Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
John Donne, Holy Sonnets, No XIV
Showing posts with label Poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poetry. Show all posts
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Saturday, July 14, 2007
The Dragon Within
Thank you, Albion for posting those words. As one noted for fierce discussion, I've been wanting to say similar things for a while, but he said them much better than I ever could. I would simply add the following poem to that. It came to me as a reminder in the midst of various debates, both theological and political.
The Dragon Within
There lurks a great beast in a darksome place,
a fearsome presence in a well hid space,
whose smoldering evil brings black awe,
whose appetite draws all to its maw.
Draw near to the beast and look in its eye,
and, if you are seeing, in fear you’ll cry,
for what you will see is its rage and its hate,
and a hot emptiness beyond a cruel gate.
Its hot, ugly anger burns beauty to dust,
for utter destruction is always its lust,
and what it beholds, the better it be,
the quicker it wishes its ending to see.
The beast will destroy with its flaming breath,
and all that confront it are touched by death,
and hearts that were soft will be turned to stone,
and every spirit will perish alone.
This dragon, you see, lurks deep in your soul,
and has pure destruction as its only goal,
and, using the hatred that dwells in your heart,
will rend every goodness and tear it apart.
So look on yourself and dig deep within,
and a powerful cleansing you need to begin,
and slay that old dragon of hatred and rage,
and walk with boldness and God’s peace wage.
-------------------------ed pacht
(BTW, it was conceived as a song and wants music)
The Dragon Within
There lurks a great beast in a darksome place,
a fearsome presence in a well hid space,
whose smoldering evil brings black awe,
whose appetite draws all to its maw.
Draw near to the beast and look in its eye,
and, if you are seeing, in fear you’ll cry,
for what you will see is its rage and its hate,
and a hot emptiness beyond a cruel gate.
Its hot, ugly anger burns beauty to dust,
for utter destruction is always its lust,
and what it beholds, the better it be,
the quicker it wishes its ending to see.
The beast will destroy with its flaming breath,
and all that confront it are touched by death,
and hearts that were soft will be turned to stone,
and every spirit will perish alone.
This dragon, you see, lurks deep in your soul,
and has pure destruction as its only goal,
and, using the hatred that dwells in your heart,
will rend every goodness and tear it apart.
So look on yourself and dig deep within,
and a powerful cleansing you need to begin,
and slay that old dragon of hatred and rage,
and walk with boldness and God’s peace wage.
-------------------------ed pacht
(BTW, it was conceived as a song and wants music)
Friday, April 06, 2007
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Fourteen Days of Dark and Light
April 4, 2007. Wednesday in Holy Week. Here are the two weeks when the destiny of the world is seen and the mighty acts that sealed it remembered. Here, in Holy Week, and in Easter Week (which the Orthodox, so happily, call Bright Week) we see the great contrast between the unrelieved darkness and evil that deserve the ultimate condemnation, and the irrepressible life and light that arise from the infinite love of God. I set about to write a letter, and had to stop for this piece to bubble forth …
Fourteen days:
the days in which the world quakes,
in which the world shakes,
in which the world awakes
to the way the Maker makes.
Fourteen days:
the days of dark and light,
when He stepped into a world of night,
a world that’s evil in His sight,
with destruction as its only right.
Fourteen days:
in which the God made man,
the Lamb once slain e’er the world began,
at the end of a race He with us ran,
ended His life - new life began.
Fourteen days:
when cheering rang out,
and cheering changed into an angry shout,
his head with thorns now crowned about,
and Satan seems to give him rout.
Fourteen days:
when the wood of the Cross,
bears what seems to be our loss,
and all our hopes fate seems to toss
into the garbage with all the dross.
Fourteen days:
midway through,
when mankind knows not what to do,
when blackness covers skies of blue,
but from the blackness comes the new.
Fourteen days:
when angels’ eyes,
have watched Him from his grave arise,
when hope and brilliance fill the skies,
and trampled death in darkness lies.
Fourteen days:
when His own light,
has driven back fore’er the night,
and in the week that we call bright,
we see the vic’ry that ends the fight.
Fourteen days:
the days in which the world quakes,
in which the world shakes,
in which the world awakes
to the way the Maker makes.
Fourteen days:
the days of dark and light,
when He stepped into a world of night,
a world that’s evil in His sight,
with destruction as its only right.
Fourteen days:
in which the God made man,
the Lamb once slain e’er the world began,
at the end of a race He with us ran,
ended His life - new life began.
