Eden’s Cradlesong
After reading my dirge poem The Ego’s Eden, a Sister of the Oratory (Anne TN) wrote and suggested I also share something I wrote to myself one evening last month and subsequently read a few days later in my Awake in Stillness class. It is from a less resistant part of my process than The Ego’s Eden. For the sake of contrast, I have structured it as a poem for this post, and titled it…
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Eden’s Cradlesong
Just be patient.
If you are not patient
you will scare yourself.
Don’t run ahead of Jesus.
Wait for him with his light.
Walk with him.
He knows the best pace for you.
He says, “Together we have the lamp,”
but notice the word together.
Don’t do this Course on your own.
Don’t think you know anything.
Know that you don’t know anything,
and then you will know
the one thing you need to know:
That all you need is Jesus
and his lamp.
He is your everything.
He is this Course.
His love.
His song.
Don’t try and write your own song;
you will fail.
There is a song
that has been made for you,
written by the quiet hands
of forgiveness,
and it is the same song
as everyone else’s song.
It is the Holy Spirit’s song
of Atonement.
Lay down your instrument
and let the song be played for you
and through you.
You do not have to write it.
It has been been written for you
and now your job is simply
to listen.
But you won’t hear it
as long as you prefer
the dissonant
and cacophonous
shrieks of the ego.
Bring those shrieks
to the quiet melody
and let your heart tell you
which you prefer.
It knows.
The shrieks will dissolve
and disappear
and all that will be left
is the song that was made for you
and everyone.
And then you will realize
it was a song that you wrote for yourself
a long time ago.
And you will realize
it has always played in the background.
Sometimes you heard it.
Sometimes not at all.
It is no longer the forgotten song,
but remembered gladly.
And now you hear it all around you.
And you realize it was always there.
Waiting for you.
Holding you.
Comforting you on your journey.
And as you are held by this song,
as you open yourself to it,
you will disappear into the heart of love
and become the song.
As you take your part
in the great song of forgiveness
it becomes an offering to God
and the entire Sonship
in praise of the love
that resides in us all –
a Love that had no beginning
and has no ending;
where no tiny thought
of madness
could ever interfere.
An eternal Oneness
joined as
One.
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Wow! I am feeling afraid in a seemingly threatening situation, feeling helpless and really at a place of surrender because I truly don’t know what to do right now. This poem gave me such a feeling of peace and comfort, thank you for sharing the beautiful message of the Course and reminding me of the love that never leaves. Thank you
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Thank you for the transcription of the poem. I already heard it a lot of times from the class, but now I can read it very slowly and enjoy the feeling of peace little by little. It is very comforting to have this help. I am sure all the Monastery will welcome it.
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Very deep & beautiful, Jamie–Hugs
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Being carried down a quiet path in summer!
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:02 pm
ACIM Monk,
First off, for some reason, part of my mind wants to type “ACID MONK”, when I address you. This is an obvious projection on my part, as the legacy of my late 1960’s “Search For Truth” (copywrite pending) pops to the surface of my quietly bubbling unconscious mind (I visualize my mother’s spagetti sauce simmering on the stove all day long).
This is a wonderful poem, an uplifting ode to our true destiny, as revealed in the spiritual promise of the Course. We can, in unconscious masochistic glee, revel in the horror of our ego, torturing ourselves with the sheer evil within (much like the people who watch COPS on TV to slum-it and experience at a safe distance how the “Freeze! You’re Under Arrest” crowd live).
Your poem is a well-timed balance to the previous post, which exemplified the perilous journey into the ego. This poem presents the rest of the story, sharing the blessing we receive from Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
I loved the line “Don’t run ahead of Jesus”. I tend to feel such guilt about not doing the Course deeply enough or fast enough. Sometimes I fear I am chasing Jesus, as if he is perhaps walking much too fast for me.
You addressed this topic in one of your classes. I am 57 years old, and at times I feel like I must hurry to get all I can from the Course before I pass on or go gaa gaa (e.g., Ronald Reagan in diapers).
I have this fear that I’d come back for another life in Bulgaria or Des Moines, or some other place where the Course is not easy to find. I don’t want to have to waste time again going through toilet training, the childhood hierarchy game in school, puburty (OMG), just in the vain hope that I’d find the Course again an continue my lessons. Like a student in college, I ask the Holy Spirit “Can I take more credits this semester so I can just get it over with?”
Your poem suggests that we relax and just take the hand of Jesus, and know that the journey has already been completed. I tell my chaperoning ego “Go solve the problems in the Middle East, and let me be!” Actually, this ploy does work for a short time, as my ego goes off into batch processing mode (old computer programming lingo) and I can sneak a cuddle with Jesus.
Thanks for your blog.
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:42 am
Thank you my beloved brother.
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:57 am
Thank you…………..
With Gratitude and Love….
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:08 am
Mmmmmm! Very soothing and beautiful. Thank you!
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:24 am
So beautiful. This blog is such a Gift. Jamey to be a part of this beautiful and very powerful spiritual transformation you are going through has made it my own.
I do not have the words for this.
Thank-you so very very much.
Ruth-Anne
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:27 am
So, so touched. As I listen to the beautiful music and read your words, I am simply overwhelmed by the presence of love that pours through. I actually had to stop the first time through, take a break, let the tears come. But the second time through, I was better able to let a little of the love come in, and I am so grateful. Thank you for being such a source of inspiration and love for me. I find I am nourished by this blog time after time, and again, so thankful you are back online.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:44 am
So soothing, like warm balm. Thanks, dear Monk!
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Wonderful stuff. “No longer the forgotten song…” I love it. Blessings from France.
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:48 pm
I love lamp.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:44 am
This is for Will Christie:
LOL This is exactly as my ego does too. How nice it is to see it expressed. Oh, to really TAKE IN that the exams were cancelled, no credits needed – just a warm welcome!(My ego found that really irritating first – having worked SO hard and SO diligently – and then it is free entrance for everybody? shouldn’t MOI at least go almost first??)
Ahhh
no credits! lots of smiles and laughter – did we really believe all that was necessary?
thanks Will
—
“I have this fear that I’d come back for another life in Bulgaria or Des Moines, or some other place where the Course is not easy to find. I don’t want to have to waste time again going through toilet training, the childhood hierarchy game in school, puburty (OMG), just in the vain hope that I’d find the Course again an continue my lessons. Like a student in college, I ask the Holy Spirit “Can I take more credits this semester so I can just get it over with?”
Your poem suggests that we relax and just take the hand of Jesus, and know that the journey has already been completed. I tell my chaperoning ego “Go solve the problems in the Middle East, and let me be!” Actually, this ploy does work for a short time, as my ego goes off into batch processing mode (old computer programming lingo) and I can sneak a cuddle with Jesus.”
June 25th, 2009 at 9:46 am
You don´t know how soothing it is after spending my quiet time with God in the morning to listen to Brahms and read your poem. It´s like a push to begin the day and go again out to the world. Thank you so much.
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Wandering quietly around the monastery tonight…thank you for this post. It provides the reminder of hope when the heart is heavy. What beautiful poetry and music…
August 24th, 2009 at 4:13 am
thank you so much, sisterann, for pointing to this post…. it is exactly what i needed at this moment!
September 27th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Wonderful poem, wonderful comments, thank you all :]
January 30th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
And I am here AGAIN, I am visiting this post almost twice daily during the past days. Great relief, real experience of Jesus´hand. Thanks Monk, again. This is a precious gift for me in the Monastery. Hugs and love, Lisi