If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. -- John 15:7
Often prayer can seem a hope dim,
Relegated to last resorts,
Knowing God, if He might be real,
Could never feel my human fear.
But the things I love long to seek:
Liberty, justice, joy, and truth,
Are the dreams of God manifest
Upon the sphere, in hearts broken
Open, to light a wick or two,
And laugh at the empty darkness,
And, in endless hope, ascend.
God does dream, though never asleep,
His waking dream becomes His sheep
Who hear the Shepherd calling deep,
And following, His dream they keep.
The things that we desire and hope for are from God. Sometimes those things are distorted and perverted by minds darkened and twisted themselves. Evil is without substance, empty and vain. It is only when it clothes itself in an illusion of good that it has any attraction for us. Evil offers us good but in an evil way. Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride all purport to offer us the satisfaction, peace, contentment, joy, honor, and fulfillment that can come only from righteousness. If the Good that God wants to pour into us then to pour out of us has to be filtered through such unholiness, it becomes defiled. The Source, however, remains pure, always.
The first step in prayer is pushing away the filters of diseased worldly thinking, which most of have to one degree or another, and returning to that Source. When we seek the good in our own lives and in the lives of others, we are seeking God's pure and perfect will. Our Father is not in the business of denying His children anything that is good for them.
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:11-13)
The Holy Spirit is that pure and undefiled Source. Through the Spirit we are able to pray in truth and holiness, undeceived and undisturbed by "the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions". We bypass our own muddied, muddled thinking to pray with clarity and certainty. By the intercession of the Holy Spirit within us, we are transmitting God's will for ourselves and for His kingdom back to Him in an endless, unbroken, fertile cycle like the rain rising from the sea to return to the sea having brought its life-giving and life-sustaining blessings.
6 comments:
Nice poem.
Thank you.
I am a poet in the same sense that I am a carpenter, that is, I know how to use a square and a level. Other than that, it's all in fun.
"Evil ... It is only when it clothes itself in an illusion of good that it has any attraction for us."
That is an excellent observation.
And a good poem as John said.
With prayer, much of its purpose with me seems to help me clarify what I'm truly asking for. What I think I want is often superficial to the deeper hidden thing.
As say, an alcoholic does really want alcohol. He wants peace, I think. Peace with what?
Me too.
I mean, "... alcoholic does NOT really want alcohol ..."
That's true. I drank just to have a good time and when it got to the point where it wasn't fun, I quit. No, AA or whatever. Alcohol never struck me as particularly addicting. Once in a while, on a hot day, I'll think it sure would be nice to have a good, cold beer, but I'm just as happy with a coke.
My daughter, on the other hand, could not handle conflict and confrontation. Alcohol to her became a way to avoid confrontations. She was a very responsible person -- like her mother, she was always "in charge". But the conflict that attitude brought on was hard for her. Alcohol provided an easy fix.
The "shortcut", the easy way out is almost always wrong.
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