Can I be the sparrow,

Gently acquainted with forest and tree?

I ask the ground, "How are you so kind,

To let me walk firmly on Thee?"

I look to the pines in earnest,

"Tell me, what's it like-

to be so rooted in purpose?"

Will I reach a clearing?

What's my life's meaning?

These woods can't last forever,

Perspective's my only endeavor

Meadows are rolling and the path makes sense

Where I've come from,

What lies ahead.

Stripping off preconceived notions of self

I dip my toes into the waters of uncertainty

Horizon in mind,

Pursuing sunshine,

Out of the depth I emerge

Soaked in the stillness of Self

I walk along the rocks with peace.

I’ve been told a story I should hate what I fear

So I’ve been running since

I’m starting to lose my breath

My shoulders are getting tired

My knees are getting weak

I need to put down this burden

It’s not mine to keep

If your humanity

is essential to mine

If we became friends

Would it stand the test of time?

Different can only be dangerous

Until our hearts are involved

Then different becomes family

In the eyes of whom I love

What if we’re meant for more

Than we’re led to believe

In your eyes i see my own humanity

What if we’re meant for more than we’re lead to believe

What if we’re meant for more?

What if we’re meant for more?

What does that mean for me?

I get caught up in the moment

Knowing when to surrender

When to withhold

I can convince myself of anything

Impulsive I feel most alive

Living in reckless abandon to life

I have seen a more beautiful world that I can’t unsee

One where enemies are loved and captives are set free

One where darkness isn’t feared because we’ve made it our friend

We look it in the eye and say “don’t worry. This isn’t the way things end.”

Where we walk with Light and love in our mind

Where we look ahead with hope, learning from what’s behind

I have seen a more beautiful world that I can’t unsee

But this road isn’t easy, I hope you’ll still walk with me

It Involves laying down privilege, admitting when we’ve walked astray

But when we receive mercy, how much easier it is to give it away

When I know the depths of my darkness, only then can I truly believe

There is hope for a better world, and it can only start with you and me.

I have seen a more beautiful world that I can’t unsee.

The mornings are where I dream

and my head fills with wonder

slowly moving

and breathing

away from my slumber

Into a different dream

the dream of the day

where worries and doubts

try to pull me away

But here I will stay- in my sleepy state

Looking for possibilities to be continually awake

I wade into the warm murky water

My curiosity begging to be satisfied.

The sun scorching, the air so humid one could drink it

The lowest place on earth

With nothing living in the sea

but brought to life in me

I relent willingly,

weightless,

free.

If only all of life could feel this light.

I wish I could live a million lives over.

But not unconscious past lives where we know and remember not,

I wish we could live and experience endlessly

with the cognition of knowing there’s not an experience unlived.

There is not a love missed.

For how can I die satisfied when the whole world lays open and endless before me?

For I am the maker and the keeper of what my life will be.

So although I am only given one life in this body,

I will fit a million lives worth of love, moments, and experiences in it.

Can I still be fully human in my finite body and long to know the infinite Divine?

Is it too indulgent to taste every sweet and savory delight?

Am I less discerning for my moments of reckless abandon to the world?

To feel the icy rush of the river on my skin

The cool desert wind on my face

To marvel at isolated mountains who demand my presence and awe

To love lushly for the sheer joy of connection

For what if my unadulterated and insatiable love for the World leads me to a greater and deeper joy and understanding of its Creator?

What then shall we say?

Can I live selflessly in a world I want to selfishly experience so truly?

That when I lay in my grave,

the Earth will welcome me with open arms.

For I am an old friend- it has known me well my whole life.

LM 07/28