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Presented in this temple of daily living,
daily, hourly, in every soul we meet,
is the presence of the living God;
the divine made real and whole
before our eyes, in flesh and bones like ours,
in every living woman, man, and child.
It is only with the eyes of faith
that we discern this; only by silencing at last
the little ego that will always have its way,
and see itself at the center of the universe;
only be gazing with the eyes of wisdom
on God’s human presence before us in the Other,
often so cleverly and so beautifully disguised.
No doubt, there was something shining in the eyes
of that poor Jewish infant, so tiny still, which drew
the eyes of Simeon to attraction;
perhaps he glimpsed there a certain wisdom of the ages,
a piercing sword of insight, presented as a glory and a beacon,
a comfort and a challenge to all our human race.
Or perhaps that child simply wailed along
with the rest of them; and in that base commonness
the wise man knew a certain glory:
the glory of God shining yet before him,
especially in these poorest of the poor,
dragging us away from our own complacency
and self-satisfaction with things as they are.
The holy is not always
where we expect to find it.
Yet, the holy is wherever
the years give us wisdom enough
to open our eyes and see it.
The holy occurs whenever
we invite the living God to dwell
within us, every hour of our days.
When we live in that mystery,
and dwell there all our days,
the face of life is changed,
utterly transformed in the light of holy fire.
And we glimpse, at last, what that heavenly child taught:
the Kingdom of God spread out upon the land.
jbs
2/3/04 - 3/25/04 - 4/4/04
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