Dear God
I walked down the path To visit You in the garden Where You and I Became friends
But the road was much longer Than I remembered The pathway snarled and Darkened, I stumbled
I called out but There was no answer Just an echo of the past Silence
I came upon our garden And found it perishing You were not there But contenders filled Your space
They blocked my way And surrounded me as comrades As if they knew me Friends by association
Peering closely thru the gloom Faces, one by one revealed I recognized them My heart frozen, confused
Why are you here, in my garden Because you brought us here Was the gleeful reply With cheers all around
My mind raced Through memories Marking off choices Made through the years
The leader stepped out Santa Claus was his name Good will and gentleness Was his game
You embraced us in your spirit Integrating us into your life Inviting us in, to live and Steal the hearts of your children
And I bowed my head In shame For I knew He spoke the truth
Little by little Santa, Halloween, Easter And many more worldly icons Had found a place in my life
Innocent things I so believed Until now, when My true love cannot be found
All these possessions That filled the place That My Father did Until
There was no more room For Him In the Inn And in our garden
My forgotten garden Left for wild seeds To grow unattended Smothering eternity
How could I have Abandoned You And, yet I did For the love of the world
So subtle, so clever The magnitude of evil That I have suffered Your loss And didn't even know it
But, Mercy and Grace Gather around me Perforating my soul with The winds of knowledge
Pressing me to return Because You are my God My matrix of Light and Love To deliver me
From time without Light To restore our Private communion And love affair
Return me O Father To the ancient way Forgive my deviation from You and Restore Yourself to our garden
Then He whispers Remember That evil always begins With a kiss...
10.17.10