ADVICE TO A YOUNG POET
BY NOEL MONAHAN
Break the lock on the field gate
Avoid the muck-worms at the gap
Abandon old visions you have of yourself:
Self pity in the face of a terrible God
The tribe of ghosts constantly shouting.
Get to meet God’s strange people living there:
The silenced priest, the lost child . . .
Stay in the field with its mysteries
Sift through the grass with the brown hare
Listen to the hills clapping hands,
Crab apples dropping into the ditch.
If you remain long enough
You’ll feel the warmth of a candle burning inside you,
The blur of its flame constantly changing.
Avoid the muck-worms at the gap
Abandon old visions you have of yourself:
Self pity in the face of a terrible God
The tribe of ghosts constantly shouting.
Get to meet God’s strange people living there:
The silenced priest, the lost child . . .
Stay in the field with its mysteries
Sift through the grass with the brown hare
Listen to the hills clapping hands,
Crab apples dropping into the ditch.
If you remain long enough
You’ll feel the warmth of a candle burning inside you,
The blur of its flame constantly changing.
I like this poem and it made me wonder what would be the advice I would give to Old Poets? As an old poet myself, I should have something to offer.
Like the young poet, I have come to understand that creativity is a gift from GOD. It is the large aspect of God's Divine Mission--He created everything. And our souls give each of us a small piece of that creativity. That is the basis of my strong belief in the creative power of every human being. The only thing that we can do wrong with our talent is to bury it--hide it under a lamp. We must bring what we have to bring to the table of life.
Like the young poet, I have come to understand that creativity is a gift from GOD. It is the large aspect of God's Divine Mission--He created everything. And our souls give each of us a small piece of that creativity. That is the basis of my strong belief in the creative power of every human being. The only thing that we can do wrong with our talent is to bury it--hide it under a lamp. We must bring what we have to bring to the table of life.
I had a dream about heaven last night that I want to share with you today. Don't get me wrong, I was not there to stay. No, I wasn't there to stay; I was just there as a census taker.
I was wandering the golden streets counting and looking for friends. Most people there were clearly Muslims. There was a large group of Buddhists and a very small tribe of Christians. It did not scare me; it sort of amused me.
When I woke I thought maybe the dream was a warning that although Christ came to save everyone, not enough Christians have taken up his teaching seriously in all its radical simplicity.
He repeated it to each one he called,
"Leave everything you have and
follow me." He said it; we read it but we did not get it. Why? Because on some level we like our material goods too much.
I was wandering the golden streets counting and looking for friends. Most people there were clearly Muslims. There was a large group of Buddhists and a very small tribe of Christians. It did not scare me; it sort of amused me.
When I woke I thought maybe the dream was a warning that although Christ came to save everyone, not enough Christians have taken up his teaching seriously in all its radical simplicity.
He repeated it to each one he called,
"Leave everything you have and
follow me." He said it; we read it but we did not get it. Why? Because on some level we like our material goods too much.
Maybe this dream is also a result of the fact that I have been reading the listing of the 99 Attributes of God that is part of Islam.
Daily I look at the attributes and I have never finished all 99 in one reading.
Why? Because I am caught by one of them and am a little surprised by it and then I feel the rightness of it. And I feel something in me relax and expand. Yes, I think this is an attribute that I have not thought about before. And I stay there and think some more about this attribute that shows me another facet of the Infinite Beauty of God.
One of the great gifts of Islam to the world is its unrelenting focus on the greatness of God and the way that everything is in the Hands of God.
IT makes ALLAH a bit remote and distant; especially to us Christians who prefer the image of a Baby in a manger--so lovable and not scary. But keeping the focus on the greatness of ALLAH also reassures us that Allah is in charge.
ISLAM teaches that mankind is actually too puny to alter the course of the Divine Will and of the Human Destiny that Will has provided for us all.
That same Truth is embedded in the one prayer that Jesus taught mankind in the Our Father
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Daily I look at the attributes and I have never finished all 99 in one reading.
Why? Because I am caught by one of them and am a little surprised by it and then I feel the rightness of it. And I feel something in me relax and expand. Yes, I think this is an attribute that I have not thought about before. And I stay there and think some more about this attribute that shows me another facet of the Infinite Beauty of God.
One of the great gifts of Islam to the world is its unrelenting focus on the greatness of God and the way that everything is in the Hands of God.
IT makes ALLAH a bit remote and distant; especially to us Christians who prefer the image of a Baby in a manger--so lovable and not scary. But keeping the focus on the greatness of ALLAH also reassures us that Allah is in charge.
ISLAM teaches that mankind is actually too puny to alter the course of the Divine Will and of the Human Destiny that Will has provided for us all.
That same Truth is embedded in the one prayer that Jesus taught mankind in the Our Father
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
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