A little prayer I came across today...or...did it come across to me...?

As I was preparing to start the work of  the day, there was this pile of papers that was clamoring for me to put it in the 'file' stack. That means, the stack that will get very close to oblivion, and most certainly, within a long time from now, months maybe, it will be 'touched' again as just a few of its papers make it to yet another file, and the entirety of the remaining stack will end up in the recycle bin.

Well, there was this folded piece of paper, a 'memoir' from a service attended at The Church of the New Covenant, where the Pastor, I believe, is a very special man, rich in life, in joy, and very open to diversity, and community. He also happens to sing choral music, and is very adept at it. Nevertheless, this 'jewel' that follows, was part of a service at CNC some time ago. I share it with gusto: it has a lot of 'humanity' in it.

Here it goes, a poem by Ernesto Barros Cardoso, Brazil:
God of Life,
prepare our hands for a touch
a new and different touch;
prepare our hands for ...
a touch of awakening
a touch of encounter
a touch of compassion
a touch of hope.

Many the worn-out gestures,
many are the movements frozen in time.
Many are the useless excuses.

God, give us daring,
to create new titles of community
new links to affection,
breaking away from the old ways of relating, encouraging true, meaningful ways
to move closer to one another and
thus, to you. amen.

Humanity, yes. Profane, that is, "outside of the temple": yes! Can you imagine our 'old church folk' (some, that is) reacting to these 'touch' words? Asking God for new 'links to affection'? And the blasphemy, sin of sins! - the phrase "moving closer to God as we move closer to one another"? What about as close to...(God forbid!)...the 'illegals'? "Can't be; they violated the law!", I can almost hear the words in rebuke. "And what about...", "And what about...", and the list continues, enumerating every difference imaginable: anyone or anything not "just like me".

And thus one can ask: "So, God is not really 'out there', up there, in Heaven?, but as close as that 'other' person? As close as...you?

Hhhhhmmmmm....

And then, there is the phrase from Stephen Cope, in the book "The Wisdom of Yoga", A Seeker's Guide to Extraordinary Living", which seems to round off the movement initiated by Ernesto in the poem above. As Ernesto asks "to move closer to one another and thus to You", Cope describes the attitude of the "other", as he writes: "This teaching (see link for reference) captures the essence of the yogic view: what we are searching for is also searching for us. The way is to stop. To let ourselves be found. Stand still."

One "goes"; one waits.

Which one am I...being?

Tell me about You.