![]() If hope rises with the sun, where must it descend for its complete actualization? Listen to this story... There is a dinner party. It is quiet, for The Poet has just arrived: the One for whom the party is given... for the host is hoping for a word... The Poet is taken to the place of honor and the meal is ready to be served... Rising when the servants enter, The Poet assists them in distributing the food amongst all the guests: and then makes room at each table for the servants to sit and eat as if they too were honored guests... while he continues back and forth from the Kitchen... Finally, he is cajoled into sitting and eating... As The Poet does, the servants hastily leave their places and gather around him, radiant in the glow of fire-light and adoration... A woman comes out from the shadows, she quickly pours oil upon the feet of The Poet, massaging it deep into the caverns of his desert skin... and finally she dries his feet with her hair... The Poet adores her, caresses her with his eyes, and humbly mingles his tears with hers as they steadily gaze into each others eyes... no words are spoken... yet the host recognizes another perfect Poem has been written upon the hearts of everyone present... Some days later, The Poet learns of the death of his beloved Friend, Lazarus... Too late for the burial, The Poet arrives to kneel upon the rough rock before the tomb of his Friend... and then Mystery opens the tomb... ...Perhaps you might want to finish telling the story for yourself? You might know the version recorded in the Testament of Yeshua... But, what is the point of the story? Perhaps the point is really not about "a miracle" proving something or other: but rather the stunning invitation to embrace a mind-shattering truth: "Hope rises with the sun, but unless it descends into your very DNA and effects a total transformation in your being -- it is not yet really and truly hope -- for genuine hope is always a miracle"... You see, everyone is tempted to dilly-dally forever on the edges of "spiritual transformation" -- perhaps dipping their toes in those waters, but steadily refusing complete immersion. Unless one accepts, though, the sacred opportunity as it is given and presented by each moment of breath to surrender to the Only One, One Love -- all the way down into the "cave of our annihilation" (following the path of Lazarus...) -- and allow the Holy One to reconstruct our DNA into the Resurrection of a total-love-identification with One... we have not yet begun to live... Deeply encoded in our DNA, in the core of our very being, is: Shh... our Divine Secret, the Name the Holy One will call out to us to lead us forth from the "cave of our annihilation" -- (that could be our death, or that could be on the "Last Day"...) But then again, as The Poet dreams, it could be the "First Day", or tomorrow, or yesterday, or even one minute from now... The point is: "Hope is the Eternal Manifestation of Surrender", just as "Surrender is the Cave of Wonders"... We "surrender" as we live: surrender is the soup on the stove, ready to be freely shared, surrender is organizing for justice, surrender is flying a kite with neighborhood children, surrender is life-style changes for the stewardship of the Planet, surrender is forgiveness and the end of making and selling of weapons, surrender is a conversation with your beloved (in which the Holy Competition is for who listens more deeply), surrender is the daily practices of kindness and beauty... on and on: each "little practice", in imitation of Mary caressing the feet of Yeshua, carries one ever deeper into readiness for our personal and Planetary "Lazarus Moment": this is what YOU were created for! Comments are closed.
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AuthorRobert Daniel Smith was privileged to serve the homeless and marginalized for 30 years in California. He is living now almost within shouting distance of the Twin Cities. He is a poet, artist, writer, and long-time Companion of the Way still dreaming... Archives
May 2022
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