“Who told you I need a house”, asks the nomad G_d,
of those who grew weary of the eternal restlessness
thinking S/He might appreciate
a fixed address, like a Queen or a priest?
“Your temples
conceal streams of grace
where once desert pilgrims
found respite, quenched thirst, offered thanks,
and then felt the mistrals moving them on.
Manager priests in fixed and fancy offices
do not feel the wind
or hear the gurgling music.
Am I being too harsh?
Look into your eyes.
A creation story explodes when,
in every astonished moment,
you behold
the adventure of life
as my advent.
Look again. Steady.
I am in that retinal explosion—
in the still, black, center,
and in the lines of light that converge
in the you of this moment,
and from the you of this moment
outward to encompass a future
that is born of my restlessness.
Bang!
If you must build your houses,
then make them sacraments of Sophia—
more mobile than motion.
Tilt the foundation
toward the future,
so that in short order
gravity pours even the most
reluctant inhabitants,
out the open door,
to join the procession of pilgrims,
led by the one who has no place
to rest his head.
Yes, I am unrelenting.
But you knew this.
Your bright and searching eyes always knew it,
before the dullness of the Great Domestication set in.
I do want more.
It’s that simple.
You may think this cruel
if you have already fallen in love with changeless form.
Even your house of love
will be shattered and swept away
by the tide of Love itself—and without apology—
to become an anthropologist’s artifact,
an interesting study of how an earlier love
was constructed.
I want to transcend myself
in you.
Befriend fear,
that unsolicited angel
appearing at the tent
of your life,
come to announce
that the Wild One
is breaking camp and moving on.
Time to pull up stakes.
Again.
Nobody, (not the Nazarene for sure),
said it would be easy.
Here’s my one concession
to your fear:
Lean back.
I will carry you for a time
in the momentum of my yearning.
The Future asks—only—
for your trust.”
Shake free
for your sake
shake free
even as foundations
fall about your head
dust to dust
and again
in the straining
Life to Life
Yes?
Gabrielle,
How good to hear from you again. And “Yes” indeed.
Thankyou
Hi Gabrielle. I’m gald to see you’re still with us. I’ve been missing you. – Carol
WOW!!!!!! I am stunned, stricken, excited, blessed….
Who wrote these words?
I wrote the words. (Or I would have acknowledged the writer of course).
Beautiful. Well done!
A red tent!
Hmmm–
Sophia speaks
and the evermoving
everbirthing One
becomes more and more
Yes! Thanks Meg (I didn’t have in mind the novel by using that image), but maybe that’s how it works.
A creation story explodes when,
in every astonished moment, . .
That line knocked me out. It blows me away every time I drop into the awareness that creation is an ongoing event, now, now and now, in and through me, you, everything. I get it in my meditations or out for a walk in nature, and then it disappears into the Great Domestication of my day. My longing in doing this course is to be able to live more and more from that astonishment right in the midst of my busy day and to experience the creativity moving through me into life in those seemingly mundane moments. Thank you for your expression of the creativity moving through you in this wonderful and inspired poem. Blessed unrest, indeed!
You’ve named the challenge and the possibility, Toni. Thank you.
Waaay Cool, Bruce! Please tell me more about “the Great Domestication”.
Jackson
Thanks Jackson,
It looks different for each of us I suspect. The temptation to reduce Mystery to absolute meaning;
to trade in the tent for a mortgage; for clergy to become managers of the institution and pension sluts (it happens almost imperceptibly); going through the motions that don’t actually take you anywhere other than the country of the familiar; when life is spectacle and not creative expression; pleasing others from a dissociated state; when the soul goes awol because its not interested in the life you’ve created; making life easier for others by taking yourself out of the equation; Schmidt; The Accidental Tourist; Mr. and Mrs. Bridge; sermons that never offend or make people cry or shout alleluia; never having been an outlaw in your family; when you’ve stopped listening to new music; when you stop dancing like a crazy man; when you’ve never had to say to G_d “enough already”; organizing your life around never being wrong; when you can’t even imagine outdoor sex.
Your turn.
Wow! Ride ‘em cowboy! So….lets be challenged by an event posted on Conscious Living Radio: A SPIRIT MEDICINE TRIP TO PERU next June ! Dare you to attend with me! (Can you see me smiling?) J.
I am duly challenged. Let me check it out.
I would tell you what my favorite line(s) is, but the fact is they all are. Beautiful soul language speaking to our all.
Thanks Carol
Well done, Bruce – you have “the gift”.
As the wisdom of Thomas Berry continues to float around inside my head, I often think that his emphasis on a “time developmental Universe” as opposed to what we crave – stability or a static universe – is THE paradigm-breaking idea.
To “trust”, as you imply, this inevitable evolutionary process is not easy – people feel more secure standing still, where they are, with the familiar – in word, thought and deed.
Thanks for helping us steer the rapids of this river of change! Poetically even!
I agree that this evolutionary path is paradigm-busting if we let it be. Thanks Don
No doubt i could sir up a bit of a hornet’s nest,here, but,(&this is just my opinion), but sadly a lot of Christians(not all to be completely fair, but a lot) seem to love confining G-D to Jesus,which to my mind(& again this is just my opinion), well,arrogant to say the least. I’m currently about half way through your current book” The Advance of Love- Reading the Bible with an Evolutionary Heart”. Personally, I’m loving it, and I love the frequent comparisons of G-D as , as Lloyd Geering brilliantlly does as well!!) ,to Nature/ Evolution,even. It’s opening up so many more doors for me.Good one. Thanks.
No hornets stirring here, Phillip. It’s interesting that when liberate Jesus from our need to associate G_d exclusively with Jesus, it is possible to reclaim his full radiance and stature as an astounding cosmic achievement, the full personalization and divinization of an evolving cosmos—the amorization of the universe.
Thanks Phillip.
Please forgive the typo.
The family fan club goes wild…can you hear the roar from Calgary? Bett’s reading over my shoulders and we’ve printed a copy for pa.
Keep rockin’ it out Bruce.
My favorite line? “I want to transcend myself in you.” The ‘how’ of changing the world…only allow…sigh. Resting in that thought…daily.
We love you!
donna
You gotta love family-as-fan club!
Thanks sis…
I love you all too.