Linda's Literary Home

Tag: faith

  • Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty”

    Gerard Manley Hopkins – National Portrait Gallery, London

    Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty”

    Gerard Manley  Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty” is an eleven-line curtal sonnet, dedicated to honoring and praising God for the special beauty of His creation.  Father Hopkins coined the term “curtal” to label his eleven-line sonnets.

    Introduction and Text of “Pied Beauty”

    The speaker in Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem/hymn “Pied Beauty” offers a tribute to the Creator for all things natural and human inspired, with special emphasis on things that are multi-colored, dotted, striped, or patterned in ingenious ways.  The poem employs Father Hopkins’ famed sprung rhythm and unique rime scheme: ABCABCDBCDC.  

    The poem is an eleven-line sonnet called a curtal, a term which Father Hopkins coined to describe the form he employed in certain of his poems, including “Pied Beauty.”  While the speaker emphasizes beauty by contrasting things that are widely touted as unpleasant yet possess a certain aura of unique loveliness, he ultimately is affirming that God has made all of creation to reflect various styles of beauty.

    Thus, the speaker begins by giving all “glory” to God for all these created things, and he concludes by insisting that God be praised for giving humankind these many patterned objects of beauty.   

    God and beauty are being weighed in special terms as the speaker creates in his hymn a drama of oppositional tension that results in the creation of balance and harmony.    Through appreciation and praise of God for His gifts, humankind learns that balance and harmony in order to complete life’s goals and purposes. 

    Pied Beauty

    Glory be to God for dappled things –
       For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
          For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
    Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
       Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
          And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim. 

    All things counter, original, spare, strange;
       Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
          With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
    He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
                                    Praise him.

    Recitation of “Pied Beauty”

    Commentary on “Pied Beauty”

    Father Hopkins’ poem remarkably enlists several synonyms for the important title term “pied.”  Those synonyms are dappled, couple-colour, brinded (archaic form of brindled), stipple, and freckled.   All of those terms refer to multi-color or dotted patterns that so often appear in nature, that this observant human heart finds divinely inspired.

    The poem is, therefore, a hymn honoring the Supreme Creator of all that exists.  The piece offers gratitude that the Heavenly Father-Creator has fashioned His world to provide delight for His children.

    First Movement:  A Pattern of Gratitude

    Glory be to God for dappled things –

    The speaker begins by glorifying Creator-God for having effected His world to include objects that are multi-spotted and multi-colored.  While the speaker undoubtedly offers God all glory to everything in creation, he also glorifies his Creator for not only things but also events.  The act of creation remains of particular interest.

    The speaker appears to be concentrating on a certain style and pattern that the Almighty has chosen to bestow on certain of His creatures and things.  And this devout speaker remains most appreciative of those patterns.  Thus, the glory, the honor, and the achievement of God have infused this speaker’s heart and mind to express gratitude.

    Second Movement:  Examples of All Things Dappled

    For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
          For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
    Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
       Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
          And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

    The speaker then offers examples of those “dappled” things for which he is offering glory to God. He appreciates the sky that ofttimes appears as multi-colored as a spotted bovine.  The speaker is thankful also for the patterns that are dotted over the bodies of “trout that swim.”  These stippling patterns resemble small mole-like roses as they decorate the skin of those fish.

    This observant, devout speaker also adores the beauty of fallen chestnuts that resemble freshly set-ablaze fire coals on a grate or in a stove.   He also uses the “finches’ wings” to exemplify his appreciation for things “dappled.”  The wings of finches are often layered strips.  The speaker then widens his example to include even the “[l]andscape” or the farmers’ fields that the farmer has “plotted and pieced” in order to plough and “fold” or allow to lie “fallow.”  

    He finds those patterns to be offering the glory that all “dappled” things offer; thus, he honors them by mentioning them as an example. In fact, every commercial endeavor deserves a nod along with the instruments, their tools, which he refers to as “gear,” “tackle,” and “trim.”

    Third Movement:  The Spice of Variety

     All things counter, original, spare, strange;

    In the second stanza, beginning with the third movement, the speaker shifts from simple  spotted, multi-colored things to everything remaining that runs against expectation, or that is original and unique, or things that seem simple, and things that appear odd.

    Because creation seems to offer an infinite number of styles, patterns, and ways of being, the speaker now wishes to praise God and glorify the Divine Maker by recognizing the Creator’s penchant for variety. 

    If the old adage “variety is the spice of life” possesses any truth, then certainly the Heavenly Father-God is responsible for the creation of those spices.  This speaker thus widens his scope for gratitude.

    Fourth Movement:  Things That Change

     Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
          With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; 

    The speaker then offers further elucidation for the other components that make up his glossary of things that deserve attention and appreciation because of their having been offered to humankind by the Ultimate Reality, the Supreme Creator of the cosmos.

    So the speaker reports that all things, beings, creatures that possess the quality of fickleness or changeability belong to his list of things that honor and give glory to God.  Even “freckled” things, of which no one can define the origin, belong to this category.

    Those “fickle” and “freckled” things all have several qualities in common; thus, they may exist and behave with speed or move measuredly.   They may possess the opposite flavors of sweetness or sourness.  Some may also reflect light blazingly while others remain muted and subdued.

    Regardless of the unique qualities, they are all part of the Blessèd Creator’s offerings to His children for their pleasure or for their edification or to light whatever pathway they are destined to follow.

    Fifth Movement:  That Which Does not Change

    He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
                                    Praise him.

    The speaker then concludes with a command—”Praise him.”  In the beginning, he made it clear that he was offering all glory to God for the things He has given through creation. Now he offers his stern command, but before that command, he offers the reason that such praise is due Him. 

    The Father of all this beauty continues, and although He Himself is “past change” or without the necessity to change Himself, He continues to offer through creation a beauty that is many faceted, multi-colored, multi-stippled, and brindled. And all things remain on a spectrum that humankind cannot duplicate but is surely obligated to honor, appreciate, and glorify in the name of Father God.

  • Langston Hughes’ “Goodbye, Christ”

    Image:  Langston Hughes– Appearing before Joseph McCarthy’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations – March 24, 1953

    Note on Term Usage:  Before the late 1980s in the United States, the terms “Negro,” “colored,” and “black” were accepted widely in American English parlance.   While the term “Negro” had started to lose it popularity in the 1960s, it wasn’t until 1988 that the Reverend Jesse Jackson began insisting that Americans adopt the phrase “African American.”  The earlier more accurate terms were the custom at the time that Langston Hughes was writing.

    Langston Hughes’ “Goodbye, Christ”

    Langston Hughes wrote “Goodbye, Christ” in 1931. It was published in a statist publication called “The Negro Worker” in 1932, but Hughes later withdrew it from publication.

    Introduction with Text of “Goodbye, Christ”

    Nine years after the publication of Langston Hughes’ “Goodbye, Christ,” on January 1, 1941, the poet was scheduled to deliver a talk about Negro folk songs at the Pasadena Hotel. Members of Aimee Semple McPherson’s Temple of the Four Square Gospel picketed the hotel with a sound truck playing “God Bless America.”   

    Likely those members of the McPherson temple became aware of the poem because McPherson is mentioned in it. The protestors passed out copies of Hughes’ poem, “Goodbye, Christ,” even though they had not secured permission to copy and distribute it. 