Fourteen days:
when cheering rang out,
and cheering changed into an angry shout,
his head with thorns now crowned about,
and Satan seems to give him rout.
Fourteen days:
when the wood of the Cross,
bears what seems to be our loss,
and all our hopes fate seems to toss
into the garbage with all the dross.
Fourteen days:
midway through,
when mankind knows not what to do,
when blackness covers skies of blue,
but from the blackness comes the new.
Fourteen days:
when angels’ eyes,
have watched Him from his grave arise,
when hope and brilliance fill the skies,
and trampled death in darkness lies.
Fourteen days:
when His own light,
has driven back fore’er the night,
and in the week that we call bright,
we see the vict’ry that ends the fight.
-----------------ed pacht
Fourteen days:
the days in which the world quakes,
in which the world shakes,
in which the world awakes
to the way the Maker makes.
Fourteen days:
the days of dark and light,
when He stepped into a world of night,
a world that’s evil in His sight,
with destruction as its only right.
Fourteen days:
in which the God made man,
the Lamb once slain e’er the world began,
at the end of a race He with us ran,
ended His life - new life began.
Fourteen days:
when cheering rang out,
and cheering changed into an angry shout,
his head with thorns now crowned about,
and Satan seems to give him rout.
Fourteen days:
when the wood of the Cross,
bears what seems to be our loss,
and all our hopes fate seems to toss
into the garbage with all the dross.
Fourteen days:
midway through,
when mankind knows not what to do,
when blackness covers skies of blue,
but from the blackness comes the new.
Fourteen days:
when angels’ eyes,
have watched Him from his grave arise,
when hope and brilliance fill the skies,
and trampled death in darkness lies.
Fourteen days:
when His own light,
has driven back fore’er the night,
and in the week that we call bright,
we see the vic’ry that ends the fight.
Fourteen days:
the days in which the world quakes,
in which the world shakes,
in which the world awakes
to the way the Maker makes.
Fourteen days:
the days of dark and light,
when He stepped into a world of night,
a world that’s evil in His sight,
with destruction as its only right.
Fourteen days:
in which the God made man,
the Lamb once slain e’er the world began,
at the end of a race He with us ran,
ended His life - new life began.
Fourteen days:
when cheering rang out,
and cheering changed into an angry shout,
his head with thorns now crowned about,
and Satan seems to give him rout.
Fourteen days:
when the wood of the Cross,
bears what seems to be our loss,
and all our hopes fate seems to toss
into the garbage with all the dross.
Fourteen days:
midway through,
when mankind knows not what to do,
when blackness covers skies of blue,
but from the blackness comes the new.
Fourteen days:
when angels’ eyes,
have watched Him from his grave arise,
when hope and brilliance fill the skies,
and trampled death in darkness lies.
Fourteen days:
when His own light,
has driven back fore’er the night,
and in the week that we call bright,
we see the vict’ry that ends the fight.
-----------------ed pacht
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
The Beautiful Wrath of God
This Lenten meditation/poem is a bit long and I didn't want to fill this column up. So I've finally made use of the blog I was assigned when I signed up to Blogger. Read it there.
http://poetreaderpacht.blogspot.com/2007/03/beautiful-wrath-of-god.html
ed pacht
http://poetreaderpacht.blogspot.com/2007/03/beautiful-wrath-of-god.html
ed pacht
Sunday, December 17, 2006
The Secret of Patience
A piece inspired by the Epistle for the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
The Secret of Patience
The Lord is coming,
coming,
certainly,
surely,
coming in glory,
coming in power,
coming soon,
or not so soon
as we would have.
The Lord is coming,
coming,
surely coming,
and we wait,
and we wait,
and time goes on
and on and on,
and we wait.
His people wait,
with patience,
or not,
we wait
we wait,
and waiting, what?
Rejoice in His presence,
dance and shout and clap:
He has come,
Rejoice!
He has died,
Rejoice!
He has risen,
Rejoice!
He is here,
Rejoice!
and coming soon,
Rejoice!
for He is Lord,
Rejoice!
and break those dams
that block the flow
of the Spirit of God,
Rejoice!
Pray.
Give thanks.
Talk to Him.
Hear His voice.
Rejoice!
and while you wait,
Rejoice!
be filled,
and pour His love,
His peace,
His joy,
His Spirit -
into the waiting world.
Rejoice!
------------------------ed pacht
The Secret of Patience
The Lord is coming,
coming,
certainly,
surely,
coming in glory,
coming in power,
coming soon,
or not so soon
as we would have.
