View from the Hill

For the last two days, I have been on an individual guided retreat at Holland House. The poem below was written while I was there ...

“You yourself are what you are seeking”.

A living manifestation of God – She is in all things.

God is in me – I am made in His image –

perfect and complete.

The whole universe is sacred.

Outside my window, a butterfly

browses among the sun-warmed flowers.

She too is a manifestation

of the Divine in creation.

But she regrets not the past,

nor has any care for the future,

She just does her thing,

flitting from flower to flower,

gaining sustenance for her present need.

Because of her, they will germinate

and seed – giving life to a new generation.

All of creation is interdependent.

It is only we, in our human arrogance,

who try to live outside this flow of life,

between God and the rest of creation.

The wise among us will “go with the flow”,

living in present awareness

of our part in the Circle of Life.

We could learn from the animals.

A dog, out for a walk with his master,

is only aware of present pleasures:

the feel of the earth under his paws;

the sights and smells and sounds

around him, and his perfect contentment

in spending time with the one he loves.

If the man is wise, his sensations

will be the same. But probably,

he will be “walking sightless among miracles”,

his mind on other matters.

God is manifest in the world

and in ourselves. If we pay attention,

How could we not love Him

“with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength”?

Wake up and smell the roses!