I was talking to a couple of Jehovah Witnesses and I asked them where God was. The older of the couple looked upwards and made a gesture with his hands, again upwards. He did this without thinking, and then tried to give me another answer.
Wondering where God is, first puzzled me when in my teens. At the time I thought I had the answer and wrote a poem about it - a poor poem I might add, but despite my embarrassment here it is.
The Search
I've looked everywhere to see your face,
To feel the glow of your grace.
I've searched all the countries far and wide,
Delved everywhere looking from each side.
I've mingled with the Church congregation
Of this and every other nation.
But still my soul it felt alone,
Until I found by chance your home.
I looked within and there I saw
The open entrance to your door.
For I am you and your are me.
Not only the blind cannot see.
Okay, I said it wasn't very good! But I think, by chance, I had hit the right note, even if a bit out of tune. What made me think about all of this was because of the Jehovah Witnesses reaction to my question, and also because shortly after the visit I opened a book by chance - as I often do - and came across the following,
"... the brain can only answer barren words, whereas the spirit answers with ravishing experience of internal illumination ... mystical concentration will receive increasing confirmation of the truth of man's divinity by his own experience. Books and Bibles will begin to lose their authority as he begins to find his own.
God is His own best interpreter. Find the god in your own heart and you will understand by direct intuition what all the great teachers, real mystics, true philosophers and inspired men have been trying to tell you by the tortuous method using words.
There is ... one way to discover who we really are. That way is to pass from the outer to the inner, from being busy with a multitude of external activities to being busy with a single internal activity of the mind.
St.Augustine soliloquises thus: 'I, Lord, went wandering like a strayed sheep, seeking Thee with anxious reasoning without, whilst thou wast within me ... I went round the streets and squares of the city of this world seeking thee; and I found thee not, because in vain I sought without for him, who was within my self.'"
~ The Secret Path by Dr Paul Brunton
God is His own best interpreter. Find the god in your own heart and you will understand by direct intuition what all the great teachers, real mystics, true philosophers and inspired men have been trying to tell you by the tortuous method using words.
There is ... one way to discover who we really are. That way is to pass from the outer to the inner, from being busy with a multitude of external activities to being busy with a single internal activity of the mind.
St.Augustine soliloquises thus: 'I, Lord, went wandering like a strayed sheep, seeking Thee with anxious reasoning without, whilst thou wast within me ... I went round the streets and squares of the city of this world seeking thee; and I found thee not, because in vain I sought without for him, who was within my self.'"
~ The Secret Path by Dr Paul Brunton
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First of all, I think the poem is lovely and very articulate. In a way, it reminds me of my father's favorite poem, Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann. Last, this is quite a coincidence for me today since I just happened upon a poem I'd written as a teen. I am not proud of it now because I was rebelling against the assignment to write it, and wrote something quite smart-alecky. To make matters worse, it was published by a national poetry press. I had no idea that might happen, and had I known I probably would have put forth more effort. The following year, I wrote another and it too was published. At the time it seemed serious, but now I just find it to be poor poetry:-) Yours is very thoughtful and well-done.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your poetry will be much better than you say. I had a spell at writing poems when I was in my teens. I used to read books on philosophy, religion, yoga and so on - though I don't think I understood half of what I read.
DeleteI liked your poem too. Very insightful for a youngster.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jo.
DeleteI agree with Jo!! Really insightful for a kid. Isn't this question one of the biggies?
ReplyDeleteIt is the big question, and I've never found a satisfactory answer from anyone - as yet. I don't think we are meant to know - or is that just the easy way out!
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