.
Then he thought to make a tree
and decorated it with leaves,
and made so many kinds that day
just because he liked to play.
They were hanging there in space
but he didn't find a place
for he liked to see them there
hanging all about in air.
And he really didn't know
which one he liked the very most.
Spruce and pine and boughs and leaves
oak and fruit and maple trees.
And really he was very pleased
with the starlight and the trees.
And he watched for ages long
but then he thought to make a song.
So he made a little breeze
rustling thru the dancing leaves.
And sat back to hear its sound
rippling thru the trees around.
He liked to hear its melody
enchanting in its delicacy.
And he loved each thing he made.
Everywhere his care displayed.
Each tree or leaf a work of art
that from his soul did impart.
Then set a mountain into view
and rearranged a thing or two
and set upon its rocky slopes
pine or fir or birch or oak.
And left them scattered here and there
growing almost anywhere
for tho he tried he didn't know
which ones he liked the very most.
Then he made birds in the skies
and gave them wings and down and eyes.
He fashioned each with utmost care
and with his love put each in air.
Some he made to fly o'er seas
and he gave them strength they need.
And those who migrate in the fall
strong enough to travel all.
And he liked to watch them fly
gliding thru a clear lit sky.
And gave them little sounds and calls
to add to beauty overall.
The birds were flying out in space
with only just one resting place
so he called them to come home
and thought to make their home a globe.
So carefully he made a globe
fashioned out of earth and stone
and set the mountain into place
that had been hanging there in space.
Then he added many more
and also land and ocean floor.
Made cliffs and valleys, ridges, rock
and lowlands filled with soil on top.
And he was satisfied that day
they all would have a place to play.
Then God poured in the mighty seas
in whatever way he pleased
with just a little here and there
for lakes to shimmer in the air.
And set in motion all the laws
of heat and cold and winter thaws
and all the laws of gravity
to hold in place the massive seas.
And when he saw what he had done
then he thought it would be fun
to add some fishes in the sea
for they would frolic playfully.
And so he fashioned one or two
to see what they would do.
And they played so happily
hd filled with fish the giant seas.
And added clams and walrus too
and beds of seaweed they would use
And sat a penguin here and there
to brighten up the arctic air.
High above the cranes and gulls
and the fish and whales below.
Snails and shells close to the sand
put in place by his own hand.
He dearly loved these creatures too
and saw how much that they could do.
And watched them play an age or two
and added things that they could use.
Then he thought it good to add
creatures that lived on the land.
Bear and possum and raccoon
were created very soon.
Then he made an elephant
and all the creatures you could want.
He carefully set them here and there
along with mountain goat and deer.
Then made a very tiny squirrel
with a tail that could uncurl
and set him by a tree to play,
a wild oak tree to play that day.
All the animals had charm
and made a perfect work of art,
filling with variety
the land and mountains and the sea.
And God watched all the creatures play
and loved the things that he had made.
He watched them run and swim and fly
and so another age went by.
And then he made a child at play
to see what he would do that day.
And set him down by ocean shore
with a bucket, stick, no more.
He watched him play among the sand
and hold some seashells in his hand.
And watched him play among the waves
and found a little fish that day.
And satisfied with what he made
added many more that day
and left them playing in the sand
unaware of the vast land.
And he kept them innocent
of love of power or greed of men
And with the creatures they were friend
and on the paths their way did wend.
And mountain goats with sheep did play
and frolic in the sun all day.
And tigers let their cubs roam tree-
was not his love for all to see.
Ever-present, ever-near
and these creatures knew no fear.
Wandering about the wild
trusted him as if a child.
And to the lovely streams and lakes
the creatures came their thirst to slake.
But they had no need to eat
for in his love were daily steeped.
For if in water or in air
they always found his presence there.
And of death they had no thought
for in his world they knew it not.
All the days were peaceful there.
All were resting in his care.
And if they knew I guess they'd say,
just like heaven every day.
For he did it all with love
each fish each tree that he thought of.
But all was just a child's play
filling in a quiet day.
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Saga
(Journey of the Soul)
I trudged along a dusty road
in far-off India land-
dissatisfied with what I was,
and could not understand.
The soul wishing to be free
of objects near at hand,
and falling back into the dust
that covered all the land.
Discouraged, I walked slower
held my pace a bit,
and noticed far ahead
a tiny figure sit.
Beneath a tree
along the road-
no one ever
I did know.
I wondered
rather suddenly,
a guru put there
just for me.
I dropped down beside him
Old man, I said,
I know you were put here
that I may be led.
I lost my way
quite a while ago,
and cannot find
the way I should go.
My mind is confusion
of all that I see:
My heart is all weary
and waits but for thee.
The end of the road
is the same as the last,
and all that you know of
most humbly I ask.
When you reach this state,
0 child said he,
you may quietly listen
to someone as me.
This world is a setting
of others to come,
each of them harbingers
of the next one.
Tho all the allusions
you won't understand,
still they are symbols
of the next land.
The soul in its journey
has ages to go,
and coarseness to cast off
and fineness to know.
Less like the earth
and more like the sun
with radiant rays
like creation.
To glow like the soul
on the best of its days,
in the absence of fear,
and in spiritual ways.
To ascend to the Lord
in a spiritual tone;
drop hatred and envy
and all that you own.
And like a prayer
to be sped on its way
in the cool of the journey
and heat of the day.
God is the essence
of all that we are—
our fibre, our being,
just like the stars.
He is our soul
from inception thru time;
the end of our journey
becoming sublime.
Nothing created
except by his hand:
all of it spiritual
just as he planned.
Reach for thy Maker
seek in the stars,
for all of thy values
the highest that are.
Our life is but a testing ground
of faithfulness and worth—
our trueness to our Maker
while we are on earth.
Listen to the pulses
that help you to decide
what is best to do,
if you don't know the right.
Tho they're very tender,
and seem so slim to you,
only hints of righteousness
at last will lead you thru.
Choose thy path most wisely
with the wisdom that you know,
and the Lord in time
a greater wisdom show.
With patience endure
what the passage will bring—
sorrow and anguish
as well as rejoicing.
Sometimes the pace is very slow,
and stand in place and nowhere go.
Other times your soul takes wings,
enlightenment its offering.
Search the shadows very well
so that you can always tell
hindrance or impediment
that may follow further yet.
Carefully maintain thy pace,
and do not let neglect erase
all thy gain so hardly won,
and lose advances one by one.
His blessing will befall you,
and ever will his grace
sustain thy every effort
to reach, and grow apace.
The values that he teaches,
remember every one.
Their truth, it never wavers
from what must be done.
Accept thy lot on earth
as it has come to you.
Heaven may be won
from any point of view.
And tho the struggle may seem long
and tiresome to you,
remember that his heavenly grace
is overlooking you.
Forgiveness is the hardest thing
that the soul must do;
wresting with this problem
if we would carry thru.
Even if we do not see
why suffering comes our way,
still we must not let ourselves
be vengeful any way.
Love is but the absence
of negativity,
and oneness with the object
that we related be.
Our love of God a power
drawing yet our soul
closer to his presence,
where we will be whole.
Follow in God's footsteps,
where his feet did tred.
He has marked the way for you,
where his spirit led.
Holiness most sacred
as we approach our God.
Yielding only golden light
from which the pulses throb.
Humble and compelling,
we reach this state with awe,
and reverence overwhelming,
at the grace we sought.
Enter in the presence
of all that is divine,
the ending of our journey,
and its beginning find.
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