    A few weeks later, The Saturday Evening Post, heretofore no friend to black writers, also mentioned in the poem, also printed the poem without permission. The poem had received little attention until these two events.  

    But Hughes had been criticized for his “revolutionary” writings and apparent sympathy for the Soviet form of government. On March 24, 1953, Hughes was called to testify before the Joseph McCarthy’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

    Goodbye, Christ

    Listen, Christ,
    You did alright in your day, I reckon-
    But that day’s gone now.
    They ghosted you up a swell story, too,
    Called it Bible-
    But it’s dead now,
    The popes and the preachers’ve
    Made too much money from it.
    They’ve sold you to too many
    Kings, generals, robbers, and killers-
    Even to the Tzar and the Cossacks,
    Even to Rockefeller’s Church,
    Even to THE SATURDAY EVENING POST.
    You ain’t no good no more.
    They’ve pawned you
    Till you’ve done wore out.
    Goodbye,
    Christ Jesus Lord God Jehova,
    Beat it on away from here now.
    Make way for a new guy with no religion at all-
    A real guy named
    Marx Communist Lenin Peasant Stalin Worker ME-
    I said, ME!
    Go ahead on now,
    You’re getting in the way of things, Lord.
    And please take Saint Gandhi with you when you go,
    And Saint Pope Pius,
    And Saint Aimee McPherson,
    And big black Saint Becton
    Of the Consecrated Dime.
    And step on the gas, Christ!
    Move!
    Don’t be so slow about movin?
    The world is mine from now on-
    And nobody’s gonna sell ME
    To a king, or a general,
    Or a millionaire.

    Commentary on “Goodbye, Christ”

    Langston Hughes’ poem “Goodbye, Christ” is a dramatic monologue. The speaker is addressing Christ, telling him to leave because He is no longer wanted. The speaker is employing irony and sarcasm to express his distrust and disapproval of the many people, including the clergy, who have used religion only for financial gain.

    Serving God or Mammon 

    In the first verse paragraph (versagraph), the speaker explains to Christ that things are different now from the way they were back in Christ’s day; the speaker figures that back then Christ’s presence might have been appreciated, but now “[t]he popes and the preachers’ve / Made too much money from [your story].”  

    And that complaint is addressed in the poem that certain individuals and organizations have used the name of Christ to make money: “They’ve pawned you / Till you’ve done wore out.”  

    The speaker makes it clear that it is not only Christianity that has been desecrated, for he also includes Hinduism when he tells Christ “please take Saint Gandhi with you when you go.”  It is not only white people like McPherson, but also “big black Saint Becton,” a charlatan preacher Hughes mentions in his autobiography, The Big Sea. 

    Hughes is, in no way, repudiating Jesus Christ and true religion. He is, however, excoriating those whom he considers charlatans, who have profited only financially without highlighting the true meaning of Christ’s (or other religions’) teachings. 

    Langston Hughes on “Goodbye, Christ” 

    In editor Faith Berry’s Good Morning Revolution: Uncollected Writing of Langston Hughes, Berry brings together a large collection of writings for which Hughes did not seek wide publication.  Some of his early politically statist-leaning poems, which had appeared in obscure publications, managed to circulate, and Hughes was labeled a Communist, which he always denied in his speeches. 

    About “Goodbye, Christ,” Hughes has explained that he had withdrawn the poem from publication, but it had appeared without his permission and knowledge.  Hughes also insisted that he had never been a member of the Communist Party.  He went so far as to say he wished Christ would return to save humanity, which was in dire need of saving, as it could not save itself. 

    Earlier in his immaturity, Hughes had believed that the communist form of government would be more favorable to black people, but he became aware that his VIP treatment in Russia was a ruse, calculated to make people of color think that communism was friendlier to them than capitalism while ultimately hoodwinking them just as the Democratic Party did later on in the century.  (Also see Carol Swain’s “The Inconvenient Truth about the Democratic Party”)

    In his senate committee testimony on March 24, 1953, Hughes makes his political inclinations clear that he had never read any book on the theory of socialism and communism.  Also, he had not delved into the stances of the Republican and Democrat parties in the United States.

    Hughes claimed that his interest in politics was prompted solely by his emotion.  Only through his own emotions had he glanced at what politics might have to offer him in figuring out personal issues with society.  So in “Goodbye, Christ,” the following versagraph likely defines the poet’s attitude at its emotional depths:

    Goodbye,
    Christ Jesus Lord God Jehova,
    Beat it on away from here now.
    Make way for a new guy with no religion at all—
    -A real guy named
    Marx Communist Lenin Peasant Stalin Worker ME—
    I said, ME!

    Hughes spent a year in Russia and came back to America writing glowing reports of the wonderful equalities enjoyed by all Russians, which many critics wrongly interpreted to indicate that Hughes became a communist.   On January 1, 1941, Hughes wrote the following clear-eyed explanation that should once and for all put to rest the notion that his poem was meant to serve blasphemous purposes:

    “Goodbye, Christ” does not represent my personal viewpoint.  It was long ago withdrawn from circulation and has been reprinted recently without my knowledge or consent.  I would not now use such a technique of approach since I feel that a mere poem is quite unable to compete in the power to shock with the current horrors of war and oppression abroad in the greater part of the world.

    I have never been a member of the Communist party.  Furthermore, I have come to believe that no system of ethics, religion, morals, or government is of permanent value which does not first start with and change the human heart.  Mortal frailty, greed, and error know no boundary lines.  

    The explosives of war do not care whose hand fashions them.  Certainly, both Marxists and Christians can be cruel.  Would that Christ came back to save us all. We do not know how to save ourselves. (my emphasis added) —from  Good Morning Revolution: Uncollected Writing of Langston Hughes, page 149.

    The Importance of Understanding the Irony in “Goodbye, Christ”

    While it may be difficult for devout Christians, who love Christ and his teachings, to read such seemingly blasphemous writing, it is important to distinguish between the literal and the figurative:  Hughes’ “Goodbye, Christ” must be read through the lens of irony and sarcasm, and realized as a statement against the financial usurpation of religion, and not a repudiation of Christ and the great spiritual masters of all religions.

    It should be remembered that Hughes’ seemingly blasphemous poem simply creates a character who was speaking ironically, even sarcastically, in order to call out the actual despicable blasphemers who desecrate true religion with duplicity and chicanery.

    Image:  Ink Drawing of Langston Hughes– Ink Portrait – Fabrizio Cassett

  • Rabindranath Tagore’s “Light the Lamp of Thy Love”

    Image: Rabindranath Tagore – Portrait by William Rothenstein

    Rabindranath Tagore’s “Light the Lamp of Thy Love”

    Rabindranath Tagore’s poem “Light the Lamp of Thy Love” is a devotional lyric that expresses the speaker’s longing for self-realization. Through colorful imagery, the poem explores themes of transformation, redemption, and the transcendence of human limitation through spiritual awakening.

    Introduction and Text of “Light the Lamp of Thy Love”

    Rabindranath Tagore, a Nobel laureate poet and philosopher, often infused his works with spiritual depth and mysticism. His lyric “Light the Lamp of Thy Love” offers a prayerful plea for divine intervention, as the speaker implores a higher power to dispel darkness and replace it with enlightenment. 

