We Are All Strangers and Pilgrims
POETRY FORMAT, 27 Dec 2021
Lanza del Vasto – TRANSCEND Media Service
Let us light a fire at the crossroads, to call on the name of the Lord.
Let us close the circle and make a temple in the wind.
Let us make of where we chance to be a temple.
For the time has come to worship in spirit and in truth,
to give thanks in every place and at all times.
Let us set a term to time, a center to outer darkness,
And make ourselves present at the present.
The present we pursued in vain throughout our days,
For it was far from us at its time of being.
Now, here it is, before our eyes and in our hearts: the present.
Fire is the present burning and shining, the present praying.
Fire is the sacrifice of what burns, warmth of life and joy to see.
Fire is the death of dead things, and their return to the light.
Fire of joy! Suffering and joy within each other.
Love is the joy of suffering.
Fire is life and death within each other, appearance being consumed and substance appearing.
Let us sing glory in the tongue of fire, evident and clear to all men.
And you, passers-by on the road of the four winds,
Step into the round and put your hands in ours.
Blow on us, Lord! Blow our prayer into flame,
So that our hearts of sticks and thorns
and their fickle spark of life may somehow serve Thy glory.
Amen
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Lanza del Vasto was an Italian philosopher, poet, artist, Catholic and nonviolent activist. He was born in San Vito dei Normanni, Italy and died in Murcia, Spain. A western disciple of Mohandas K. Gandhi, he worked for inter-religious dialogue, spiritual renewal, ecological activism and nonviolence. Wikipedia
Submitted by TRANSCEND Member Prof. Antonino Drago
Tags: Inspirational, Poetry, Religion, Spirituality
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 27 Dec 2021.
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