I see your smile,
how nicely you are put together –
the thought placed in what you present
to the world,
to me.
Underneath it all,
is the secret you keep to yourself.
You could be as finely tuned inside
as you are on the outside,
with a heart wide open –
smoothly pumping,
ready for Life to be born before you,
eager for use and expression.
Or, you could be
broken and faltering,
tired and lumbering along,
with all your systems, heart included,
weakened by the work of Life,
ready to rest,
alone in all your suffering –
even though none of this is revealed
on your surface.
We can bloom and grow in life
or crumble in the living of it.
One wonders at the choices along the way
that shape each path.
It seems to me,
we are like plants deprived of sun and water,
and wither because of it,
the more we live as if
we have no need of God.
I see it at the end –
the weathering or
the glowing
when final breaths are taken –
and I know which path
I choose to take.
Abide with me, precious God,
and continue to show me the way
to live beyond the surface of things.
Radiate through me
from that deep place
that connects me to all there is,
now and forever.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2018
Becoming and Beholding 