Memorizing the Verses of God

8 Asma 163 B.E. – 27, 2006 A.D.

It is interesting what terminology stays with a person from childhood. When I was growing up my parents and grand parents referred to the first section of the Bible as the Old Testament and the second section as the New Testament. In Sunday School, I memorized scriptures from both sections, but today I remember only “The Lord is my Shepherd” and “The Lord’s Prayer”, which were both my favorites.

I can remember standing on the stage in front of the entire congregation and reciting:

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
“He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”

Those verses, from the King James Version of the Bible, were the first lines of spiritual poetry I learned by heart.

At the time I learned the 23rd Psalms, I was attending Vacation Bible School at the Southern Baptist Mission in Blackwell, Oklahoma. I’m not sure how old I was when I memorized this Psalms, maybe in the first grade or earlier. I know that Vacation Bible School had classes for children as young as four or five.

I remember learning those verses with relative ease. It isn’t that way today, I’m attempting to learn a prayer by Baha’u’llah and I’m having a difficult time memorizing. It seem memorization gets harder as we get older. However, memorization isn’t impossible for those of us past [put in whatever age you want here], it just takes longer. I’ve found that as I mature, I have to read the prayer I’m memorizing several times a day. The advantage to this is that I now have to take several “prayer breaks” from writing and composing, which helps my muse and creativity.

The Path Home

The Path Home

The Glory of God
cast out all shadows of doubt
united humanity.

What more could I ask,
than forgiveness of past sins
and strength to push back darkness.

I saw His light shine
above the forest of fear,
revealing a new path out.

I follow that road
through woods that hide the future
behind trees, under shadows.

There is no reason to fear
because the Glory of God
illumines my path.

I am going home
leaving behind the forest,
leaving behind fear.

Thoughts on God

15 Kamal 163 B.E. - August 15, 2006 A.D.


NOTE: While this was written today (August 15) in my pen and paper journal, it won't be posted to the blog until August 16. I'm leaving the date written instead of the date posted. Not quite sure where this poem is going yet, this is just the beginning of it, this is just brainstorming.

I write that God is unknowable, creation's primal will.

What metaphor denotes unknowable essence?

How do I express what I cannot comprehend
And how can I comprehend a breath exhaled from creation's primal will?
Desire echoes across the parsecs of interstellar space.

Creations's genesis two letters breathed form the hidden cause,
To be known the word the generated stellar evolution,
Knew love for the uncreated creation.

He is God, but how can spirit's essence have a gender,
She is God is just a valid.

Divine essence birthless deathless not incarnated into sentient-material form
To know God is to know God's Manifestations.

Humanity the creation,
Sentient life forms the creation.

We know divine singularity through the reflection in creation's mirror
The Manifestation of reality,
God is He beaus His Manifestations are male
But birth into the world of matter requires a female womb to hold the embryonic material from which the Manifestation's body is formed.

Divine reality one essence many names
A thousand worlds produce a thousand sentient races
A thousand names for a single divine essence
A thousand names and more.

We the creation worship the essence through the mirrors
And we survive the death that comes with material bodies.

On a Beach in Mexico

7 Kamal 163 B.E. - August 7, 2006


The picture on the postcard shows a beach in Mexico. There is a dog sitting on the beach at the edge of the surf looking out to sea. He is a black dog sitting on the white sand looking out at the turquoise ocean and the sapphire sky. He is just sitting the staring toward the horizon waiting for something or someone to come out of the surf onto the beach or be washed upon the beach by the waves. Sometimes writing spiritual poetry is like that for the mystic. The mystic looks toward the ocean of God's love, for inspiration and poetic theme. The mystic waits for something to come out of the surf or wash upon the beach and nothing comes. It is times like this that the mystic must get up and walk into the waves and swim in the ocean. Until the mystic gets up and enters the water and swims in the ocean my words will come. However, once the mystic enters the ocean and begins to pray, meditate and read the sacred writings then the muse comes and the words are born out of the interaction between the mystic and the ocean of God's love.