The Lord is coming,
coming,
surely coming,
and we wait,
and we wait,
and time goes on
and on and on,
and we wait.
His people wait,
with patience,
or not,
we wait
we wait,
and waiting, what?
Rejoice in His presence,
dance and shout and clap:
He has come,
Rejoice!
He has died,
Rejoice!
He has risen,
Rejoice!
He is here,
Rejoice!
and coming soon,
Rejoice!
for He is Lord,
Rejoice!
and break those dams
that block the flow
of the Spirit of God,
Rejoice!
Pray.
Give thanks.
Talk to Him.
Hear His voice.
Rejoice!
and while you wait,
Rejoice!
be filled,
and pour His love,
His peace,
His joy,
His Spirit -
into the waiting world.
Rejoice!
------------------------ed pacht
Friday, December 08, 2006
Choral Treasure Radio
Choral Treasure, a new site, is devoted to playing great music growing from the Catholic tradition.
Listen to it here.
Biretta tip to Occidentalis.
Listen to it here.
Biretta tip to Occidentalis.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Solemn Joy
November 15, 2006. I’m serving our regular midweek Mass. Old Father Davis is celebrating and there are a total of four in the chapel. I start out a little distracted, but we come to the words of the General Confession, and, while accusing myself in the following solemn words, I am suddenly convulsed with a holy laughter.
“Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men; We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, And are heartily sorry, for these our misdoings; The remembrance of them is grievous unto us, The burden of them is intolerable …”
Solemn Joy
I know my sin,
I hate my sin,
and yet I sin,
and I say the words,
and mean the words,
and feel the words,
of confession,
and sorrow,
and self-accusing,
and declare that I have earned
wrath,
anger,
condemnation,
and everlasting pain,
and my lips begin to smile,
and my chest begins to heave
with silent rocking laughter,
with the blossoming of joy,
as, unworthy, there I kneel,
unworthy, waiting to be fed
with food I have not earned,
have not deserved,
and yet desire,
and I laugh,
because I know
Your Love
that does not give me what I earn,
but that which once forever
He has earned,
and in the Sacrifice we here present,
has bought, has owned,
and done away,
my sin,
my grievous sin,
condemning sin,
yet gone,
and on the Cross
and in the Loaf
and in the Cup,
I am free,
I am loved,
I am washed,
and in the rivers
of the everlasting Joy,
I laugh.
“Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men; We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, And are heartily sorry, for these our misdoings; The remembrance of them is grievous unto us, The burden of them is intolerable …”
Solemn Joy
I know my sin,
I hate my sin,
and yet I sin,
and I say the words,
and mean the words,
and feel the words,
of confession,
and sorrow,
and self-accusing,
and declare that I have earned
wrath,
anger,
condemnation,
and everlasting pain,
and my lips begin to smile,
and my chest begins to heave
with silent rocking laughter,
with the blossoming of joy,
as, unworthy, there I kneel,
unworthy, waiting to be fed
with food I have not earned,
have not deserved,
and yet desire,
and I laugh,
because I know
Your Love
that does not give me what I earn,
but that which once forever
He has earned,
and in the Sacrifice we here present,
has bought, has owned,
and done away,
my sin,
my grievous sin,
condemning sin,
yet gone,
and on the Cross
and in the Loaf
and in the Cup,
I am free,
I am loved,
I am washed,
and in the rivers
of the everlasting Joy,
I laugh.
Monday, October 30, 2006
In Life, In Death, In Ecstasy
Tonight the trick or treaters have been running about in my city. Tomorrow is Halloween, then All Saints' and All Souls'. This complex of days leads one to think on life and death, which brought me back to a poem of a month ago.
---------
Monday, September 18, 2006, shortly after midnight. A couple of days ago Jonathan (of O Cuniculi... linked here) posted a brief article on how tradition has often compared sex and death. Something resonated in me. I knew a poem was struggling to emerge. I wrote a bit of an outline of what it might look like, and a working title. I sat in front of my screen, thinking, but not typing. Something wanted to come, but wouldn’t. I gave up and went to bed. Lying there, reading something altogether unrelated (actually, a Stephen King book), I was just about ready to shut off the light and go to sleep, when I just had to get up and write. I powered up, looked at my outline, and deleted it. All I had left was a title (which also became a line in the poem). Words just began to come, entirely unlike what I’d been trying to produce, and here it is, and I’m satisfied with it as it is, and I’m not at all sure I want to take credit for writing it . . .
