Didn't I Say?

Didn't I say, "Don't go there; I am
   your friend.
In this mirage of existence, I am the
   fountain of life."
Even if your anger takes you
a hundred thousand years away,
in the end you will return, for I am
   your goal.
Didn't I say, "Don't be content with
   earthly forms;
I am the designer of the intimate
   chamber of your contentment."
Didn't I say, "I am the sea, and you are a
   single fish;
don't strand yourself on dry land; I am
   your clear sea."
Didn't I say, "Don't get caught
in the trap like a helpless bird;
I am the power of flight -- your feet and
   your wings."
Didn't I say, "They will waylay you and
   make you cold;
I am the fire and your warm desire."
Didn't I say, "They will implant their
   qualities in you
until you forget that the best qualities
   are here."
Didn't I say, "You do not know from
   what direction
your affairs are put in order."
I am the Creator beyond directions.
If light is in your heart, find your
   way home.
If you are of God, know your
   Benefactor.
                  -Rumi (trans. Helminski)

i thank you God for most this amazing

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

--ee cummings

Mary Oliver reads "The Summer Day" (aka "The Grasshopper")

Today in church I had a Religious Experience

I am
a spiritual being having an
in-body experience
transmitting and receiving
music and language
vibrations on a Sunday morning.
The divine is in the details
the way the words string together
sounds tell a story
and today
hearing aid feedback
shimmers in the air
and becomes a sacrament.

My First Night as a UCC Youth Leader

Last night I hosted the first Youth Group meeting at my church, with the help of my wonderful co-coordinator. I can't speak for the others, but I had so much fun! There were 3 youth and 2 leaders and even with numbers that small it was very animated. 


I opened with a recording of a dramatic reading of this poem by William Blake:


 I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen;
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And ‘Thou shalt not’ writ over the door;
So I turned to the Garden of Love
That so many sweet flowers bore.

And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tombstones where flowers should be;
And Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys & desires.

It got a fairly lukewarm response from the youth (they found it creepy) but we did briefly discuss the main idea of the poem before I gave them their assignment which was to re-write the ten commandments in positive terms. Here is what they came up with:

1. Thou shall love thy neighbour.

2. Thou shall worship only me [God]

3. Thou shall let others live

4. Thou shall be loyal 2 thy partner

5. Thou shall respect thy parents always

6.Thou shall be honest

7.Thou shall only want what you have

8. Thou shall relax on Sunday

9. Thou shall always take responsibility

10. Thou shall speak clearly

I particularly like the juxtaposition of "2" and "thy" in number 4. They wrote out "to" in the good copy, but there was something that really tickled me about the use of a sort of technological/texting/modern shorthand ("2") and the kind of archaic, historical use of the word "thy".

After the assignment we had snacks, chatted and played a bit of air hockey. We brainstormed some ideas for activities that we will do as a group, so we already have done most of the planning up to the end of November. Amazing. I am filled with wonder and gratitude for the gifts and uniqueness of everyone involved with this group. 

      I have felt
      A presence that disturbs me with the joy
      Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
      Of something far more deeply interfused,
      Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
      And the round ocean and the living air,
      And the blue sky, and in the mind of man;
      A motion and a spirit, that impels                             
      All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
      And rolls through all things. 

                                                      -Wordsworth