As I continue to work my way through my books of poetry, I have come the last J. It is A Night without Armor by the famous singer-songwriter, Jewel Kilcher. It contains poems from her journals as she grew up in Alaska. The poem that moved me most was next to the last one, so written, I imagine, in her twenties.
God Exists Quietly
God exists quietly.
When I sit still and contemplate
the breeze that moves upon me
I can hear Him.
For hours I would lay
flat upon the meadows
stare at the
endless field of blue sky
and revel in
the divine placement of all things.
I would walk alone
in the woods and let my mind wander
freely, stumble across theories
on the origins of myself
and all things.
In nature I knew all things had
their place. None supreme,
none insignificant and so
great peace would come to me
as I fit neatly in the folds
between dawn and twilight.
Living in sync with the rhythm
of the earth, eating what
we grew, warming
ourselves by the coal fire,
creating
myself in the vast silence that existed
between the wild mountains of Alaska
and our front porch.
I grew to love the
Nature of god.
I knew Him best not in churches, but
alone with the sun shining on me through the trees
It birthed a space in me
that would continue to
crave the sacred
and demand sanctity
as my life took flight
and lit out to travel
the world.
It has grounded me
and held me steady
in the strong winds
that have caried me
so far from
where I have been.
Prayer is the greatest
swiftest
ship my heart could sail upon.
I am presently reading a book that I think the Jewel who wrote this poem would resonate with. It is The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature by David George Haskell. It is written in beautiful poetic prose. He would agree with Jewel that “all things had their place.”
Jewel’s experience of what some of us might call the divine in nature created in her a craving for the sacred and a demand for sanctity. It does not happen to everyone, but for many it has. So, again, I am encouraged to spend time immersed in the world of nature.
The title of this poem, so impressed me that I too wrote a poem in 2002. I have written other non-haiku poems, but trust me, none deserve printing! I share this one only because Jewel’s poem inspired it.
Unhurried, unharried, God exists quietly
Impassible Silence weaving improbable dreams
into the fabric of life lightly.
As always I welcome comments and encourage you, that if you find this blog helpful, you share it with others, welcoming them to follow it as also.
Peace,
LaMon
Pathways to God 