    The poem’s structure follows a gathering movement from supplication to transformation, resulting in the profound realization of divine presence, also known as self-realization or God-union. Tagore employs vivid metaphors—lamps, light, and gold—to symbolize the process of spiritual purification. 

    The repetition of phrases reinforces the urgency of the speaker’s plea, while the invocation of touch underscores the immediacy of divine grace. The poem’s universal theme of seeking enlightenment resonates beyond religious confines, making it a poignant reflection on the human soul’s yearning for transcendence.

    Paramahansa Yogananda refashioned this poem into a chant that is performed at SRF meditation gatherings and ceremonies.  Immediately below the poem, there is a video of the SRF monks chanting the piece at one of SRF’s World Convocations.

    Light the Lamp of Thy Love

    In my house, with Thine own hands,
    Light the lamp of Thy love!
    Thy transmuting lamp entrancing,
    Wondrous are its rays.
    Change my darkness to Thy light, Lord!
    Change my darkness to Thy light.
    And my evil into good.
    Touch me but once and I will change,
    All my clay into Thy gold
    All the sense lamps that I did light
    Sooted into worries
    Sitting at the door of my soul,
    Light Thy resurrecting lamp!

    Commentary on “Light the Lamp of Thy Love”

    Rabindranath Tagore’s poem “Light the Lamp of Thy Love” serves a prayer for divine illumination or God-union (also known as self-realization), reflecting an intense spiritual longing. The speaker acknowledges human frailty and desires transformation through divine grace. Each movement of the poem builds upon the preceding one, deepening the speaker’s surrender to the divine will.

    First Movement: Invocation of Divine Light

    In my house, with Thine own hands,
    Light the lamp of Thy love!

    The speaker begins with a direct appeal to the divine, requesting illumination within his own “house,” a metaphor for the soul. The imagery of the divine hand lighting the lamp suggests an intimate and personal act of grace. 

    This scenario establishes the poem’s central theme of spiritual awakening as a force intervening in the speaker’s internal world. The use of the imperative conveys urgency as well as personal familiarity, emphasizing human dependency on divine intervention for enlightenment.  This evocative opening sets the tone for the poem’s progression from entreaty to transformation.

    Second Movement: Transformation through Divine Light

    Thy transmuting lamp entrancing,
    Wondrous are its rays.
    Change my darkness to Thy light, Lord!
    Change my darkness to Thy light.
    And my evil into good.

    In the second movement, the speaker acknowledges the power of divine enlightenment, describing it as “entrancing” and “wondrous.” The repetition of “Change my darkness to Thy light” underscores the urgency and necessity of divine transformation. Darkness symbolizes ignorance, sin, and suffering, while light represents wisdom, virtue, and divine grace. 

    The explicit plea to change evil into good reflects Tagore’s vision of spiritual evolution, wherein the divine presence purges human flaws.   This movement portrays transformation as both passive and active—the speaker submits to divine will while the divine force actively reshapes his essence. The imagery of light as a catalyst for moral and spiritual purification aligns with Tagore’s broader philosophical themes of unity between the self and the divine.

    Third Movement: Spiritual Alchemy

    Touch me but once and I will change,
    All my clay into Thy gold

    The speaker then expresses absolute faith in divine transformation, emphasizing the power of a single divine touch. The contrast between “clay” and “gold” serves as a metaphor for spiritual alchemy—earthly, flawed existence is refined into something pure and incorruptible. 

    This suggestion reflects the Upanishadic tenet that the soul has potential to merge with the divine.   The phrase “but once” highlights the immediacy and sufficiency of divine intervention, reinforcing the idea that enlightenment is not a gradual process but an instantaneous, transcendent experience, after conditions become aligned.

    Fourth Movement: Renunciation of Material Attachments

    All the sense lamps that I did light
    Sooted into worries
    Sitting at the door of my soul,
    Light Thy resurrecting lamp!

    In this final movement, the speaker reflects on past attempts to find light through worldly means, represented by “sense lamps.” These artificial lights, linked to sensory experiences, have only resulted in “worries,” suggesting that material pursuits lead to disillusionment. 

    The speaker, becoming aware that the Divine Reality is “sitting at the door of my soul,” finds himself in a precarious position, awaiting true illumination. The plea for the “resurrecting lamp” signifies the desire for rebirth through divine grace. 

    This conclusion emphasizes the contrast between self-induced, transient sources of light and the enduring illumination provided by the Divine. Tagore’s imagery addresses surrender and renewal, resulting in the speaker’s complete reliance on divine intervention for enlightenment.

    A Philosophy of Divine Love

    “Light the Lamp of Thy Love” encapsulates Tagore’s philosophy of divine love as the ultimate source of transformation. The poem progresses from invocation to surrender, illustrating the speaker’s deepening spiritual realization.   Tagore employs symbolic imagery—light, lamps, gold—to depict the process of transcendence, wherein the divine presence eradicates darkness and imparts purity. 

    The repetition of phrases reinforces the speaker’s desperation for enlightenment, while the shift from self-lit lamps to the resurrecting lamp signifies the futility of worldly pursuits in comparison to divine grace. 

    The interplay between passivity and divine action suggests that while human effort is insufficient for true transformation, surrender to divine will results in ultimate fulfillment.

    Tagore’s devotional lyric aligns with the Bhakti tradition, where longing for divine presence is central. However, its universal message extends beyond religious boundaries, addressing the fundamental human desire for meaning, clarity, and redemption.  The poem’s cyclical structure, resulting in divine illumination, parallels the spiritual journey from ignorance to wisdom. 

    By portraying the speaker’s progression from a seeker to one awaiting divine grace, Tagore underscores the idea that true enlightenment is not self-generated but received through divine compassion.  Ultimately, “Light the Lamp of Thy Love” serves as a meditation on the transformative power of divine love and its ability to guide the human soul toward transcendence.

    Image: Rabindranath Tagore – Portrait by Unknown Artist

  • Original Song: “Twixt Good and Evil” and Prose Commentary 

    Image: Created by Grok

    Original Song: “Twixt Good and Evil” and Prose Commentary 

    I chose the quotation from Isaiah because it demonstrates the omnipotence and omnipresence of the Almighty Creator.  Some religionists, especially Christian, argue that God is all good and therefore could not have created evil.  But such a claim limits God’s power and ability—an odd thing to do since they claim that God is omnipotent and omnipresent!

    Twixt Good and Evil

    “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”    —Isaiah 45:7

    Chorus

    In the fight twixt good and evil
    Good will always win;
    For God created the devil
    Just tempt us all to sin.
    God doesn’t cause us to bear sorrow;
    He tries to lead us to His light,
    And His Word guides our tomorrow
    If we learn to read It right.

    First Verse 

    Good morning, Satan!
    Are you doing OK?
    What kinds of nasty
    You going to throw at me today?
    Will my daughter get cancer?
    Will my son fall off his bike?
    Will my husband crash his truck?
    Will my dog lie down and die?

