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* * *
sitting Here
where shore meets Sea
and you want me to drink from a cup
you placed in my hand
while the Sea longs for me, even me— Oh Grace!—saying,
“Drink me, your Source, all of me, My Love?” and
a longing in return longs to sink in the selfsame Deep
such are your pleas, foolish indeed,
for me to fit Christ, Ocean of Grace,
inside your dying cup of religion and creed
indeed, if your religion shields the eyes from the
Glory of the Sun, open
it to the Sky, or
May it die
* * *
A Buddhist said, "Sir, I want to be a Buddha. What advice can you give me?" Said the Sage, "To be a Buddha, live very, very close to a Buddha."
* * *
A Christian came to visit the Sage. He shared how he was discouraged, that he felt empty, that the life of Spirit seemed far away. This, he said, had been so for years. He shared that he had neglected his time alone with the Spirit. He said, "Please offer me some wisdom about this." The Sage said, "I'll tell you a story."
A downcast follower of Jesus had a vision. In it, Jesus led the man to the seashore. The disciple held a cup and a sieve. Jesus and he stood on a rock, the sea breaking around them into frothy swirls. “Show me how to fill the sieve with water,” said Jesus. The man stooped down and filled the cup with water. He poured the water into the sieve. Cup after cup he poured, but no matter how quickly he poured, only the smallest remnant was caught in the bottom. Even that small amount of water soon formed a drop and was swallowed again in the waters. Finally, the disciple faced Jesus and shrugged. Hopeless was the task. “It is so with the life of Spirit,” Jesus said. “So long as we stand on the rock of I, of self, and seek to pour the divine life into that shell, so certainly shall that life escape us. This is not the way to fill a sieve with water or the human spirit with the divine Spirit.”
Jesus took the sieve from the disciple. He launched it onto the waters. For a moment it lay glinting in the sunlight. Then it slipped into the deep. “Now it is full of water,” Jesus spoke. “And that is how you are filled with the Water of Life. You throw the self, the I, to sink into the Sea of the Divine.”
* * *
A woman asked the Sage, "I dearly want to be a spiritual person. What advice would you give me?" The Sage said...
A monk spoke to the abbot. “Father, what must I do to be a spiritual man?” The abbot replied, “From where does the ray of light become a ray of light?” “Of course, from the Sun,” answered the monk. “Likewise,” said the abbot, “Light begets Light. Spirit flows from Spirit. Live in intimacy with your Beloved.”
* * *
Moving close to God, God moves close to you.
*James 4.8
(C)Brian Wilcox, 2020
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