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