'Sunset over a River'
God’s oneness, my companions, is the only law of being. Another name for it is Love. To know it and abide by it is to abide in Life. ... Love is not a virtue. Love is a necessity; more so than bread and water; more so than light and air.
*Mikhail Naimy. The Book of Mirdad.
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October 2015 - Georgia
They are Southern Baptists living near Savannah, GA. She is a hospice patient. She is nearing death. He is exhausted from caring for his wife of over fifty years. This day I see his fatigue and unease more than in the past months.
After the visit and prayer, we say our goodbyes, and I walk outside to leave. When outdoors, the husband comes out of the house. I turn around. He has a paper in his hand, one like he had given me weeks before - a religious newspaper published in the tiny town nearby. He is beaming joyfully, placing the paper in my hands. I smile, receiving it, and give gratitude.
I take the paper to my apartment to keep it, though I will not read it. Some would say, "Why? It's just a tiny town religious newspaper, and you disagree with what it says." I say, "Why not? It's so much more."
Two see.
One sees the love.
As the heart is,
the eyes will see.
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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2020
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse. The book is a collection of poems based on mystical traditions, especially Christian and Sufi, with extensive notes on the teachings and imagery in the poetry.
