May the one who needs to receive hard words be able to receive them when they find him. May that be the prayer and heart of all of us. I dedicate this poem to the one who needs to hear it.
When you find yourself seeing
through squinted eyes, or feel your back fatigued
from bending over, as you listen
to one speaking whom you cannot relate
to or understand, consider this…
You are the sum of your experiences, lacking
compassion where you are blind…
perhaps your eyes might perceive
if you knelt long enough in the dark, alone
weeping,
seeking,
longing
for what you cannot yet grasp-
the sum of it all – Love. Unlimited, unearned, abundant.
Instead you settle for assuming, presuming
what your limited view grants you-
but perhaps if, in that darkness, as you
sought answers to the cause of the tiny chips
in your stone heart, yet unperceived
you might feel the pain of loss beyond
your own small circle…maybe you could even see
suffering through the eyes of God-
weeping, not limited to what only you, yourself weep for,
and then maybe small creatures, those of little significance
in your perception and the unlovely would be
more tolerable to you.
