posted May 02, 2007 01:21 AM         

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat - and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet -
"All things betray thee, who betrayest Me."

I pleaded, outlaw-wise,
By many a hearted casement, curtained red,
Trellised with intertwining charities;
(For, though I knew His love Who followèd,
Yet I was sore adread
Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside.)
But, if one little casement parted wide,
The gust of His approach would clash it to.
Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue.
Across the margent of the world I fled,
And troubled the gold gateways of the stars,
Smiting for shelter on their clangèd bars;
Fretted to dulcet jars
And silvern chatter the pale ports o' the moon.
I said to Dawn: Be sudden - to Eve: Be soon;
With thy young skiey blossoms heap me over
From this tremendous Lover -
Float thy vague veil about me, lest He see!
I tempted all His servitors, but to find
My own betrayal in their constancy,
In faith to Him their fickleness to me,
Their traitorous trueness, and their loyal deceit.
To all swift things for swiftness did I sue;
Clung to the whistling mane of every wind.
But whether they swept, smoothly fleet,
The long savannahs of the blue;
Or whether, Thunder-driven,
They clanged His chariot 'thwart a heaven,
Plashy with flying lightnings round the spurn o' their feet: -
Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue.
Still with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
Came on the following Feet,
And a Voice above their beat -
"Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me."

Now of that long pursuit
Comes on at had the bruit;
That Voice is round me like a bursting sea:
"And is thy earth so marred,
Shattered in shard on shard?
Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me!
Strange, piteous, futile thing!
Wherfore should any set thee love apart?
Seeing none but I make much of naught" (He said),
"And human love needs human meriting:
How hast thou merited -
Of all man's clotted clay, the dingiest clot?
Alack, thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art!
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me?
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come."

Halts by me that footfall:
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
"Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seekest!
Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me."

posted May 07, 2007 07:12 PM         

While out of our own fears of what that union with God may mean in loss of our own desires and pursuits, we look for others and other things to fulfill that feeling of lack or void in us instead.

Yet God never gives up on us.

Maybe that is what you meant in your reply, BrightStar. I have a hard time with one liners when people throw them out there because it leaves too much room for guess work, speculation and intrepretation as to what the person is attempting to convey.

posted May 15, 2007 03:38 AM         

Our source or... Thee Source?

Possible Energy obliteration! No thank you

posted May 15, 2007 07:54 AM         

quote:

---

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
**********************************************************
Across the margent of the world I fled,
And troubled the gold gateways of the stars,
**********************************************************
I tempted all His servitors, but to find
My own betrayal in their constancy,
In faith to Him their fickleness to me,
Their traitorous trueness, and their loyal deceit.
**********************************************************
Plashy with flying lightnings round the spurn o' their feet:

---

quote:

---

Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me?
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.

---

posted May 15, 2007 11:06 AM         

Much of what I hear from others around LL relating to God and religion I find disturbing and do not agree with either.

Basically, it is about how out of love for us God is constantly wooing and pursuing us back to him while we run away from him in our own pursuits in life. If you think about it that is very true. Yet God never gives up on us. I find it both beautiful and inspiring how God woos us like a lover.

I imagine that the term "hound" was chosen to draw the correlation to the hound dog in pursuit of it's prey. Though God does not see us as prey and is nothing like a hound dog.

Where do you think all energy comes from, Lei_Kuei? What do you think is "THE" source? I think God is "OUR" source and "THE" source of everything. So really, it's just semantics we are talking about here is it not?

Whether one finds the poem creepy or beautiful and inspiring is a matter of one's own perception.

I like the poem. Always did. Find it inspiring.

posted May 15, 2007 05:20 PM         

quote:

---

I imagine that the term "hound" was chosen to draw the correlation to the hound dog in pursuit of it's prey. Though God does not see us as prey and is nothing like a hound dog.

---

GOD anagrams to DOG.
DOG anagrams to GOD.

