Dear Ananda,
Please forgive my presumption. But I have been having experiences that I feel echo with your same, inquisitive sentiment.
Years ago, I was friends with a beautiful Russian woman. One sunny afternoon, we sat by a fountain in a city park. She confessed her attraction to me, and we discussed the idea of Beauty. Walking back inside, she pointed to a cockroach on the pavement and said “If I didn’t know what it was, I would say it’s beautiful.”
I’ve had a lot of time to try to digest her moment of clear wisdom.
About a year ago, I let some Jehovah’s Witnesses into my mom’s house. I had never done so before. I would usually tell them I was atheist and coldly send them away. I had found a steely satisfaction in doing that.
I spoke with them, a married couple, and I related a biblical passage I had recently stumbled upon: “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). It turns out I was quoting Satan. I had been wondering why it says “good
and evil” instead of “good
from evil.” Whatever divine essence runs through us must illuminate both as ultimately One.
I asked these two how they felt about God’s being in us. The man clearly pointed out that they did not believe God to be “in them.” He reiterated that God is Word as the scripture. The woman, however, seemed more fascinated. I told them I had no need or desire to speak of beliefs. He asked me why that is the case. I gestured around me and said, “this.” He asked what “this” was. But the woman ventured a curious guess: “Life?” I nodded.
My mind is lauding itself by presenting these events as a track record.
Why are the adversary’s lies recounted in the Word of the Lord? There is some value in them as an expression. After all, as cunning as mind is, haven’t we deceived even ourselves? So too, as He lives in us as spirit, our spirit lives in Him and as Him. This is not a matter of logical implication or any sort of justification. It is a matter of living as expressions of His divine love. That is the miracle of true poetry all around us and within us!
My rhetoric is empty as hollow jars, smashed by dear Jeremiah at the gates.
Still, it cries out.
A Thank YouI told friends I have never met
That I love them.
So, now what? I’ll wait.
No—I’ll listen.
And I saw the face of a child,
Smiling, her eyes bright like gems.
The ones that are in all of us.
Thank you.
(left for grumpy a waitress)
God SpeaksGod speaks to me.
His messages are clear.
I hear them in smiling
Laughter of children.
I speak to God.
Through my teeth.
For they exist
To shape my voice.
I see God,
The Beloved,
In my eyes,
And in yours.
(true story)
Thank you, everyone.
![[3]](http://www.aypsite.com/plus-forum/Smileys/akyhne/heart.gif "Heart")
