It is the main problem. There are not enough people in the business. They must be spread too thin. All they can currently do is hold this place, keep it from unraveling in the pressure of all the entanglements the rest of us create all the time, over and over. You cannot recognize the people in the business unless you reach a certain sensitivity but at that precise moment you are pressed into service and must leave the others behind because you are so needed somewhere else to hold this thing together. It slows us all down. After that first meeting, you know you cannot stay this time nor can you ever meet on purpose again. There is no time for that. There is no time to answer your questions. There is no real need in you for the answers anyway.
What you thought you wanted simply does not matter.
The maddening part is this is all in your peripheral vision anyway. You can never be sure if any of it is real.
Meeting The Saint
You walk on water
in your illumination
which visibly shines.
I am struck dumb as I feel
waves of palpable presence.
I know of your own
you could not do this. You ask
and it is given.
That is when you tell
me that should I meet you next
I must turn away.
May 3, 2009 11:20 AM
Contraction
1 week ago
For me there are no saints Christopher.
ReplyDeleteI once met once. He told me nothing.
It is a good post. I liked it.
Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteThere is no need to affirm or deny, of course. The reality remains despite the words. One is confronted in due time or not. God reveals Himself enigmatically and that is so obvious that no further comment is needed. Buddha claimed God is not necessary. This is surely so.
Whether Saints exist is a matter of definition, a matter of heart, a matter of experience, a matter of commitment.
If Saints do not exist then neither do fairies, unicorns, dragons, mages, elves and talking stones. What a diminished world.
I read the name Christopher and instantly I think - saint Christopher, patron saint of travelers and then I see in my mind's eye a child sized drawing of the saint carrying John the Baptist - I think it was _ across the waters.
ReplyDeleteI may be rusty on my biblical facts, but not on my childhood images.
A terrific poem here, Christopher. Thanks.
Elisabeth, the power in words never ceases to amaze me. I am pleased to meet your St. Christopher. In these parts I think he was demoted, no longer a saint, and I found this particularly distressing when I heard that. Then I heard a little while ago that there are some who have resisted this demotion. I am rarely concerned with the status of saints, but when it comes to Christopher, I guess I care. I care partly because of his name but more because I think travelers need a saint. I think I am a traveler.
ReplyDeleteIt is somehow typical in my life that of all the saints, it turns out that Christopher is the one demoted. Hmmmm. Why me, Lord? Because somehow, you just piss me off...
Not enough people in the business! Doesn't it feel so at times? And yet, there are just enough I imagine...not one more, not one less. It is a structure we cannot see, though surely epic. Sad, this turning away aspect, and I bet there's time enough, for a wink.
ReplyDeleteThere is time enough for more than that if you can stand the heartache to come.
ReplyDelete