    Second Verse

    Good morning, Devil!
    Are you doing just fine?
    How will you try to tempt me
    To cross that boundary line?
    Will you make me think I’m sexy?
    Will you make me want to flirt?
    Will you take me to a place
    I’d never go without your dirt?

    Third Verse

    Good morning, Lucifer!
    How’s it going, Old Dude?
    What you got in store for me today—
    What kind of rude and crude?
    Will you shine your light on sorrow?
    Will you tempt me to believe
    I’ll be so good tomorrow
    That today I can misbehave?

    Fourth Verse

    Good morning, Maya!
    Of all the things in the fold
    Which one will grab my thoughts today
    To divert me from my goal?
    Will I seize upon another’s mote
    Though there’s one in my own eye?
    Will I hurt anyone whose handy?
    Or will I just sit, sigh, and cry?

    Chorus

    In the fight twixt good and evil
    Good will always win;
    For God created the devil
    Just tempt us all to sin.
    God doesn’t cause us to bear sorrow;
    He tries to lead us to His light,
    And His Word guides our tomorrow
    If we learn to read It right.

    To listen to the recorded version, please visit “Twixt Good and Evil” on soundcloud.

    Commentary on “Twixt Good and Evil”

    Epigram:  “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”    —Isaiah 45:7

    I chose this quotation from Isaiah because it demonstrates the omnipotence and omnipresence of the Almighty Creator.  Some religionists, especially Christian, argue that God is all good and therefore could not have created evil.  

    But such a claim limits God’s power and ability and at the same time introduces a second force into being.  Because there can be no second force, only God can be responsible for all that exists, including evil.  In the Isaiah quotation, God is speaking and He clearly says, “I . . . create evil.”

    At first, such a claim may seem paradoxical, but just because God creates evil does not make God evil: it makes Him all powerful, the very quality that Christians believe God to possess.

    So with that fact established, the next question is why did/does God create/allow evil?  And the answer is so that a physical creation can exist.  Without pairs of opposites, there can be so creation: forces rub against forces; conflict pits good and evil against each other.

    We cannot recognize a quality unless we have something to which we can  compare or contrast it.  Image that only good things had happened to you in your life.  How would you know that only good things had happened if you had never experienced the less than good or the bad?  

    Humanity is faced with these forces in order to learn and to evolve.  According to Paramahansa Yogananda and other great spiritual leaders, the only purpose of life is to unite the soul with the Over-Soul or God.  In order to do that, each human being has to work out its karma, its issues that lead it to believe it is nothing more than a bag of bone and flesh.  

    Each human being must learn that he or she is essentially a soul that has a physical body.  That soul is already perfect but because it lost its divine awareness by being born in a physical encasement, it has to relearn to be divine.

    Now, why did God make such a plan, such an existence?  Why not just let us  keep our divine status and not have to go through incarnations that may take many millennia?  Only God knows the answer to that question.  Offering one possible explanation, Paramahansa Yogananda contends that creation is God’s lila or play, and He made for his own enjoyment.  

    Because that explanation may not satisfy, the following exchange between Sri Yukteswar, the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, and a student suggests additional reasoning:

    “Why did God ever join soul and body?” a class student asked one evening. “What was His purpose in setting into initial motion this evolutionary drama of creation?” Countless other men have posed such questions; philosophers have sought, in vain, fully to answer them.

    “Leave a few mysteries to explore in Eternity,” Sri Yukteswar used to say with a smile. “How could man’s limited reasoning powers comprehend the inconceivable motives of the Uncreated Absolute? T

    he rational faculty in man, tethered by the cause-effect principle of the phenomenal world, is baffled before the enigma of God, the Beginningless, the Uncaused. Nevertheless, though man’s reason cannot fathom the riddles of creation, every mystery will ultimately be solved for the devotee by God Himself.” (my emphasis added)

    The opening quotation, therefore, establishes the spiritual nature of the song: a monotheistic worldview in which nothing—light or darkness, peace or evil—exists outside God’s sovereignty.

    By invoking Isaiah 45:7, I preempt the simplistic dualism: evil is not an equal rival to God but a force that God Himself created to serve a divine purpose. This contention prepares the listener/reader to understand temptation and suffering not as evidence of God’s absence, but as part of a moral testing ground in which human choice matters.

    Thus, although the singer/speaker has undergone all of these tests foisted by Satan, the Devil, Lucifer, and Maya—all of which are simply different names for the same force—she seems to be implying that she is transcending them because she realizes that God only created these forces to tempt his children. 

    She is also implying that she has learned to read God’s word correctly and now she understands that by not allowing that evil force to dominate her she will no longer suffer.

    Chorus: “In the fight twixt good and evil”

    In the fight twixt good and evil
    Good will always win;
    For God created the devil
    Just tempt us all to sin.
    God doesn’t cause us to bear sorrow;
    He tries to lead us to His light,
    And His Word guides our tomorrow
    If we learn to read It right.


    The chorus opens the song/poem with its theme, which focuses on the battle between good and evil in the world of humankind. It makes the explicit claim that “good will always win,” and then it explains that the devil is just a tempter—not a separate force— because God Himself “created the devil.” 

    That “God created the devil / Just to tempt us all to sin” reflects the exact message of the Isaiah quotation. God made the devil to introduce temptation in our lives, but God allows it, and He did not create temptation to make us suffer, at least, not eternally. 

    We  know of God’s intention because God has offered a guide in written scripture, which all religions and spiritual faiths possess.  But it is interpreting those pages of guidance that confounds us and keep us in darkness.  God wants to lead us to light, and learning to interpret his Word correctly and effectively can lead us there.

    First Verse: “Good morning, Satan!”

    Good morning, Satan!
    Are you doing OK?
    What kinds of nasty
    You going to throw at me today?
    Will my daughter get cancer?
    Will my son fall off his bike?
    Will my husband crash his truck?
    Will my dog lie down and die?


    The singer/speaker addresses Satan directly, asking quite conversationally how he’s doing?  Assuming that he is doing “OK.”  Then she pitches a series of questions at him.  These question involve “nasty” events that no one wants to experience:  a daughter getting cancer, an son falling off his bike, a husband crashing his truck, a dog dying.

    The answer to each of these questions is yes: Satan will throw all of these things at me eventually.  And I personally have experienced every one of them.  So addressing Satan in such a friendly way must be understood a high sarcasm. 

    Satan will always remain the adversary, but showing him that I can take him lightly lessens his power over me.  Besides, I have already told you in the chorus that I know the score on these issues.  Satan does not hold the power; God does.

    Second Verse:  “Good morning, Devil!”

    Good morning, Devil!
    Are you doing just fine?
    How will you try to tempt me
    To cross that boundary line?
    Will you make me think I’m sexy?
    Will you make me want to flirt?
    Will you take me to a place
    I’d never go without your dirt?

    Addressing Devil with the same tone expressed when she addressed Satan, the singer/speaker assumes Devil is “doing just fine.”  Again, with a series of questions:  how are you going to temp the today?  will you use sex and promiscuity to make me do things that otherwise I would deplore?  

    Because vanity and sex lead to so much mischief and depravity in the world, one would likely be a consummate prevaricator to deny having been caught up in such “dirt.”  That’s all the personal confession and testimony I will offer for this one. But obviously, again, the from Devil, the answer is “Yep, I’ll get you, my Pretty, and you little dog, too!”

