For Anita
by revbillcook
Saint Anselm wrote that God is that thought
Beyond which there is no greater thought,
What we perceive: a shadow, even less,
Of God who is no-thing and speaks in silence.
We bow in awe before a mystery
That we can neither touch nor see.
.
But as for me, I am a simple man.
I love cool air, the smell of trees, and sun
The Light that breaks through clouds after rain,
The tart freshness of grapes, dark sweet plums
The bright taste of pineapple, of pears.
Is God not there?
.
And this gift which you have given me,
That beyond which there is no greater gift
a man or woman might conceive or receive:
A vow: your love, your life, your faithfulness.
Let Anselm know that God is found in this:
Your gentle kiss.
Poetry Matters 
lovely writing…
God is everywhere,
Happy Monday!
Thanks for the instant response to my request yesterday,
Thank you for spreading news around about Jingle Poetry…
i appreciate your hard work…
this poem is very stunning, sun, cool air, the nature are all beautiful to have!
My pleasure to contribute something to your work. