SEEING GOD

Tear back the cloud-curtains of the sky,
O, God of the universe,
and reveal Your face.

No, No, do not.
I would be incinerated
by the blazing light of Your perfection,
unworthy as I am to face You.

Purify me first, gentle Jesus, Lamb of God.
Send but the most infinitesimal glimpse
of some far distant reflection
of a reflection of Your Godhead.

But, of course, You already do that
daily, hourly, every second:
Your majesty writ in star-fire,
Your glory in infant eyes, in honey cakes,
in perfect snow-flakes,
in every breath I breathe,
in all the glories of this grand earth
which I take for granted daily.

Oh, Holy One,
do at least drop the stones from my eyes.
Let me see the pure goodness
and fatherly perfection which is Yours
everywhere in this world.

Light the earthly path
You want me to follow.
Open my heart to the least of the least
of Your creatures on earth,
the lonely lost sheep whose courage falters,
and who need a helping heart.

Teach me, reaching out,
to remember that You are already here
around me at every moment
in every place, every day,
if I only have eyes to see.

Give me, God, eyes to see!
All this I pray this day,

Amen

 

(c) 2012 Donn B. Murphy
(c) Hubble Telescope image of star-flare; sky image image v4vikey