    Third Verse:  “Good morning, Lucifer!”

    Good morning, Lucifer!
    How’s it going, Old Dude?
    What you got in store for me today—
    What kind of rude and crude?
    Will you shine your light on sorrow?
    Will you tempt me to believe
    I’ll be so good tomorrow
    That today I can misbehave?

    Addressing the devil/satan in his light-bearer form, Lucifer, the singer/speaker makes no assumption but simply asks how things are going for the “Old Dude. Then again wants to know that the Light-Bearer has “in store” for her.”  She knows that whatever it is it will likely be “rude and crude.”  She has learned about this being’s ways in earlier verses.

    She wonders if Lucifer will put a spotlight on self-pity and thus allow her to engage in sorrowful feelings.  Then abruptly, she shifts to wondering if he will encourage her think she will behave tomorrow so well that today she can engage in all manner of  debauchery.

    This verse captures the moral danger of self-bargaining and the illusion of future repentance as permission for present wrongdoing.

    Fourth Verse:

    Good morning, Maya!
    Of all the things in the fold
    Which one will grab my thoughts today
    To divert me from my goal?
    Will I seize upon another’s mote
    Though there’s one in my own eye?
    Will I hurt anyone whose handy?
    Or will I just sit, sigh, and cry?


    In this final verse, I address the evil one as Maya, which means delusion, and is the Hindu concept for Satan/Devil/Lucifer.  Maya seems less judgmental and harsh than the Christians concepts, although the end result of “delusion” is the same as the end result of sin.  It is delusion that causes us to “misbehave” and therefore “suffer.”  

    The satanic, evil, mayic force all steer the human being to engage in sense gratification, and such activities divert the person from seeking Divine Awareness, which is the goal of life, according to Paramahansa Yogananda.

    When I reference the “mote” and the “beam,” I am, of course, echoing Christ’s teaching on judgment, offering that as the first possible wrong thing I might do today.  Then again I continue questions as I wonder what the magic Satan/Maya will do today to “divert me from my goal.” 

    I might engage in activities that hurt people, or maybe I will just sit, think useless, thought, become maudlin and then “cry.”  The negativity supports the wretched influences that has been on display in the entire song/poem.  

    Chorus:  “In the fight twixt good and evil”

    In the fight twixt good and evil
    Good will always win;
    For God created the devil
    Just tempt us all to sin.
    God doesn’t cause us to bear sorrow;
    He tries to lead us to His light,
    And His Word guides our tomorrow
    If we learn to read It right.

    What saves the whole mess from languishing in pool of sorrowful dreck is the chorus, which is repeated at the end.  Despite the battle each human being has to face each day, eventually according to each person’s karma “good will always win.”

  • Original Song: “River of Time” with Commentary

    Image: Whitewater River, Richmond IN  

    Original Song: “River of Time” with Commentary

    My original song “River of Time” is a hymn to my Divine Belovèd, featuring a chorus that functions as a chant.

    Introduction with Text of Lyric “River of Time”

    Because music was my first love that I remember from the earliest age, I have always been attracted by the sounds from inspiring music.  

    I began writing songs seriously around age 32, and I especially enjoy and appreciate my songs that turn into hymns to the Divine Belovèd.  “River of Time” is such a hymn.  

    I am strongly influenced by the Cosmic Chants of my guru (spiritual leader) Paramahansa Yogananda.  Many of my original hymns have a chant-like element—a repetition that takes the minds within or bespeaks some spiritual truth for mental awareness.

    River of Time

    A hymn to my Divine Belovèd

    Verse
    Waiting by the river of time—
    My beloved keeps His rime
    In the sunlight that sings in stars
    The moon will wax in tune

    Verse
    Flowing with the river of time—
    Do you feel the rhythm that glides
    As you sing each lingering verse?
    Your soul will chant in bliss

    Verse
    Once beyond the river of time—
    Where you seek your ultimate rime,
    Where you need to battle no more
    You’ve reached that heavenly shore

    Chorus
    Every moment is light infused  
    Behind the darkness of closed eyes
    Seek no more for all is here
    Nothing more to do or fear

    Video by Carlene Craig

    Commentary on “River of Time”

    The singer/seeker/devotee in this hymn does not directly address her Heavenly Father-God.  She suggests the target of her report in subtle ways by essentially addresses her own self or soul. She sings to remind herself of her goal of soul- or self-realization, unity with the Divine Belovèd.

    First Verse:  Existence on the Physical Plane

    Waiting by the river of time—
    My beloved keeps His rime
    In the sunlight that sings in stars
    The moon will wax in tune

    The singer/devotee exists along a continuum that the human mind and heart often liken metaphorically to a river—a “river of time.”  Time seems to flow, meander, going somewhere.

    Intuition tells the human mind and heart that the soul is moving as on a flowing body of water to somewhere that must be wonderful.

    The beloved who is causing this river to flow displays his wares in light—sunlight and moonlight.  Science tells humanity that sunlight is reflected in the stars, and the moon also reflects that important, life-sustaining orb.

    The singer/devotee implies that her beloved is a poetic artist because he keeps “His rime” visible in the light of the sun and the moon.

    Second Verse:  The Rhythm of Soul Bliss

    Flowing with the river of time—
    Do you feel the rhythm that glides
    As you sing each lingering verse?
    Your soul will chant in bliss

    The singer then states that her soul is, in fact, moving down this metaphorical river.  She poses a rhetorical question of her self to ascertain if she is really sensing the rhythmic sway of the music of her verses.

    As she sings, she has become aware of her soul flowing into its natural state of “bliss.”  The verses that linger in the heart and mind bestow on her a marvelous state of awareness and joy.

    Third Verse:  Transcending Physical Existence

    Once beyond the river of time—
    Where you seek your ultimate rime,
    Where you need to battle no more
    You’ve reached that heavenly shore

    The singer then begins to speculate about the existence to be experienced after transcending the physical level of existence, metaphorically named the “river of time.”  

    Beyond that locus is where the ultimate poetry and music hold sway, where humanity no longer is required to struggle with life’s vicissitudes, trails, and tribulations.  Once the soul has become self-realized, it knows only divine joy and love.

    Chorus:  Moving into the Joy of the Light

    Every moment is light infused  
    Behind the darkness of closed eyes
    Seek no more for all is here
    Nothing more to do or fear

    The singer’s repeated, chant-like chorus is an affirmative statement about what goes on after she closes her eyes to the physical level of existence.

    She need not continue searching for she has arrived at the Goal of life. United with the Divine Belovèd, there is nothing that she will ever have to fear.

    Video:  Whitewater River-Tim Bowman-East Fork of the Whitewater River-near Brownsville IN 

  • Original Song:  “Where You Are”  with Prose Commentary

    Image: Pacific Ocean – August 2015 – Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens – Encinitas CA – Photo by Ron W. G.

    Original Song:  “Where You Are”  with Prose Commentary

    This song “Where You Are” is one of my original compositions. The video accompanying it was created by landscape artist/photographer Ron Grimes.

