Assisi Pilgrim

Inspired by and dedicated to a dear, dear friend – Larry Kaufmann C.Ss.R.

 

 

Looking through a forest darkly,

Glad of the green glade close by,

I search for you, my soul’s haven;

I peer, and sense my heart sigh.

As the forest reaches upwards,

Casting shadows as it rises high,

So my life is dappled, mottled;

As I seek the One I yet deny.

 

Italy May2008 066

 

Lord of the forest, calling me,

Onward, onward, to Assisi;

Weary step on weary step,

Stumbling, path seldom easy.

Harder still the inward path,

Facing the fears that seize me;

Past the gnarled boughs and thorns,

Deep beneath life’s canopy.

 

A figure ahead, barely glimpsed;

Friend or foe, fellow pilgrim?

Drawing near or far – hard to tell,

Real or mirage through the dim?

Walk together on this journey,

Step in step, God’s anawim;

Supporting one another now,

Chorusing a joyful hymn.

 

Shafts of light reaching down;

Warm revelations caress;

No matter how dark or lonely,

I can feel Your tenderness.

Hungry for the journey’s end,

To reach that sacred terminus;

Yet valuing this present step,

Amid the gorgeous leafyness.

 

A distance gone, a way to go;

The beauty of this present spot;

Linger a moment and savour,

This life is good, is it not?

To be a pilgrim is to hold

Past and present as a pivot,

Future vistas as yet unseen,

No sneak previews for life’s plot.

 

Live the journey, love the journey;

Feel the vigour of each stride;

Being and becoming human;

Trusting in the One who died.

Sin, an ever present ache,

Symptom of a chronic pride,

Cannot mire us in despair:

Love’s call will not be denied.