Was the author being wry?

posted May 15, 2007 05:27 PM         

quote:

---

the false god, the one that requires sacrifice

---

posted May 15, 2007 05:30 PM         

I think this goes along the lines of what Silverstone posted in his string the Sphinx,
his last post, about interference, into this
World, hmmmm, lots to think about!

posted May 16, 2007 01:06 AM         

Yes as close as the jugular vein and heart and soul and total being is God. But the poem is depicting those who do not yet know this about God. To me it kind of describes those side trips we take away from our spiritual journies in life now and then in pursuit of things of this world.

It's a poem, as most poems are, of metaphors. Not religious ed. I doubt that Thompson thought of GOD and DOG when he wrote this poem. I think the hound was a metaphor to describe the relentlessness of God calling all of humanity back to him, to that oneness that we were created for.

God gently calls all of humanity back to the oneness with him and all creation. Not as a hound, but think about a hound relentlessly never giving up on his prey. It's metaphor of how God never gives up on us but is relentlessly gently calling us back to oneness with him. Remember the picture depicting Jesus standing outside of a door knocking? Well, if you notice there is only one door knob and it is not on the side of the door where Jesus stands. The door can only be opened from the inside. So Jesus is depicted as gently knocking on the door. Not forcing it open. That's what I mean by God out of his infinite love, not chasing us down like a hound dog, but gently calling, gently knocking on the door of our hearts. He leaves it up to us to open the door or not. But he never gives up knocking even if we don't. That is what I see that this poem is saying.

posted May 16, 2007 01:08 AM         

quote:

---

But Lord God of the second creation mythos.....
Just plain nasty and manipulative and controlling, and jealous and so forth.

---

posted May 16, 2007 02:25 AM         

What I get out of it is how very much God loves us all. I don't really think that God is into identity theft.

Sacrifices are from ancient times. Can we try at least to bring God into the 21st century once in awhile?

I am not really into unraveling ancient mysteries. It's the mystery of God that is important to me and how God works in my every day life and the world.

came back to edit this

posted May 16, 2007 07:09 AM         

Sorry we upset you Mirandee.

posted May 16, 2007 07:25 AM         

An eye for an eye...
Getting off the Karmic "Payback Wheel".
Walking one's talk of peace.
Karma v/s Free Will.
A balance, a choice.
We can end the cycles.

