Variations On a Theme


 

Variations On a Theme

Early on,
almost as soon as
the Cord joining Me
to My Mother
was snipped,

I was Taught that
though I was Birthed a
Transgressor by Nature,

I could Volunteer for
The Lord’s Army,
and if I
Worshipped and Obeyed
the Commander-In-Chief,
after signing a Confession
to My Crimes, and
if I Obeyed All Orders,

The Commander’s
Firstborn
would take My Place
in The Battle
against Cosmic Evil,

and when He Died,
it would be as if I died,
thereby assuming
The Death Penalty
I had deserved
since Birth.

I have come
to Believe
Reality is
Other than That.

The only
Commander-In-Chief
Is Love,
with a trillion Stars, and

He or She or It
(Pronouns are of
No Consequence)
Runs a Cosmic
Production Company, and

is Eager to Receive
Your all-the-World-is-a
Stageplay.

We Love Creating Scripts, but
We’re also a
Cosmic Acting Troupe,
offering Our Talents
to One Another.

There is only One Condition:
Your Play Must Be
a Variation on the
Love Theme, and

there must be
No Other Conditions.

(Photo by Sean Lee; UnSplash)

Artful Excursions


 

Artful Excursions

The Powers That Be
Conjured
a “God”

They Imagined
Invented a
Rigorous Regimen with

Commandments and Discipline
and Consequences
for Failure
to Follow
Instructions.

What If,
Instead,
“God” Is
Creative Consciousness,
All That Is,
Whose Only Regimen
Is Love

Waiting To Be
Diffracted
Into Endless
Permutations.

Permutations
Devised by
Each of Us

Creators
Invited Into
The Mystery,

Propelled and Carried
by the Vehicles of
Our Imaginations.

Our every Voyage
Expanding the
Boundaries and Depth of
All That Is.

This “God”
Who Delights
In Our
Artful Excursions.

What If?

Imagination’s
Favorite Question.

(Photo by Joshua Earle; UnSplash)

The Awakening


 

The Awakening

I Like to
Think of It
Like This:

You were Born
An Actor.

You’ve Taken Classes
and Auditioned
and Played
Every Part
Offered to You,

but Never
The Characters
You Dreamed About.
Always a Reason
The Role was
Made for Someone Else.

Even though
You Read
The Best Books,
Paid for
The Best Teachers,
Rehearsed Until
Your Mind was
Spinning and
Your Voice was
Breaking and

You Wondered if
You Needed
Counsel to
Stop the Tears.

Then One Day
A Call Came,
A Voice from
Theater of
The Mystery.

Whispering That
The Role of a Lifetime
Is Waiting
For You
to Finally
Show Up.

It’s Been Yours
Since
Your Birth.

It’s Called
The Awakening.

(Photo by Christian Buehner; UnSplash)

Being On a Hike


 

Being On a Hike

So You Agreed to
A Hike.

On a Trail
with more
Arduous
Peaks and Valleys
than a Snake
Draped over an
Accordion.

Even though
“Hiking” doesn’t
make the Top 100
on Your
“Actually Want to Do” List,
at the Top of which is
“Have a Cinnamon Roll
at that Weird Looking
Coffee Shop
with the neon
Unicorn in the Window.”

Then Why
are You
Hiking?

Because You were
Asked to by
The Love of Your Life, or
Your Firstborn Grandchild, or
Your New Neighbor.

Here’s The Thing:

You will Be Tempted to
Let your Pet
Nemesis,
Shame,
come with You,
Walking beside You
Chattering on about
“What’s Wrong With You?
EVERYBODY Loves a
Good Hike.
It’s Nature!”

If You can,
Tell Shame to
“Take a Hike.”
Somewhere Else.

What You
Want to Do,
One Step at a Time, is

Breathe In,
Breathe Out,

Just Be.

On a Hike.

(Photo By Toomas Tartes; UnSplash)

Lineaments of Love


 

Lineaments of Love

A Cadre of Accusers,
in Service to Fear,
Assail You.

Prosecutors,
Accusing You of
Terminal First Degree
Immoral Slackerdom,
in multiple counts.

The Threat is
You will be Convicted,
Your Identity as a
Layabout
Exposed for All
to See.

But Wait …

You are a
Light Being,
on an Adventure of
Experience,
Cloaked In Flesh,
Hiding in
the Assumed Limitations
of Five Senses,
to add Degrees of
Difficulty.

But, when Called Upon,
You can Unveil
The Divine Spark that
Lights You Up,

Shine It in Fear’s Eyes,
Beam Your Self
at Your Tormenters
Until They Flee.

Tell Them
They can Return,
In Fact You’ll
Welcome Them.

But only when
They’re Dressed as
Teachers,
Prepared to
Take an Oath to
Follow the Lesson Plan
You Prepared before
Your Birth,

Exchanging Their
Fearsome Costumes
for Lineaments of
Love.

(Photo by Prateek Gautam; UnSplash)

Lights! Camera! Action!


 

Lights! Camera! Action!

Imagine
You’re a Filmmaker,
a regular Camera Artist,
and You’re Making an
In-Real-Time
cinéma vérité
of Your
Quest

for the Book
of Truth
that drops from
The Shelf
into Your Eager Hands,
The Prophetic Practice
that Propels You
Up The Mountain,
Where You Know
You’ll Find
The Guru
Whose Beatific Smile
is The Harbinger of
The Word
that will

Cause You to
Inhale Heaven
every Time
You draw a Breath.

Imagine
You bring
Your Camera to
the Entrance to
The Cave of Truth.

You aim the
Spotlight at
The Guru
and

It’s You!

Aha!

Are You Ready to
Begin Filming
The Sequel?
Now?
In Real Time?

(Photo by Jakob Owens; UnSplash)

Plus One


 

Plus One

You were Invited
to the Party and
the Invitation
specified You were
Welcome to be
accompanied by
a Companion,
a Plus One.

As Usual,
You had little
Choice
In The Matter.

As You donned
Your favorite
Habiliments,
hoping to Hide
inside zippers,
behind buttons,
beneath bright fabrics,

Fear appeared and
draped Its arms
around Your neck,
Whispering the usual
Warnings.

“Remember,
You have the Right
to Remain Silent,
to look for
Hiding Places,
to slip away from
the Small Talk and
Garrulous
Gratuitous
Chatter.”

But this was not
As Usual.

You peeled Fear
from Your
Sovereign Self.

This Time
Your Plus One
would be
Love,

Grinning at You
in the preparatory Mirror,

Alight with
Devious Designs
to turn
Gratuitous Chatter
into the
Semantics of
Soul Embracing Soul.

(Photo by antenna-ZDN; UnSplash)