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The Heart Speaks no. 2~Welcoming... Alice... One Embrace... Rain from the Heart... Other Side
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Jan 15, 2020 |
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Saying For Today: Having Your nearness, I can accept all aloneness. And having You, I am had by You. For You have not just shown me intimations of Yourself, You show me Yourself. |
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*Brian Wilcox. 'The Heart Speaks'. Flickr.
Sweet memory... important life lesson on the Way...
Meditating in the cheap recliner, my youngest and smallest spaniel, Samson, leaps up into my lap. My first thought is of distraction. My next, "No, he only wants to be loved, no distraction at all." So, I relax, and with eyes still closed, put my hands on his breathing body, greeting his wish to feel this touch, welcoming him without a word needing to be spoken. What is most important, he knows I'm here, I've welcomed him in, he can be with me. He's not left outside.
* * *
Alice was the first woman I was with, in spirit, after I was no longer a pastor of Christian churches. I lived in a cheaply-rented room in a faith-based house for addicts, offered me due to my working as a chaplain at a local jail. In this time, legally homeless and living off meager funds, and exploring feelings and senses of body, soul, spirit with her, a new adventure, a new beginning of discovering myself apart from the religious mantle that had cast its shadow over prior relationships, and to a degree I had not known. I am thankful to her, and these words I wrote to her, one among the letters and poems we penned for each other... "Alice ~ For You"...
Moses looked
within the Fiery bush
and heard the Voice of God
Not in sky did he hear, or
on celestial ladder did he climb,
to prostrate at the calling of
his name
I, too, have a name no other
can claim, a name no other
can reply with “Yes” to
In God, I have a name,
no other can speak, hidden
where I came from
before here
I listen, today, in the common world of
men and women, like you and me. I
see bushes burning with Fire,
everywhere
I place my face near the pulsating pores of
of earth and sky to welcome this warm,
passionate breathing of the
Breath of God
In the wedding of heaven and
earth, I have discovered how
the veil of flesh opens to
heavenly Grace
Once, I disdained the
flesh, to seek the Spirit;
no more, for the Temple is
the way to Love
In your voice and eyes,
I sense contemplative realms
beyond sense and time ~ I
hear my name
You are the whirlpool I am
drawn into; surrendered, initiating
ever-more deeply into feelings
I have never known
I see a new Life, I hear
my name, once more, springing
from this daring consent
to our Union
Heart prostrate with you,
we bow before God; this Fire
melding us into one, our names
being called, shining clearly within
our one Embrace.
"Name" speaks of our essence, our truth, what we are that can receive no name. Some sages have said this is simply "I AM," but those are words, and knowing words is not knowing your name. Name is so intimate to us, so sacred, we cannot find it without, only within it waits for us to listen, for our "Yes"; we cannot see our name, but we can feel it, know it. And we cannot know that name until someone "speaks" it over us, and we receive it in the intimacy of our own selves; and it may shatter our world, yes, it may fortunately shatter our world, the world our name cannot fit in. So, in the words of the One Jesus called "Father," "You're my dear Son, in whom I am much pleased." What is the name spoken over you? Do you feel it? Do you dare welcome it, when it comes to greet you, though you tremble to welcome it? Do you know your name, not the one of letters, the one of spirit? and not in the head, but living with you in the heart?
Continued... |
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