Upon the Battlements

UPON THE BATTLEMENTS

Grain by grain

The sand doth fall

Building in time

Patience wall

High it reaches

To the sky

Stronger than

Any leverage can ply

Beyond the reach

Of any clock

It stands

As impenetrable rock

Against it

All hopes are dashed

And aspirations, fears and joys

Are smashed

We strive

To patient be

To withstand the storms

Of self and set free

Emotions ebb and flow

But beyond patience wall

They cannot go

In time the lesson

That patience doth give

Is that in detachment

We must live

Wave after wave

The dreams do come

And crash against the wall

And dissolved become

Gain and loss

Do come and go

Bringing deeper in our life

That which we know

Upon the battlements

Of patience we stand

And with detachment

We see

The tableau of life

So grand

-Shiidon, October 2012

Lessons in life come and go.  I find that life is measured in time and time is measured by clocks.  The interesting thought that came to me on my walk is that not all clocks, nor time itself is constant.  My clock is speeding up, my parents clock seems timeless to me and that of my children and granddaughter are racing at a far quicker pace than mine.  In fact my view of work, life and service seem to flow to different measures of time.  It is not unlike being in an uncomfortable situation and seeing time slow down while being with loved ones and that same clock is racing away.

With patience we learn detachment.  With detachment we learn to balance our emotions, hopes and expectations.  We become content with the will of God and not ours.  The fascinating thing I find with patience or detachment is that the more we learn the more there is to learn.  It is an eternal climb that once we reach the apex of the peak another shows itself on the horizon.