Arrival

I am in a “heart-fusion” with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It has become the greatest constant in my daily life. The breakthrough occurred during a ten-day intensive Centering Prayer retreat in August, 2003. The poem “Arrival” was among the first of a group of poetic meditations I wrote shortly after that life-changing event:

I didn’t see You come in.
I don’t know when You got here, or how;
Were You here from the beginning,
Or have You arrived only of late?
You know but are not saying;
It doesn’t matter anyway, I suppose
As long as You are here in me
And I am here with You.

How is it we can occupy the same space,
At the same time, comfortably
Co-existing as if designed for each other?
How can You be rooted in what is most me, my secret self,
How can I discover my Life in Your unseen Spirit?
Yet through everything I remain quite myself
And You Yourself.
Behold the dazzling truth: We are.
Nothing is lost in our union
But the All in all is gained.

I finally have what I’ve been after,
Waiting so long I’d nearly forgotten why
I started down the path toward life with You.
Now that I have arrived through Your arrival
I find this is much, much simpler than I had imagined.
All I had to do was, if not let You in,
At least consent to You in me,
Gratefully surrender to Your home-making with me.

I have what I came here for;
The only thing which truly matters is mine.
Now I am ready to go, or stay
Without fear of want ever claiming another day.