From The Ragged-Man's Gospel
(A New Little Flowers of St. Francis + Handbook for the Modern Mystic-Activist)
The Awakening of the Ragged-Man
I awoke, wandered, and slept again.
But this time, in the silence of a forest.
Alone, I knelt in adoration.
All around me was beauty:
beneath me, above me, even within me.
I adored and cried and adored some more,
until I was empty or full,
I'm not really sure which.
I stood, and as I was standing ready to move,
the roots of this ancient tree
penetrated the soles of my feet,
growing upward through my legs,
circling my groin,
up through my gut and stomach,
through my chest,
and branching out of the top of my head.
Water and minerals from the soil
likewise began their ascent.
My soul became earth
and the earth became the life of my life
and my adoration was no longer
"out there" and "separate",
but everywhere and within everything
at every single passing moment.
The rocks around me
began to breathe and pulse with life.
The birds sang in some language
I knew I wanted to learn.
The frogs, rabbits, goats,
and all manner of beings and things
gathered around me.
Wolves, too, joined in our inter-being
conference.
The Sun dipped low in the sky
and taught a circling movement of dance.
The wind and cloud and leaves
were as the finest of musicians
and the sound that we all made,
and the love that passed between us,
exploded my head,
the pieces of which became stars in the night.
I had ceased to exist
by coming to life
in everyone and in all things.
My heart, too, shattered.
The pain and suffering of all who hurt
became my pain and suffering.
I would eventually walk again,
bearing though, all the pain of this world.
For the gift of the Tree
was the sure knowing
that I would become Christ Crucified
for Love, for Love, for endless infinite Love
for the least and for all...
Such was the moment
of my re-birth... now
Onward!
But this time, in the silence of a forest.
Alone, I knelt in adoration.
All around me was beauty:
beneath me, above me, even within me.
I adored and cried and adored some more,
until I was empty or full,
I'm not really sure which.
I stood, and as I was standing ready to move,
the roots of this ancient tree
penetrated the soles of my feet,
growing upward through my legs,
circling my groin,
up through my gut and stomach,
through my chest,
and branching out of the top of my head.
Water and minerals from the soil
likewise began their ascent.
My soul became earth
and the earth became the life of my life
and my adoration was no longer
"out there" and "separate",
but everywhere and within everything
at every single passing moment.
The rocks around me
began to breathe and pulse with life.
The birds sang in some language
I knew I wanted to learn.
The frogs, rabbits, goats,
and all manner of beings and things
gathered around me.
Wolves, too, joined in our inter-being
conference.
The Sun dipped low in the sky
and taught a circling movement of dance.
The wind and cloud and leaves
were as the finest of musicians
and the sound that we all made,
and the love that passed between us,
exploded my head,
the pieces of which became stars in the night.
I had ceased to exist
by coming to life
in everyone and in all things.
My heart, too, shattered.
The pain and suffering of all who hurt
became my pain and suffering.
I would eventually walk again,
bearing though, all the pain of this world.
For the gift of the Tree
was the sure knowing
that I would become Christ Crucified
for Love, for Love, for endless infinite Love
for the least and for all...
Such was the moment
of my re-birth... now
Onward!