Friends

Each days dawns bright and new with possibility

each morning we are blessed and challenged

by the extraordinary mantra called “what if?”

We rise and map out dreams and visions step by step

like children looking for that perfect place

that perfect stone

that perfect tree

that perfect chestnut

meant to dangle like bald hope

from the promise of a dusty shoe strring;

and while playing games like hide and seek, or perhaps just love

we run around and try to find the most perfect place

to hide our heart.

Because no one ever said the way was soft

no one ever said there would be roses without thorns

and we know that everyday can become

a shadow of what might have been.

But friends stand out like milestones

or like crossroads on the path

that mark the turning points of life.

They gift us with the awesome task of truth

yet pour warm oil on our sore and gaping wounds.

Friends mirror the depth of soul we dare expose

and can show us truths about ourselves we cannot see.

They bless us when they graciously forgive

and once again when they judiciously forget what they have seen

Patricia Bush

Butterfly Madness by Gary Rosenberg

The Master’s Prayer

O PARVARDIGAR, the Preserver and Protector of All.

You are without Beginning and without End;Non-dual, beyond Comparison;
and none can measure You,
You are without color, without expression,
Without form and without attributes,
You are unlimited and unfathomable, beyond imagination
and conception; eternal and imperishable.
You are indivisible; and none can see You, but eyes Divine.
You are always were. You always are, and You always will be;
You are everywhere, You are in everything;
And You are also beyond everywhere and beyond everything.
You are a firmament and in the depths,
You are manifest and unmanifest;
on all Planes and beyond all planes.
You are in the three worlds, and also beyond the three worlds;
You are imperceptible and independent,
You are the Creator, the Lord of Lords
and knower of all minds and hearts;
You are Omnipotent and omnipresent.
You are knowledge Infinite, Power Infinite and bliss Infinite.
You are the Ocean of knowledge, All-knowing,
Infinitely-Knowing; and Knower of the past, the present and the future,
and You are knowledge itself.
You are all merciful and eternally benevolent;
You are the Soul of the souls, the one with Infinite attributes;
You are the Trinity of Truth, Knowledge and Bliss;
You are the Source of Truth, the Ocean of Love.
You are the Ancient One, the Highest of the High;
You are Prabhu and Parmeshwar;
You are the Beyond-God and
Beyond- Beyond-God also;
You are Parabrahma; Allah; Elahi; Yezdan;
Ahuramazda; and God the Beloved.
You are named Ezad: that is Only one worthy of worship.
–Meher Baba.

AT THE CROSSROADS….HELLO AGAIN…

A lovely friend in India whom I trust has suggested that I start writing a blog to share my thoughts and so I have decided to re-activate this account and offer what I can of my musings and experience.  Some of you have followed me over the years and know that I am committed to exploring  spirituality  in its many different manifestations.

I have studied world religions since I was a child, and have taken that interest to the point of pursuing and completing a Master’s degree in Religious Studies. In no way would I consider myself a dabbler… far from it. I love the ritual and language and scents and images of religion generally. I am a smells and bells kind of person. I am what some people refer to as  “god-bothered”  and how that most often expresses itself  in my personal life is through creating poetry, ritual, and art.

I want this blog to be a place where I question and explore and share all these different paths and parts of who I am.

I cordially invite you to come along and share the journey with me.