    Introduction and Text of “Where You Are”

    My original song “Where You Are”is based on a simple premise: the singer is addressing her Divine Belovèd (God), asserting to the Belovèd the desire to be where the Ultimate Loved One is.

    Each verse features rhetorical questions and musings upon the actual location of the Divine Creator.  Because the Creator/Father of all creation is both within creation and outside of creation, the answer to all of the rhetorical questions is, naturally, yes.

    Nevertheless, being where the Divine Belovèd is cannot be the same situation as being where a human friend or beloved is.   Because it seems that God is playing hide and seek with his children, the singer asserts that her soul “soul tugs at the veil hiding You from me.”

    Where You Are

    First Verse

    Are You standing on top of a mountain?
    Are You sitting beside the vast grave sea?
    How can I ever approach You?
    Will You ever just come to me?

    Second Verse

    Are You speaking to me through my loved ones?
    Are You quietly whispering through the silver stars?
    Are You waiting to hear what my songs will sing?
    Do You listen to the rapid beat of my heart?

    Third Verse  

    If I offer You all in my stillness—
    If I silently listen to the hum in my mind—
    If I patiently fast from all my senses—
    Will You break Your vow of silence and just come to me!

    Chorus 

    Where You are is where I long to be.
    I cannot understand where else I could seek.
    My soul tugs at the veil hiding You from me.
    Where You are is where I long to be.

    Video: Linda Sue Grimes performing “Where You Are”  

    SoundCloud:  Linda Sue Grimes performing “Where You Are” 

    Commentary on “Where You Are”

    After much questioning, contemplating, and ultimately meditating, the devotee will find that the soul will remove the veil hiding it from the Over-Soul—the soul’s Creator, the Divine Belovèd, or any of the preferred name for the Ineffable (God).

    First Verse:  “Are You standing on top of a mountain?”

    Are You standing on top of a mountain?
    Are You sitting beside the vast grave sea?
    How can I ever approach You?
    Will You ever just come to me?

    The singer opens with four rhetorical questions to the Divine Reality.  The first two questions reveal earthly locations that are considered sanctuaries of sacredness, holiness, or just ordinary vacation escapes:  mountain tops and sea sides. 

    The next two questions reveal that the devotee is still walking the sacred, devotional path to soul-realization (also known as self-realization or God-realization).  

    Before final liberation, the devotee experiences the separation from her Goal to be a heavy burden.  That burden causes her to wonder if she, in fact, will ever be able to unite with the Creator/Father.

    In her melancholy and sorrowful mourning because of the seeming distance, the devotee often wonders if the Lord will ever appear to her and make her know that she is His own child.   Will she ever be able to attain the Sacred Goal of self-realization and experience unity with her Belovèd Divine Creator?

    Second Verse:  “Are You speaking to me through my loved ones?”

    Are You speaking to me through my loved ones?
    Are You quietly whispering through the silver stars?
    Are You waiting to hear what my songs will sing?
    Do You listen to the rapid beat of my heart?

    In the second verse, the singer/devotee continues with rhetorical questions.  Intuiting the answer yet not knowing the fullness of each answer, she inquires of the Divine Belovèd if He is communicating with her through her family and friends.

    The singer likely is aware that God is speaking to her through everyone she knows and meets.  But without that last step in the process of enlightenment, she does not know exactly what is being said or exactly what all that conversation might ultimately mean to her.

    Thus, she also wonders if the One Who fashioned the “silver stars” may be signaling to her through those heavenly entities.  Again, she likely knows it to be a fact, but that separation continues to prompt questions.  

    The singer wonders if Divine Mother anticipates what she sings in her songs.  She wonders if her musical worship is reaching its intended Goal.

    The singer/devotee often becomes anxious with a rapid heart beat, knowing that that heart beat needs to become calm to achieve stillness.  She therefore wonders if the Creator Divine cares to listen to that rapid heart beat.  And she wonders if the Ultimate Physician will perform some medical heavenly magic to help her still her rapid heart.

    Third Verse:  “If I offer You all in my stillness”

    If I offer You all in my stillness—
    If I silently listen to the hum in my mind—
    If I patiently fast from all my senses—
    Will You break Your vow of silence and just come to me!

    The singer/devotee’s questioning becomes even more intense in the lyric of the final verse.    She has shown that she knows that she must still the rapid beat of her heart, but she also must still all of her senses as she offers her every atom to the Divine Essence.

    The devotee/singer shows awareness that she must listen the divine hum of the cosmic motor, the sacred AUM (Om) sound that upholds all of creation.  She knows that she must remove her attention from worldly things and events and place that attention upon the locus beyond the senses, where the soul resides.

    The singer/devotee remains certain that after she is able to accomplish all that is implied in her questions and musings, the Divine Belovèd Presence will, in fact, “break [that] vow of silence and [ ] come to [her].”

    Chorus:  “Where You are is where I long to be”

    Where You are is where I long to be.
    I cannot understand where else I could seek.
    My soul tugs at the veil hiding You from me.
    Where You are is where I long to be.

    The chorus, instead of offering mere rhetorical questions and musings, makes an affirmative statement:  the singer asserts that she wants to be where her Divine Beloved is.   She reveals her intuition that she cannot find love, peace, fulfillment on the physical, earthly plane.

    The singer/devotee insists that her soul is attempting to rend the cloth of separation from the Divine, as it “tugs at the veil” that keeps her from uniting with the Creator Belovèd. 

    The final line emphasizes as it repeats the important desire: “Where You are is where I long to be.”  The importance of the chorus is demonstrated by its repetition after every verse.

  • Original Song: “Against” with Prose Commentary

    Image:  Linda Sue Grimes at the SRF Windmill Chapel at Lake Shrine – Photo by Ron Grimes (Ron W. G.).

    Original Song: “Against” with Prose Commentary

    The singer/devotee is entreating her soul to forsake worldly things and ways, which according to Emily Dickinson, “hold so,” and follow the way of spirit.  The way of spirit protects “against”  all the things that damage the individual physically, mentally, and spiritually.

    Introduction with Text of Lyric “Against”

    Many old spirit-infused hymns sing about the futility of this world to the point of asserting that this world is not even our true home [1].   Paramahansa Yogananda has explained that one’s engagement with sense pleasure must be carefully observed lest they ensnare the soul, preventing it from experiencing the higher pleasures of soul-awareness [2].  

    Removing the flesh motivating experiences becomes one’s highest duty.  While the first step to soul-awareness appears to be a struggle “against” the senses and all worldly endeavors, that opposition must not become so intrenched that it impels one to judge others harshly and act on that judgment.

    Instead simply remaining mindful of one’s own behavior opens one’s heart to soul power. Creatively fashioning the experiences and thoughts on the journey to soul awareness adds to the reality and beauty that the world actually provides. 

    Against

    The Blessed Divine gave us all the gifts that we must learn to enjoy but without becoming entangled and attached; it is with that non-attachment in mind that the following hymn is offered to the Blessed Spirit Who inspires true music.