In Life, In Death, In Ecstasy
The stopping of a heart,
the ceasing of a thought,
the cent’ring of existence on a change,
a death,
transition,
a darkening of the world around,
a bursting in of light that was unknown,
a birth into another world,
an ecstasy beyond what has been known,
the greater death has come,
and to the Christian greater life.
The pausing of two hearts,
the stilling of two sets of thoughts,
the concentration of the world upon an act,
like death,
like change,
a dimming of reality that lies upon them,
a bursting in of light that blinds them,
a birth that may begin within their life,
an ecstasy exploding with the light of life
the lesser death that lifts them out of life,
with life has burst into the world.
In life, in death, in ecstasy,
in birth, in death, in passions of the flesh,
in beauties known by eye and ear and soul,
in raising sound in voice and singing instrument,
in making music by the dance of words,
in sitting silent in the house of God,
in listening, hearing, seeing that which is not known,
to those whose hearts reach heavenward and thirst,
to those immersed within that living Blood,
to those the blessed lesser death has come,
and release, though brief, from this world’s bonds is known,
and foreshadowed here the Christian soul may taste
that blessed greater death that leads to greater life,
and know and feel and touch the shape,
the shape of eternity.
---
ed pacht
---------
Monday, September 18, 2006, shortly after midnight. A couple of days ago Jonathan (of O Cuniculi... linked here) posted a brief article on how tradition has often compared sex and death. Something resonated in me. I knew a poem was struggling to emerge. I wrote a bit of an outline of what it might look like, and a working title. I sat in front of my screen, thinking, but not typing. Something wanted to come, but wouldn’t. I gave up and went to bed. Lying there, reading something altogether unrelated (actually, a Stephen King book), I was just about ready to shut off the light and go to sleep, when I just had to get up and write. I powered up, looked at my outline, and deleted it. All I had left was a title (which also became a line in the poem). Words just began to come, entirely unlike what I’d been trying to produce, and here it is, and I’m satisfied with it as it is, and I’m not at all sure I want to take credit for writing it . . .
In Life, In Death, In Ecstasy
The stopping of a heart,
the ceasing of a thought,
the cent’ring of existence on a change,
a death,
transition,
a darkening of the world around,
a bursting in of light that was unknown,
a birth into another world,
an ecstasy beyond what has been known,
the greater death has come,
and to the Christian greater life.
The pausing of two hearts,
the stilling of two sets of thoughts,
the concentration of the world upon an act,
like death,
like change,
a dimming of reality that lies upon them,
a bursting in of light that blinds them,
a birth that may begin within their life,
an ecstasy exploding with the light of life
the lesser death that lifts them out of life,
with life has burst into the world.
In life, in death, in ecstasy,
in birth, in death, in passions of the flesh,
in beauties known by eye and ear and soul,
in raising sound in voice and singing instrument,
in making music by the dance of words,
in sitting silent in the house of God,
in listening, hearing, seeing that which is not known,
to those whose hearts reach heavenward and thirst,
to those immersed within that living Blood,
to those the blessed lesser death has come,
and release, though brief, from this world’s bonds is known,
and foreshadowed here the Christian soul may taste
that blessed greater death that leads to greater life,
and know and feel and touch the shape,
the shape of eternity.
---
ed pacht
Friday, August 18, 2006
The Marriage
The Marriage
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (Psalm 85:10)
-----------
Truth looks down at the sons of men,
and righteousness it cannot find,
for when it looks at the human race
as they live before God's face,
and judges them by God's own mind
as they rebel, deny, rebel again
against the One who made them all,
and fully desired them never to fall,
yet watched them defy His will and then
flee from His presence, newly blind,
flee from the garden, once their place,
to wander a world that's bitter as gall,
........condemned
........by truth
........they are.
--
Mercy melts at the thought of pain
and wishes only that it might be eased,
the symptoms hid by a soothing balm,
while underneath there is no calm,
and a righteous God is far from pleased,
while fallen man falls yet again,
and by his sin from rightness turns,
and the will of holy God he spurns,
and in his pride attempts to reign
a life that has by evil been seized,
and shielded by "mercy" from God's alarm
until it becomes too late to learn
........that mercy alone
........leaves him
........condemned.
--
Righteousness demands a price,
a price no human soul is able to pay,
until it takes its final breath,
and enters into eternal death,
eternal darkness with never a day,
and lasting suffering that won't suffice
to pay the debt the sinner owes,
or ransom him from the place he goes,
for to be righteous in God's eyes,
can only be done if he find the Way,
the Truth and the Life,
as the Scripture saith,
for otherwise, as rightness knows,
........he stands
........condemned
........and lost.
