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Faithfulness is not arriving somewhere
Not arriving is the Journey
—Brian K. Wilcox
There is always a smile
My face has never smiled
Deep within me is still some closet
Spirit is being kept hidden in
Some kind word I’ve never spoken
Is being formed in the womb of quiet
Even as a man of forty-give
A child may be waiting within my loins (Who knows?)
For every laughter I’ve laughed
Another is waiting patiently in the silence
The first woman I kissed
That kiss has been reborn many times, again,
Some bird yet to be born
Will some morning delight my hears
There is a love I’ve not held in my arms
But she prays somewhere to feel my warm embrace
A single grain of wheat falls into the ground
Out comes this manifold blessing
I’ve learned that what I judge a mistake today
Can be seen as a blessing tomorrow
A gaze into this one moment—Wow!—
Eternity spreads it wings and hovers over my body
What is is the flower of yesterday’s bud
And the bud of tomorrow’s flower
Why would anyone who loves life
Want this eternal procession to cease?
Increase is the nature of Love
Growth the delight of the soul
Over every horizon
Mystery opens to mystery, forever
What was, will be
Always new, though, always novel
—Brian K. Wilcox
I find the Newtonian closed, linear universe view of heaven boring. It goes something like this: We popped up on earth, we live, we die, we go to a place called heaven, everything is perfect and, wonderful, that’s it. For persons who love the procession of life, such is the ultimate of dull!
My poem seeks to offer another view of life, life then, now, always. My poem seeks to inspire you to jump into the procession of life, rejoicing at every small discovery, anticipation of the wonders that will surface from the deep of Mystery, and laugh that you have no idea what it is all about or where it is leading. My poem is, succinctly, offering a way for life to be an enchanting Pilgrimage, where every orgasm of delight and every moan of sadness is part of the Pageant of Christ:
Increase is the nature of Love
Growth the delight of the soul.
St. Gregory of Nyssa believed that even in heaven perfection is growth. He says that the essence of perfection is in never becoming perfect. Rather, perfection is always reaching to higher perfection lying beyond us. Because God is Infinite, this ever-reaching forward proves limitless. The Greek Fathers called this “reaching forward” by the Greek epektasis: I believed this by pure intuitive knowing for a long time and preached it, and was delighted when I found it had been taught for almost two centuries in the Church. Or, maybe I believed it because it is just plain common sense. You decide.
Bishop Kallistos Ware, of the Eastern Orthodox Church, describes this principle of infinite growth, or what I call perpetual procession:
The soul possesses God, and yet still seeks him; her joy is full, and yet grows always more intense. God grows ever nearer to us, yet he still remains the Other; we behold him face to face, yet we still continue to advance further and further into the divine mystery. Although strangers no longer, we do not cease to be pilgrims. We go forward “from glory to glory “ (2 Cor. 3:18), and then to a glory that is greater still. Never, in all eternity, shall we reach a point where we have accomplished all that there is to do, or discovered all that there is to know. “Not only in this present age but also in the Age to come,” says St. Irenaeus, “God will always have something more to teach man, and man will always have something more to learn from God” [Against the Heresies II, xxviii, 3] (The Orthodox Way).
For Reflection
How do you see change occurring in your life now? Do you find the unknown more frightening or exhilarating? Explain.
Exercise
Notice the little changes today that remind you life is always open to the unknown.
Pray this prayer:
God, teach me to celebrate the unknown of change, knowing that good is always waiting, more good than I have known and in ways I could never plan. Sometimes, I cannot see or receive that good, for I am not ready to see or receive it. Soften my spirit to be receptive in Love to all you have for me. I love you. Thanks for loving me, Christ. Amen.
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