Returning Home

RETURNING HOME

When I know not

What to do

I reach out

And call to You

Though I pray

Each and every day

Tis not the same

As in this way

I speak to You

Every night

Unburdening,

My every plight

The questions are moot

The prayers go on

The stress acute

Yet I continue

In my pursuit

When I look

At the world around

I find that strife

And pain abound

Countless souls

In tests awash

And hope seems

To be mercilessly squashed

I can’t help but think

That as I approach

My limits brink

There is a meaning

Towards which I’m leaning

And only with time

Am I gleaning

One can say

The oasis is inviting

That tis designed

To be exciting

That being out

In the desert, dry

Makes us in longing cry

And run towards You, or die

But what I now see

Is more of how

We are to be

Tis us who

Have our source forsaken

And for empty promises

Our leave taken

And walked away

From our life’s source

Eventually, one by one

We come to see

What we have done

And with humility

We turn around

And find ourselves

On new ground

The realization, profound

Person by person

We turn this way

And seek towards oneness

Without delay

And eventually in time

We will all strive

Towards the divine

We are not going

To something new

But towards

What we once eschewed

For now the troubles,

I do bear

For of the endgame

I am aware

And eventually in this

We will all share

So my friend

Your burden is mine

And theirs are ours

And so it goes

As this awareness grows

We lessen the burden of all

When together

We heed His call

And eventually, peace

Will descend upon all

-Shiidon, April 2011

Well, lots going on and then again nothing new. There is a silence. The phone is quiet, the email conversations have been replaced by the monologue of Facebook. The space is filled with contemplation, reflection and service. What else is there? I had a very difficult week last week as all three of my children were going through difficulties of their own. My parents, brother his fiancée and my daughter were chased off of their mountain by an uncontrolled fire that missed them only because of the chance direction of wind. A profound sadness over the tests to come for a beloved family member. It brought to me this poem. A thought that we all have burdens and that the world is going through much. If only we helped each other more, it could be different. I believe it will. However, we still have much to go through before we realize that our neighbors problem is our own. That turning a blind eye to the suffering of others is no longer tolerable. What I find interesting is that, when viewed this way, I don't feel so alone in the various tests that seem to pop up from time to time.