--
Peace, shalom, wholeness, health,
contentment, sureness, comfort, life,
these were the plan in paradise,
until they thought themselves so wise,
that peace with God was replaced by strife,
and openness was turned to stealth,
and holiness grievously turned to sin,
and fallen mankind now had to begin,
to strive and sweat for a little wealth,
in a fallen world with problems rife,
where what is living without fail dies,
and, striving for peace we never win,
........but know
........that we are
........condemned.
--
But on the cross hangs Mercy in sight,
the mercy that caused the Son of light
to die at the hands of wicked men,
that they might know the truth again.
--
And on the cross hangs Truth on high,
the truth that sin has got to die,
and that the price must ever be paid,
and righteousness in the tomb be laid.
--
And on the cross Righteousness reigns,
as the Pure One suffers my pains,
and there for my sin remission buys,
dying my death before my eyes.
--
And on the cross Peace is proclaimed,
wholeness and health and holiness named,
for there at the cross all evil is felled,
and there at the cross in love I am held.
--
And now in joy let the wedding begin,
and now in joy let the bride come in,
for mercy and truth now are met,
in them eternal union is set,
and righteousness plants a kiss with love,
and in peace at last takes her above.
--
And they live happily ever after.
--
Amen.
.........................ed pacht
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (Psalm 85:10)
-----------
Truth looks down at the sons of men,
and righteousness it cannot find,
for when it looks at the human race
as they live before God's face,
and judges them by God's own mind
as they rebel, deny, rebel again
against the One who made them all,
and fully desired them never to fall,
yet watched them defy His will and then
flee from His presence, newly blind,
flee from the garden, once their place,
to wander a world that's bitter as gall,
........condemned
........by truth
........they are.
--
Mercy melts at the thought of pain
and wishes only that it might be eased,
the symptoms hid by a soothing balm,
while underneath there is no calm,
and a righteous God is far from pleased,
while fallen man falls yet again,
and by his sin from rightness turns,
and the will of holy God he spurns,
and in his pride attempts to reign
a life that has by evil been seized,
and shielded by "mercy" from God's alarm
until it becomes too late to learn
........that mercy alone
........leaves him
........condemned.
--
Righteousness demands a price,
a price no human soul is able to pay,
until it takes its final breath,
and enters into eternal death,
eternal darkness with never a day,
and lasting suffering that won't suffice
to pay the debt the sinner owes,
or ransom him from the place he goes,
for to be righteous in God's eyes,
can only be done if he find the Way,
the Truth and the Life,
as the Scripture saith,
for otherwise, as rightness knows,
........he stands
........condemned
........and lost.
--
Peace, shalom, wholeness, health,
contentment, sureness, comfort, life,
these were the plan in paradise,
until they thought themselves so wise,
that peace with God was replaced by strife,
and openness was turned to stealth,
and holiness grievously turned to sin,
and fallen mankind now had to begin,
to strive and sweat for a little wealth,
in a fallen world with problems rife,
where what is living without fail dies,
and, striving for peace we never win,
........but know
........that we are
........condemned.
--
But on the cross hangs Mercy in sight,
the mercy that caused the Son of light
to die at the hands of wicked men,
that they might know the truth again.
--
And on the cross hangs Truth on high,
the truth that sin has got to die,
and that the price must ever be paid,
and righteousness in the tomb be laid.
--
And on the cross Righteousness reigns,
as the Pure One suffers my pains,
and there for my sin remission buys,
dying my death before my eyes.
--
And on the cross Peace is proclaimed,
wholeness and health and holiness named,
for there at the cross all evil is felled,
and there at the cross in love I am held.
--
And now in joy let the wedding begin,
and now in joy let the bride come in,
for mercy and truth now are met,
in them eternal union is set,
and righteousness plants a kiss with love,
and in peace at last takes her above.
--
And they live happily ever after.
--
Amen.
.........................ed pacht
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Transfiguration
August 6, 2006, Feast of the Transfiguration. Dr. Jonathan Munn (warwickensis), preaching in Dartford, England, delivered a sermon, which he then posted online (at O Cuniculi...). This is one of my favorite feasts, and one of my favorite preaching themes, but Jonathan managed to bring out thoughts a bit different from any I’d previously had. I read the text several times, extracted some key portions of it, and used them to structure this piece . . .
