Now there was a great wind…
but God was not in the wind;
and after the wind an earthquake,
but God was not in the earthquake;
and after the earthquake a fire,
but God was not in the fire;
and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
—1 Kings 19.11-12
In roar of rush and tumble
whitewater-frantic traffic,
tangled in there,
a whisper;
in life bent wrong,
in rusty knife-edged days
cutting deep and rough,
a murmur;
in empty, looted places,
long hope-starved roads,
not separate from them,
in wrecks and ruins and regrets
a sigh,
not much, I know,
since even my mildest voice
shatters planets, flattens suns,
but in temple-deep silence
at the root of your thickest pain
enough to be distinct
from noise or nothing,
neither shouting nor a closed eye:
a wordless syllable, slight, and yet
enough to have created light,
enough to let you know
I’m trying to let you know
I’m here.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
—June 24, 2019