The Divine Light of the Soul

We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are the shining parts, is the soul. From within or from behind a light shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all.

                                                                      -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

    From here on this will be the theme of my blog--the soul, and the Divine Light which shines out from that secret Source deep within us and within all Creation. Nothing is more important now than our reawakening to this Mystery, which has been at the core of ancient spiritual wisdom throughout the ages.

    Our world is in a shambles. We've lost our bearings and we're heading for disaster. The causes seem infinitely complex and dauntingly intractable. But the roots of all the reasons lead back down to one essential truth--our secular, materialistic, uber-competitive, ultra-comsuming, hyper-individualistic, technology-obsessed, drastically atomized society has lost its soul. The oneness, community, compassion, cooperation, dialogue, understanding and commitment which only a communion of souls can create, increasingly are shunted aside by the division, selfishness, indifference, alienation, conflict, ignorance and irresponsibility which inevitably result when that soul connection is destroyed.

       But I don't want to harp on the negative. Unless you're sleepwalking through each day, you need no further reminders. What we all need desperately to be reminded of however, is the alternative--that Divine Light of the Soul which suffers such chronic eclipse because virtually all the energies and influences to which we're exposed every hour drag us away from our own spiritual center and addict us instead to smoke and mirrors, fears and illusions, desires and possessions. To counteract such deadly hypnosis, this blog now offers an oasis of light, a beacon of soul. 

       At least once a week, usually on Tuesday, I'll be posting an inspiring quotation; a prose commentary based on it; one or two of my own spiritual poems; maybe a poem I admire by someone else, and occasionally an artwork as well. With all the creative power I have, I want to stand up and speak out for the Universal Soul, the Divine Light, the Holy Source of all I am, all you are, all that is.

              HOLY COMMUNION

all at once I was there      the Presence

a  torrent of ecstasy seamlessly pitched

beyond our range of hearing    a Light

too blindingly pure--unseeable by eyes

I don't know why it descended on me

abruptly   out of nowhere   everywhere

splitting me open like a milkweed pod

piercing straight to my defenseless soul

snowy seeds of awe and pain    rapture

and longing   spilled into the drastic air

they're numberless   the names of God

who can say one's right   one's wrong?

each is born from ravished awakening!

the name that now    unerringly struck

transfixing me, was this: Infinity Holy

I felt this loved this died this knew this

This is what I am   you are   everything

no matter how outrageously we forget

I wept at human folly     the difference

between how we live and what we are

                         ***

Lo, "I am with you always,"

means when you look for God,

God is in the look of your eyes,

in the thought of looking,

nearer to you than yourself,

or things that have happened to you.

There is no need to go outside.

Be melting snow.

Wash yourself with yourself.

                               -- Rumi