Transfiguration
A veil hangs thick between this world
and the world that lies beyond,
a world of brightness everlasting
that the eyes of men are never able to behold,
and of timeless time beyond our understanding,
around a throne that makes infinity look small;
and we before that veil walk on unknowing,
unseeing, unsuspecting in the presence of that Light,
until . . .
until in arms of teenage virgin Mother,
until the waters of the Jordan flow,
until transfiguration on the mount of light
until the dance of darkness on the Cross
until the breaking of the bonds of death
until the taking of the Bread and Cup
that stand transformed upon the Table of the Lord.
until the veil is breached and broken
and a Man is shown as Son of God and shines
and infinity has stormed across the mighty veil,
and breaks into this world of time,
and then . . .
The cloud falls,
the sight of glory is obscured,
obscured and hid from eyes that cannot see
of men that cannot long endure
the fullness of that majesty
without that they be burnt away,
consumed by joy beyond all strength
unless . . .
The cloud falls,
the vision is removed.
misunderstood, half unbelieved,
obscured but not forgotten,
held in memory to the proper day,
held in memory till eternity
We may have seen, but truly do not know
the meaning of the things we see,
and sometimes grope with blindness in the dark,
seeking somehow something we can understand,
but Christians are not fed by explanations,
and what we understand with finite minds
cannot nourish,
cannot feed our hungry souls,
and so we seek for more than explanation,
and so we seek for God,
and finding God is finding love,
and finding love is finding God,
and finding God is gain.
Knowing God comes not from understanding,
but from the wordlessness of meeting, touching, feeling,
holding, being held and hearing words that can’t be said,
and thinking thoughts the mind will never comprehend
And if we truly wish to meet Him,
truly wish to come into that Presence,
and long that we come close to God,
we may . . .
But it is in that cloud we come to know Him,
in that cloud where even thoughts are hid,
and where the only thing that we are knowing
is that we are knowing nothing,
but await the presence of the Lord of Love.
And when He comes upon this altar we may come,
coming, seeking explanations,
thinking that we understand,
and add a layer to that mighty veil,
that bars the way that leads beyond,
for, if we think we understand the mystery,
the heart of mystery never will we find
until . . .
We walk with boldness and yet humbly toward the cloud,
and entering into what seems darkness,
see the Light,
and, unknowing,
know.
-------------
--- ed pacht
Transfiguration
A veil hangs thick between this world
and the world that lies beyond,
a world of brightness everlasting
that the eyes of men are never able to behold,
and of timeless time beyond our understanding,
around a throne that makes infinity look small;
and we before that veil walk on unknowing,
unseeing, unsuspecting in the presence of that Light,
until . . .
until in arms of teenage virgin Mother,
until the waters of the Jordan flow,
until transfiguration on the mount of light
until the dance of darkness on the Cross
until the breaking of the bonds of death
until the taking of the Bread and Cup
that stand transformed upon the Table of the Lord.
until the veil is breached and broken
and a Man is shown as Son of God and shines
and infinity has stormed across the mighty veil,
and breaks into this world of time,
and then . . .
The cloud falls,
the sight of glory is obscured,
obscured and hid from eyes that cannot see
of men that cannot long endure
the fullness of that majesty
without that they be burnt away,
consumed by joy beyond all strength
unless . . .
The cloud falls,
the vision is removed.
misunderstood, half unbelieved,
obscured but not forgotten,
held in memory to the proper day,
held in memory till eternity
We may have seen, but truly do not know
the meaning of the things we see,
and sometimes grope with blindness in the dark,
seeking somehow something we can understand,
but Christians are not fed by explanations,
and what we understand with finite minds
cannot nourish,
cannot feed our hungry souls,
and so we seek for more than explanation,
and so we seek for God,
and finding God is finding love,
and finding love is finding God,
and finding God is gain.
Knowing God comes not from understanding,
but from the wordlessness of meeting, touching, feeling,
holding, being held and hearing words that can’t be said,
and thinking thoughts the mind will never comprehend
And if we truly wish to meet Him,
truly wish to come into that Presence,
and long that we come close to God,
we may . . .
But it is in that cloud we come to know Him,
in that cloud where even thoughts are hid,
and where the only thing that we are knowing
is that we are knowing nothing,
but await the presence of the Lord of Love.
And when He comes upon this altar we may come,
coming, seeking explanations,
thinking that we understand,
and add a layer to that mighty veil,
that bars the way that leads beyond,
for, if we think we understand the mystery,
the heart of mystery never will we find
until . . .
We walk with boldness and yet humbly toward the cloud,
and entering into what seems darkness,
see the Light,
and, unknowing,
know.
-------------
--- ed pacht
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