Intersect

There is a place called by many names: Shangri-La, Nirvana, Enlightenment, Transcendence, Heaven. And while people have searched for it since memories began, it does not exist at the top of an ancient mountain, or just beyond a hidden valley. Nirvana lives deep within our souls, and it is discovered not by traveling great distances around the globe, but by taking the first small steps toward self-realization. Do not be fooled! The path is difficult, and most of us will spend many lifetimes before we take even those first small steps. But at some point, we will hear a voice whispering gently with a tone so melodious we weep uncontrollably— for we recognize the sound as perfect love. At some point, if we are seeking even cursorily, we will feel a tap on our shoulder, and turning to see who is there, we suddenly realize we have been tapped by God, awakened, and the world will never look the same. These are our first intimate moments with you, our God, whose sweet, compassionate voice wel...

It seems to me that one of the major storylines weaving throughout the Bible is about just how often we human beings mess up. The book has even been assembled so that, pretty much as soon as humans enter the scene, we manage to screw up our perfect existence in paradise with God completely. Temptation rears its ugly head and, well, it's pretty much all downhill from there. Consequently, we’re told we’ve been “forced” to leave what is described as a place of calm and beauty, where all creatures live in harmony, where there is no shame, no fear. Humans. Give us something beautiful and we’ll do our best to obliterate it. Am I right? As the stories in the Bible progress, we’re introduced to character after character who has, in one way or another, made a total mess of their lives. Moses kills an Egyptian taskmaster, then covers up the murder and leaves Egypt under an assumed identity to begin an entirely new life. Moses messed up. There’s King David who, while God constantly leans on...

Holy and Eternal  God of endless and unrestricted affection, I want you to know that I am  astonished  by your presence. When I stop to think about how deeply you have dived into my human being, I weep tears of joyful thanks. I lift my arms to the sun and let you wash over me, bathing me in the electric light of endless energy that renews my spirit and cleanses my soul. You provide me comfort, O God, in my times of deepest pain and unbearable suffering. You encourage me when my too many fears paralyze me into  apathy and inaction. You embrace my tears, my joy, my best attempts and my most heinous failures. My every imperfection and blemish is eradicated when you enfold me. And here, safe in your loving arms, I realize you’ve been holding me all along. You never leave me— it is I who forget to find you where you always are and always will be: the very center of my soul. My fits of rage an...