FACIM D5: The Christ in You
I lost a close friend today. One of the kindest and most generous friends of my life.
After an early morning meeting with Ken, during which he was extremely loving and tender, I decided to skip classes and come home early. I’m glad I did — it was the right thing to do.
It was my first drive alone for several months, and it gave me a lot of time to think and reflect, to look at my thoughts and ask for help.
In the early part of the drive I fluctuated between crying and serenity, and after a couple of hours settled into gratitude for all that the friendship has taught me, and will continue to teach me. For all it has given me, and will continue to give me. After my father’s death I really learned that relationships don’t end when physical bodies appear to separate, so I know I can continue to communicate with my friend, and that my life will remain enriched with the presence of their memory.
.
To give you a peek into my experience on the drive:
As I came around the mountain that reveals Las Vegas, this is what came on the radio:
(Last night was the 28th anniversary of John Lennon’s death. I like how the “War is Over” chorus reflects the end of our mind as a battleground… when we finally end our war with Jesus.)
And later, as I drove into my town just as the sun was setting, just as class was ending in Temecula, this is the song that was playing on the radio:
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(I bought this on Amazon when I got home so you could hear the exact version/musician.)
At the end of Saturday’s class, Ken read Helen’s first poem, The Gifts of Christmas. As another year of workshops come to a close, it’s a fitting end to the “Last Workshop Before Christmas.” I hope everyone enjoyed my trip updates throughout the year and found them helpful in the walk we make together -- our journey Home. So here is the poem, in honor of my friend:
The Gifts of Christmas
December 25, 1969
(p.95/Later poems)
Christ passes no one by. By this you know
He is God’s Son. You recognize His touch
In universal gentleness. His Love
Extends to everyone. His eyes behold
The Love of God in everything He sees.
No words but those His Father’s Voice dictates
Can reach His ears. His hands forever hold
His brother’s, and His arms remain outstretched
In holy welcome. Would you look on Him
And hear Him calling you this Christmas day?
Behold, He offers you His eyes to see,
His ears to listen to His Father’s Voice,
His hands to hold His brothers’, and His arms
To reach to Him as He would reach to you.
You are as like to Him as He to God,
And you to God because you are like Him.
All that he offers you is but your own.
Accept His gifts to you this Christmas day,
That you who are as God created you,
May come to recognize the Christ in you.
