Look for the Way to Know

Look for the Way to Know

            1.   I believe it was Loren Eiseley who first said that however

                  we comprehend the almighty, it is one of “the many

                  faces of God.”

            2.   Only this week a friend said to me, “Just by using the

                  word God, you’re a believer somehow.

            3.   I grew up in Protestant fundamentalism and walked

                  away from it. Still, some kind of intimacy with God via

                  Jesus has appeal.

            4.   It seems plausible that on another planet in 30

                  millennia, we’ll hear from the lips of Jesus, ”I told you

                  so; Welcome, you’re perfect.”

            5.   Wild possibilities! That’s what I think. I don’t care so

                  much about the how, but that underneath it all, there’s a

                  why.

            6.   Look for a way to know. It makes life better—prepared;

                  as The Tao Te Ching says, to be made rugged and

                  common as a stone.

            7.   Imperturbability seems part of the Plan, the possibility:

                  Wolf and lamb. Peace on “earth.”

Bound

God, I search

for the way to address

You—

He, She, It or

sometimes, I even wonder,

should it be We—

that somehow in

the deepest reaches

in our weak faith

we are You, the

curse and blessing

you have given us,

our failures and successes

in the consciousness of the

Gift.

When we fling ourselves

at your feet in fear

and let lie there

we again are picked up

and bound as you were and

Know.

© 2012 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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The Pure Fire is Below

The Pure Fire is Below

            1.   We listen hard and longingly for the siren song of

                  success.

            2.   But more than we’re willing to say, we do so rocking

                  back on our heels rather than poised on the balls of our

                  feet.

            3.   That’s not a bad thing at all if we’ll give up the play-

                  acting and acknowledge our good place in our fallow

                  times.

            4.   The quiet, gray, fallow times may follow earnest effort

                  and accomplishment or, perhaps, perceived failure.

                  They’re times for reassessment.

            5.   Did you ever consider that life draws its significance

                  for us from the fact we know we’re going to die? Now

                  what?

            6.   It’s good to put a positive spin on loss and shortcomings

                  so long as you count it learning, growing, getting real.

            7.   I notice the intensity of feeling is greater when I so-called

                  “lose“ than when I so-called “win.” That’s the

                  redeemable me.

Release

down, down

going down

not up

realization

has come

now and then

in moments of

desolation

real worth in

conflict when

eventually truth

and good will

win out

when people

have grown down

not up

admission a

painful release

a light goes on

a bond

is made

© 2012 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Program Your Payoffs

Program Your Payoffs

            1.   Spontaneity can take its flight in the midst of structure.

            2.   The beautiful house, that wins your look of awe, could

                  not stand without a firm foundation. Where comes the

                  flower without its root?

            3.   On walks over familiar ground and among the regular, I

                  see sights that surprise and delight, others that that

                  shock and disturb.

            4.   We say variety is the spice of life, but many forays fail to

                  produce true change, but just some same-ol’, same-ol’

            5.   In old or new settings, it’s being anticipatory that can

                  keep us awake in a chair and calm in a storm.

            6.   It is along the way to the payoff that we often find the   

                  payoff.

            7.   On my walks to the heron, sometimes sauntering or with

                  a bounce in my step, I may meet a stranger.

Avenue

They call it an avenue,

just outside our place,

but it’s pretty rough

and lacks for sidewalks

most of its distance

as it makes its way past

modest houses with

gravelly fronts and carports—

just perfect for walks.

There’s a house with

a wall of bougainvillea

that beckons,

blows me kisses

from its thin red lips,

and over there, one

sheltered by a Torrey Pine

of massive trunk and

overhead sweep that

nods in greeting as I

pass beneath it.

The railroad runs

behind the houses

on the west side,

reminding me of

another time

along the tracks

reaching my stature.

Overall, it’s a two-mile

stretch, an occasional

runner, a mom with

buggy and babe, a few

shops, the four-way

cross street, then

the easy stride to the

wetlands lagoon,

and if I’m lucky,

there standing, on one

thin reed of a leg

a treasure in serenity,

that tall white heron.

© 2012 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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