The tears of my friend

The tears of my friend

when I can't do nothin'

turns me dumb

His tears pull tears

from the corners of my eyes

staring into Myst'ry

Absorbing his pain

his manhood stripped bare

I attempt to breathe silence

lest noise profane his shame

With platitudes too empty

useless and disdained

I "Uh-huh!" my way to closure

and pray for the return of pride

*There are parts of my psyche that are still at the stage of pre-puberty and adolescents. That may be the case.  In light of that, I must recall that I am "me" this day, this moment and that whatever I decide or not decide is from this "now" and it is in "this moment" that I am responsible, that I love, I sin, I grow, I regress.  The challenge is to live "now", forgive "now", be "now", love "now".

*Our ultimate act of worship is what we do with our lifetime.  Everything that happens to us can enrich that worship or simply be left to the side.

-Klempa

*You have to forgive yourself first for being human because to be human is to have lots of faults; so you have to forgive, and then the love flows in.

-Marion Woodman

*Reflections from of Alan Jones:

  -The more we question and probe the more we need to be rooted in a community.

  -"...beyond the fiftieth gate there is not only the abyss but also faith - and they are next to each other..."  And the Rebbe brought his disciple back to his people - and back to himself. (from a Hasidic story)

  -I've told you. You fell in love.  That's a start, but it's only a start.  Falling in love is egoism, it's being obsessesd by images  and being consoled by them, images of the beloved, images of oneself.  It's the greatest pain and the greatest paradox of all, that personal love has to break at some point, the ego has to break, something absolutely natural and seemingly good, seemingly perhaps the only good, has to be given up.  After that there's darkness and silence and space.  And God is there.  Remember St. John of the Cross.  Where the images end you fall into the abyss, but it is the abyss of faith.  When you have nothing left you have nothing left but hope...The point is, one will never get to the bottom of it, never, never, never.  And that never, never, never, is what you must take for your hope and your shield and your most glorious promise.  Everything we concoct about God is an illusion. (from Iris Murdoch)