Let now the offices that Adam bore*
of Prophet, Priest, & King bear fruit as well
in bearing of each fam’ly group. At core
relating as humanity’s no shell
but comes out when we keep ourselves in love;
creative and committed in “long hauls”
of not just putting up with things that “shove”
into our lives*, though other times they’re small
sometimes they seem to grow, because of us,
our presence seems to make the problem real.
And that’s the way it seems to be, no fuss
can make it disappear til we do feel
things pressing in and entering our lives -
In choosing not to live alone we let
a partnership begin. Husbands & wives
are learning these same things. At least I bet
that those who let love grow between them do,
as rituals allow for them to show
a tenderness and longing for their “who”
they’ll share all life with, and they’ll really know.
A partnership means “withness” in a way.
To partner with creative love itself
is greatest thing that I can do today.
And I will learn to be that kind of “self”.
Oh God, we love your patient presence with
us, in these jobs you’ve given us to do,
and also other times, with kin and kith.
We want to learn companionship from you.
Footnotes
t* - the stuff consistently spoken of as the motivation and glue in lasting covenants is KHESED (the Hebrew word meaning covenant love, loving kindness, eternal love, everlasting love, etc). A contract is a “Left Brain” image, or attempt to cover what functions it perceives of the “Right Brain” relational covenant.
e* - metaphor comment: to bear an office is the acknowledgement of an upward connection, that if we hold true to will enable our downward roots to bear and support us in our bearing of fruit in this middle section where we live most our lives - between the heavens and the earth, until we sleep in the Earth from which we were taken and given a heavenly breath.
s* - the ancient home-spun wisdom of James: “ When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence. And if, in the process, any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem he has only to ask God—who gives generously to all men without making them feel foolish or guilty—and he may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given him. But he must ask in sincere faith without secret doubts as to whether he really wants God’s help or not. The man who trusts God, but with inward reservations, is like a wave of the sea, carried forward by the wind one moment and driven back the next. That sort of man cannot hope to receive anything from God, and the life of a man of divided loyalty will reveal instability at every turn...”(James 1:2-12ff)
