I wrote this for a friend, from a dream that moved me deeply
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As I awaken into the dream, I am a lake high in the mountains, newly born from the tears of clouds. Although my form is new, the waters that move within me are as old as time, and their depths are greater than I know. By this I understand that the fountain of my soul is as ancient as time, and that I am a steward of the waters that reflect the glory of life.
Then I see the sky. What is this? I wonder. Vast and deeply beautiful, yet so very far from reach. What is its reason for being? I am honored by its presence and I feel its reflection deep within me, as heaven’s threshold indwelling my heart.
A bird flies overhead; I am enchanted by her graceful glides, her supple dives. Her lofty course is eloquent of the kinship she shares with the sky, and her spirited flight heightens my own longing that she should draw near. Her soaring seems to articulate all the hopes and dreams of life itself. Awareness breaks over me like a wave, inspiring me: So this is the purpose of the sky, to hold our dreams! My spirit flowers with this insight, but it is as nothing before the burst of illumination that follows.
For as the bird begins to sing, I am overwhelmed by splendor that surpasses all the dreams of my soul. Glory that the sky strains to hold issues from her heart and finds its own wings in her song, and I am filled beyond overflowing as wave upon wave of the wordless experience of the Infinite engulf me. Yet in the same moment I know my own utter emptiness more starkly than I can bear, and in the anguish of my heart I cry out for release. For in awe and wonder I see clearly that my earlier understanding of the sky’s purpose was as nothing before the wondrous richness that staggers me now.
Oh Spirit, I pray, How can I hope to reflect all the glory above me, this resplendence that your holy sky can scarcely contain? For the gift of this song has stirred in me more life than I ever knew, but the gentleness of your touch through the song has unraveled my very heart. Though I cannot bear for it to continue, yet I fear the breath of life will leave me as it ends.
As the waves begin to subside, I struggle to find room for breath in my soul. As I search for the still place in my heart, the Spirit reveals to me that the song’s surpassing beauty has arisen from the longing that lives in every heart for the place that men call home, and by this I am given to know that the songbird is searching to find her way.
I know then that if she will contemplate her reflection in my waters, she will see herself through the eyes of my soul, and find the sacred place in her heart that has spoken so deeply to me through her song. For like a mirror I will reflect the holiness that glows within her heart, so that her own eyes may behold it. If she will drink deeply of me, she will taste of the essence that brings new life from every seed. And if she will bathe in my waters, I will comfort her with a touch gentler than she has known, and draw forth her soul from the deepest place. Thus I will show her the truth that lies within, that the wellspring of life, the soul’s origin, is our birthplace and ever our home.
The Spirit then whispers softly to me that, just as the singer can find the depths of her own soul in mine, so with her can my spirit learn to fly. For when she embarks in search of her home as she must, the wind that buoys her wings and sustains her journey will push my droplets from her body and into the air as she soars. So will I be with her in the sky, and there too will I find home, in the midst of the clouds that gave me life.
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