    Chorus: 

    Against the tone of heartbreak
    Against the stone of night ache
    Against the wrong that leads you
    Against the blood that speeds you

    1st Verse

    Whisper into the drum and see the bay of stars
    That permeate the golden night in silver bars
    Usher to the harp the placid palms of notes
    That wistfully breathe on strings of hope

    2nd Verse

    Quaff the mist of years, past where you thought
     That dwarves were playing in the valley of rock
    Don’t listen to a decibel lower than the sound
    Of the one hand raised in perfect redound

    3rd Verse

    Bless your father and your mother whose ears
    Have turned to stone with worries and fears
    They planted their flag in the wind by the sea
    They pray on the ghost ridge and wait to be free

    4th Verse

    Whisper again and listen for the echo
    That lingers in the valley you used to know
    Keep a clear watch how the strain will peel you
    Keep your mind in tow for the brain will steel you 

    5th Verse

    Into the light, where you bow
    Where you offer news of then and now
    Where you fold your hands and wonder as you pray
    If you heard that thunder across the bay

    6th Verse

    Whisper blowing, softly into the day
    Let no shaft of light escape your sight today
    Listen to your commandments, as they
    Lead you to the words you hunger to pray

    To listen to an audio recording of this song, please visit “Against.”

    Commentary on “Against”

    My original song “Against” is a lament for our times—for all times.  The devotee/singer begs her soul to forsake the things of this world, which become so attractive that they hold one’s attention to the detriment of the soul.

    The spiritual aspirant, however, wishes to follow the way of spirit.  The way of spirit protects the individual “against”  all the things that hurt one physically, mentally, and spiritual.

    Chorus:  A Lament and Call to Struggle

    Against the tone of heartbreak
    Against the stone of night ache
    Against the wrong that leads you
    Against the blood that speeds you

    The broken heart, the mental-pain-induced inability to sleep, behaving inappropriately, and allowing the physical body to dictate one’s thoughts and behavior are all things the devotee of spirit must battle “against.” 

    Allowing the voice to express opposition through melody tempers the heart and mind, allowing soul power to influence the senses that have the tendency to become so greedy and obstructive.

    1st Verse:  Listening to the Music of the Spheres

    Whisper into the drum and see the bay of stars
    That permeate the golden night in silver bars
    Usher to the harp the placid palms of notes
    That wistfully breathe on strings of hope

    The singer demands of her soul that it listen to the music of the spheres [3], to observe the night sky for inspiration to follow the way of spirit.   The singer remains in search of hope through beauty of sight and sound.  The stars at night accompany the beauty of melody that the seeker/singer tis striving to engage.

    Quaff the mist of years, past where you thought
     That dwarves were playing in the valley of rock
    Don’t listen to a decibel lower than the sound
    Of the one hand raised in perfect redound

    2nd Verse:  Command to Turn Inward

    The singer commands her soul to move past the past—reflecting on the Zen koan, “The sound of the one hand” [4].

    By imbibing the tears of many years passed without knowledge, singer drinks her own heart’s deepest desires which turn the eye and the mind inward in search of the indwelling Lord, to Whom all reverence and devotion are due.

    3rd Verse:  The Unforgiven and Prayer

    Bless your father and your mother whose ears
    Have turned to stone with worries and fears
    They planted their flag in the wind by the sea
    They pray on the ghost ridge and wait to be free

    The singer commands her mind to forgive the sins of her forebears, who were innocent and did their best, even though they were ignorant of the exact way of spirit.   As the immature look about their environment, they crave to find a place more suitable to their talents. It is that impetus that drives the soul to eventually find its path back to its true home.

    4th Verse:  Focusing on Spirit

    Whisper again and listen for the echo
    That lingers in the valley you used to know
    Keep a clear watch how the strain will peel you
    Keep your mind in tow for the brain will steel you 

    The singer again commands her mind to take the lessons of her past gingerly, while recalling in the present that stress is the enemy of spiritual progress—keeping the mind focused is at the heart of the way of spirit.

    5th Verse:  Acknowledging Soul Reality

    Into the light, where you bow
    Where you offer news of then and now
    Where you fold your hands and wonder as you pray
    If you heard that thunder across the bay

    The devotee/singer acknowledges that she has progressed into awareness of “the light” and she continues to pray and supplicate. The singer then acknowledges that the heart and mind will continue to reflect on past and present even while seeking the way of spirit.

    6th Verse:  The Hunger to Pray the Right Prayer

    Whisper blowing, softly into the day
    Let no shaft of light escape your sight today
    Listen to your commandments, as they
    Lead you to the words you hunger to pray

    The singer then admonishes herself to step lightly and watch for any sightings of spiritual light, and above all to continue to follow the way of spirit as it leads her to its golden gate. She knows that she needs more exact words to offer the Divine, and she remains confident that she will find them through her dedicated prayer.

    Sources

    [1] The Monroe Brothers. “This World Is Not My Home.”  YouTube. Accessed October 29, 2025.

    [2] Paramahansa Yogananda. “The Purpose of Life.”  Self-Realization Fellowship. Accessed October 29, 2025.

    [3] M. N. K. Mander.  “Milton and the Music of the Spheres.”  Vol. 24, No. 2, May 1990. Milton Quarterly.  Via JSTOR.

    [4]  Yoel Hoffman.  The Sound of the One Hand.  Bantam. 1977. Print.  Online at Internet Archive.  Accessed October 29, 2025.

  • If My Words Could Rise & Other Poems

    Image: If My Words Could Rise & Other Poems

    Dedicated with my love and gratitude 
    to my sweet Ron

    The following poems appear in my collection titled If My Words Could Rise, available on Amazon as paperback or Kindle.

    1 If My Words Could Rise

    Dedicated to my sweet Ron

    If my words could rise
    Like smoke
    They would form your face
    In the clouds
    They would hang
    In the tops of the trees
    Looking for a nest
    Where a mother bird sits
    On eggs
    The color of your eyes

    2 In the Tops of the Trees

    “As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, then attack, for God has attacked in front of you to defeat the Philistine army.” —2 Samuel 5:25 Common English Bible

    –for the moldman, who screeched, “That’s my line!”

    No, dude, that is not your line!
    No matter how many times
    Or with how much spit
    You spew it.

    Trees and their tops
    And the words they live in
    Belong to all of us.  Go!
    Dig your hole–grovel in your slime.

    3 Dreams and Days

    “His tongue cuts / Slices of meat / From the hearts / And livers / Of those / Who would love him” – “Between Slices of Bread” —from Linda Sue Grimes’ At the End of the Road

    I quote myself, well then,
    I quote myself —
    I include multitudes —
    Uncle Walt taught me that much.

    The man in the poem
    Cannot bring himself to say
    Or to pray about his own lividness
    He shuts out spaces and commas
    Lives in his own relevance.

    He murders his own children
    With his viper attitude
    And nibbles the ankles
    Of prostitutes
    Who erase his will to power on.

    You have seen him
    Perhaps did not recognize him —
    He has sat in your parlor
    Sipping your coffee
    Dusting off his duplicitous moves —

    He fears death but not yours
    He imagines you at the bottom
    Of a cold, black ocean
    Your tongue bait for the fishes
    His Bolshevik brain conjures.

    Your freedom is a fantasy 
    If you remain too close to his heat
    Get your life back – get your love back
    Where God made you in his image
    And you are close to seeing it.

