Once upon
a warm summer’s day
I was sent forth with an assignment-
“Seek stillness!” the gentle command.
And so I ventured out-
The budding contemplative,
to a place where I sat observing a distant mountain
Blue-gray in the mid-morning haze.
I closed my eyes.
Breathing deeply over and over,
suspending all thought,
and staying….put, within my wandering mind.
Time, twisted ’round upon itself,
became a slowly unraveling braid
My spirit softened in this quiet space,
and lo, wordlessly I prayed….
Feeling very deeply satisfied,
I arose to return to the fold,
yet wandering past
A mound of purple sage
was arrested by a mystery untold
“Come closer, come closer”
No voice was heard to say
Yet communicated nevertheless
In some strange unfathomable way.
Alive, alive, yes, teeming with life!
Yet silent, so silent and still.
By invitation I peered
curiously into a perfect universe
overlooked on a windswept hill.
The canticle of the bees drew me close
As in communion they toiled interspersed
I marveled at their business yet prefect stillness,
both Mary and Martha in their work
Nature is the perfect prototype
of the sacred rhythm of life
She needs no reminders, no assignations
to overcome a sense of separateness from the Divine
That day I became one with my bee brethren
Alone on windy hill-
and will forever be reminded of their canticle
Sacred, silent and still