Prayer

Perhaps,
like Me,
You were taught
that Prayer is
entreaty,

bowed knees and
bowed head, and
desperate
lifted hands.

I have come
to Believe,
for a forever
of reasons,
that

Prayer is a
headfirst dive
into the deep end
of a Pool of
Love,
bubbling with
the Creator’s
Laughter
that You ever
thought
there would be
any Answer other than

“I will give You
as much
YES
as You can bear,

until You are
persuaded that
All I ever desired
for You
was that

You learn to
swim in it,
and You
band together
with Your Friends
to prowl
around the Pool,

grabbing hapless
Bystanders and
flinging Them in
until They must
swim for Their Lives.”

(Photo by Jed Villejo; UnSplash)

 

Inexplicable

There are some
wild theories
about the Creator,

like the one where
there is only
an inexplicable
Bang,
with a billion
permutations
until You
latched on
to Your Mother’s
breast.

But I’ll tell You Mine,

where the Creator
is like Your Mother

when You
wrote that poem
or
rescued that spider
or
told that joke
that made the principal
smile
when You were
sent to her office
for something
You didn’t do,
but You couldn’t
rat on
the lonely boy
who did.

The Creator
smiled too, and
loved You
as much as
Your Mother,

and has since
that inexplicable
Bang.

(Photo by Gabe Pierce; UnSplash)

 

Gallery Walk

Canyon Road,
Santa Fe,
Galleries of

Love
stroked on canvas
with brush kisses,

Soul
sculpted into
metal and rock
with hands
dipped in
Ambrosia of
Heart.

Took me back
to the day before,
sitting in an
airport cafe,

worshipping
the Maker’s Art
in the shape of
every One-of-a-Kind
Face.

A Gallery
walking past
my table,

every bit as
heaven-sent as
The Bliss of
Canyon Road.

(Photo by Rostyslav Savchyn; UnSplash)

 

Brown Paper Wrapping

I was beyond despair,
descending into
a cesspool of
self-doubt
approaching
the snakery of
self-loathing.

I cried out for
divine deliverance,
and my prayer was
as clear as my breath
that breathed it:

“God,
or whatever Name
You’re using,
I need help
of the Heavenly sort,
wrapped in Power
and tied with
Ribbons of Wisdom
drawn from
The Wells of Eternity,
where there is
no Beginning and
no End.”

Next day
The Man In the Brown Truck
delivered a package.

Inside was
another package,
wrapped in the
plainest brown paper.

Nevertheless,
my Heart was Lit.
I knew I had
my Answer.

I tore with
trembling fingers.

A Gift from
The Creator of
All That Is!

Love, Light, Laughter!

I held it
in my hands
and stared at
my Face
in a mirror.

(Photo by Jess Bailey; UnSplash)

 

Bear Hug

Did you imagine
that Good and Evil
are Enemies?

That in Your
flagrant peccadillos
and frequent follies,
your glaring perfidies
and feckless failures,

You have taken
up the flag
of Love’s Nemesis,

and, wittingly or not,
signed on with
The Devil’s Legions?

Does this haunt You
into the long, dark
hell halls of Fear?

I’m learning to
let Love’s Laughter
chase the Legions
from My Imagination,
like shadows
from scarecrows.

There is nothing but Love!

And the Names
We Deify It with.

And Love loves
to play
Hide and Seek
with Us
when We fear
We have lost It.

It’s an Adventure
that draws
The Map of Love
into every
Corner of the Cosmos,

where Fear
has been hiding,

imagining It was
The Enemy,
when all along
all You needed to do
was embrace It
out of It’s corner,

until Love
sneaks up behind It
and wraps It
in a Bear Hug.

(Photo by Liz Fitch; UnSplash)