    4 Flesh and Desire

    “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.”  —T. S. Eliot

    Into the fire of wisdom, thoughts go to perish.
    “Get thee behind me, Satan!” Christ commands.
    But we still wobble behind the Devil
    Hoping to be snatched from the arms of death
    In time for supper and for the many tomorrows
    We image we still possess.
    In the valley of dreck and poison, I have lived
    Even as I knew better or thought I did.
    No, I am not here to testify.
    Although a word or two of testimony
    May slip out every line or so!
    I can pound sand with the best of them.
    But I can also bitch and moan.
    Where is the beginning of joy and rectitude?
    One might ask.  Where is the promise?
    O, come on!  You know where the promise is . . .
    Yes, just testing the waters and they are warm.
    Every time I delay, I am warned.  Just pray
    And wait and listen close and tight to the hum
    In the brain.  I will follow.  I will follow close.
    Yes, I will.  And flesh with its crude desire
    Will no longer taint the years
    With their distractions.
    The mercy of Spirit will wipe my tears. 

  • Command Performance: Singing for God and Guru

    Image:  Command Performance 

    Command Performance: Singing for God and Guru

    To Thee I humbly offer my songs
    That Thou hast given me

    Introduction

    These poems grow out of my experience serving as harmonium player/chant leader for our Nashville Self-Realization Fellowship Sunday Readings Service.  

    I title this collection Command Performance for I have attempted to retire from the chant leader position, offering it to other devotees, but no one thus far wishes to take it from me.  

    And often I have come to the chapel Readings Service, thinking I would merely be attending, only to find that the scheduled chant leader was unavailable and so the service leader would prevail upon me to fill the void; thus, another “command performance.”  

    I reason that Guruji Paramahansa Yogananda is commanding me to continue performing this function, as long as I am capable. 

    Poems from Chants

    These original poem were all inspired by the chant, whose title is offered following the poem title.

    Who says, She is Dark?

    —after “Thousands of Suns and Moons”

    Her smile beams
    With the rays
    Of a millions suns.

    Her skin glows
    With the light
    Of a million moons.

    Who says, She is dark?

    Only those who refuse
    To open their eye
    To her light.

    Joy, Joy, Joy!

    —after “Ever New Joy”

    Joy, joy, joy—
    Morning has broken in joy.
    Light of starlight, hiding
    Behind the sun.

    Joy, joy, joy—
    Noon breaks bread
    Lovingly baked
    By God-guided hands.

    Joy, joy, joy—
    Evening calls the faithful
    To rest from a full day’s labor
    Practiced by Divine decree.

    Joy, joy, joy—
    Night covers maya’s delusion
    So the spiritual eye
    May bound in brilliance.

    Thou art That

    —after “Hymn to Brahma”

    Beyond my thoughts,
    Beyond my ideas,
    Beyond my knowledge,
    Far beyond my wisdom—
    Thou are That.

    Beyond my body,
    Beyond my mind,
    Beyond my energy,
    One with my soul—
    Thou art That.

    Drowning in Glory

    —after “I Am the Bubble, Make Me the Sea”

    You wake my senses to clear sight, glorious sound,
    Intelligent touch, pure fragrance, tempered taste.
    You wake my senses by drowning them in Glory
    Inundating them in the silence of Your vastness,
    Spilling on them the majestic light show
    Of Your body, bound by boundlessness.

    In the ocean of Your love, my bubble heart
    Contracts and expands to eternity.
    My restless brain shrinks and extends
    Its reach to unknown realms of wisdom.
    My soul knows itself in the crash of breaking worlds
    Where it stands unshaken hand in hand with You.
    As You do, so I wish to do forever,
    Drowning in the Glory of Your sacred presence.

  • Singing in Soul Silence: Voices of Faith 

    Image:  Singing in Soul Silence: Voices of Faith 

    Singing in Soul Silence: Voices of Faith 

    for Ron, who makes my life a place for poetry

    The following poems appear in my collection titled Singing in Soul Silence: Voices of Faith available on Amazon.

    1 Invitation

    Into my garden of weeds 
    Come, Eternal Gardener— 
    Teach me to plant and prune fine foliage.
    Show me where to set the lilies and tulips
    And where the roses should grow.
    Guide my choices of herbs and vegetables.
    Give me knowledge of fertilizer and fences.

    Into my garden of words
    Come, Eternal Poet—
    Make my poems exude divine ardor.
    Fashion my thoughts to bow at your feet.
    Make my images spout living waters
    From an enlightened fount
    To refresh all who dip a cup.

    2 In My Spiritual Garden

    In my spiritual garden
    I walk with you when the sun is medicine
    And the rain suckles the beets and corn.
    I walk with you between the rows of memories
    Where love holds you between peppers and tomatoes.

    I walk with you along the fence
    And touch your hand and step across
    Thinking of you as I pick the peas,
    Still thinking of you as I weed 
    The beans and cucumbers.

    I walk with you and with every silent step
    And every moment of your absence
    That would weaken the faith of one
    Less in love, my love grows deep
    Like the roots of the bamboo and my love
    Grows straight like the stalks of asparagus.

    In my spiritual garden I will always grow you
    In the medicine sun and the suckling rain.

    3 Divine Gardner

    After we scoop the soil
    over the seeds
    & sprinkle the water
    & pluck the weeds,

    you will tend the growing
    & tempt the eye with green
    & yellow peppers,
    & tempt the tongue
    with onions & corn,
    & invite us to taste your flesh
    in cucumbers & tomatoes.

    I will stand at the edge of the garden,
    my lips & tongue tending the silence
    I learn to thank you with.

    4 My Divine Beloved

    When spring comes
    Tilling the ground
    I will plant seeds
    And think of you
    You are earth
    You build my body.

    When spring comes
    Showering young plants
    I will sing with raindrops
    And think of you
    You are water
    You carry my life.

    When spring comes
    Warming my limbs
    I will brown my skin
    And think of you
    You are fire
    You inflame my heart.

    When spring comes
    Swirling on the wind
    I will lean into it
    And think of you
    You are air
    You clear my mind.

    When spring comes
    Rising from winter’s tomb
    I will sing devotion
    And think of you
    You are my Divine Beloved
    You revive my soul.

    5 Your Divine Love

    My heart is a lake I swim in,
    But I want to float in the ocean of your love.

    My mind is a sky I fly through,
    But I want to soar through your omniscient love.

    My soul is an undiscovered star,
    But I want to find it shining in your flaming love.

    My dream spreads out in all directions,
    Searching for the boundary of your Divine Love.

    6 Cosmic Beloved

    Though my heart is fickle
    And strays from you,
    You never stray from me.
    Your love for me
    Never waivers.

    You came to me in youth’s naiveté
    And married my folly,
    And for a time I slept without rest
    In the arms of a splintering sorrow
    Deep within a cave of madness.
    When I emerged from that black night,
    You greeted me as my daughter.
    You blessed the rest of my life
    With a holy union when you became 
    My true mate with whom I rest
    In the cave of a peaceful heart.
    And you greet me as my son.

    When I go off from time to time
    To carouse with the lesser lights
    Of poets and painters and dabblers
    In pursuit of knowledge,
    You become each one of them
    So you can stay by my side—

    You love me that much.

    © Linda Sue Grimes 2013.  All rights reserved.