If one goes out and hurts someone else because they've been hurt by that other, then that accrues another "debt" that they will have to repay at some future point in order to balance the energies they have misused, by lashing out again rather than forgiving. It is an unending cycle that only choice and free will can put an end to.
But even then...the person you owe or if you were the wronged party, you or they... can negate the debt and stop the payback cycle.
That is what "turning the other cheek" means too. Not to be hit again but to turn away and refuse to play the game. (Hee hee, I like to think it could mean to "moon" someone with those "other cheeks" saying in essence...Fu-k off! I am not going to fight you!)
And during every second of every day, We have Free Will. WE are free to choose our behavior, our reactions. Our free will could cause us to choose to act in a negative unloving manner, or it could cause us to choose to act in a positive and loving manner. In Essence....Karma and Free Will co-existing in a balance.
If one only follows Karma then the payback cycle continues. Two wrongs do not make a right. We have the free will to say no to the Karmic cycles of payback, and to not incur any new Karmic debts.
So I like to say......"get off the cross, they need the wood"....or "get off the wheel and walk your talk".
Feet can climb but a wheel cannot.
Feet can take us off the familiar paths, but the wheel must stay on the road.

~~~Jesus said, "let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the all."
Jesus said, "Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest."
From "The Gospel of Thomas"

And this lovely quote I heard from(I think) Iqhunk:

Greatest Sin?
To abuse after knowing that there is no punishment for abuse.
Greatest Good?
To do good even after you know that there is no return from doing so.

------------------
~I intend to continue learning forever~"Fayte"
~I am still learning~ Michangelo
The Door to Gnosis is never permanently locked...one only needs the correct keys and passwords.
The pious man with closed eyes can often hold more ego than a proud man with open eyes.
Out of the mouth of babes commeth wisdom that can rival that of sages.
In the rough, or cut and polished..a diamond is still a precious gem.
-NEXUS-

posted May 16, 2007 07:42 AM         

Lia
You said:

quote:

---

"Is that what trapped Karma is? A mindless scripted circle? Any moment we have the freedom to break free and beyond it...spiral out of it; soar above it.
I believe it's keen awareness and observation...finally in a crystal clear moment All is seen for what it is. And what we have chosen again and again to make of it.
I vowed...this is the life I break free of karmic circles the best I can.
Stop going round and round this mindless wheel, and finally live and breathe my potential."

---

You put it very succinctly Yes!

The cycle of an "eye for eye"...must be broken...payback to those who wronged us must end.
THAT to me is what is meant by "getting off the (Karmic) wheel"....
NOT the returning to the Oneness!
I have said that many times here...(will try to find my links)...
We are meant to get off the wheel..get off the cross(they need the wood ...) and move forward with our soul's evolution as "unique" and "very aware individual beings"... "working together as individuals" to get along with each other. Returning to a Oneness, to sleep in mindless bliss...which would not be a bliss because you would have no personal identity any more from which to relate to said bliss, but instead be a bit of soul energy with no more indentity. A stasis, a de-evolution of the soul...the lazy, easy, avoiding moving forward path.
A cop out. I think such a soul/mindsets get recycled. Poof!
You want the easy way out?
Really refuse to act and become divine as an individual, willing to work to actually get along with others and stop the payback cycle...
Want a shortcut? Tired of trying? Then if you cannot face it that YOU have the Power to "get off the wheel" = stop the "cycle of revenge"....then your unique identity and all you have experienced... would be erased..and your pure soul energy..be recycled for use in a "new" soul, who might be willing to learn, and not want to jump the ship of individuality, just to forget it all, and take the easy way out.
So by returning to a mindless Oneness..all that you learned would mean nothing. You would not even know you were in a bliss. That to me is a form of true death.
Call identity a dream or an illusion or whatever you want..but it is who we each are. Other than that is only pure energy. Mindless..emotionless...just pure energy.

I intend to move forward as a unique individual and NOT repeat my past mistakes.
To learn from my experiences and even errors.. I intend to evolve...THAT means no more Karmic Cycles....I am off THAT "wheel".

Forgive yourself and try to not err again or at least learn from each new error...
Know thyself...
Be honest with thyself...
When one learns that...
They can then see aspects of themselves in others and aspects of others within themselves.
And so begins a path to ultimate understandings and forgiveness.

posted May 16, 2007 07:48 AM         

I felt the need to point something out, you wrote...

"I don't see God as a God who requires sacrifice either. In fact, that was one of the things that Jesus was very much against that the Jews of his time practiced."

They say Jesus died for our sins, his mission for his Father was to die, sacrifice himSelf for our Sins. Does that make sense?
God does not Judge, we are governed by the Universal Laws, you get what you give, you reap what you sow, an eye for an eye, means,
at some point, every cause has an effect directly upon the individual. So, to say Jesus died for our Sins, is quite an abomination, for each is responsible for him/herSelf. ...

God Father and MOther never expected or asked this of Jesus, it would do no good for anyone, each has his/her own Karma.

MOther and Father want Us to Forgive and LOve one another stopping the wheel of Karma, bringing balance and Harmony. ...

posted May 16, 2007 08:00 AM         

The story of Jesus in the Bible is inaccurate, the followers of the false God, made some stories up, consider half to be true, and half to be false, and the only way to find Truth is by going within and connecting to God MOther and Father who art in Heaven.

I do not believe Jesus died on the cross, that is not what has been shone to me, he was healed by Mary, just as Isis resurrected Osiris. Master wife, with Master husband, = the sacred marriage, the lock and key!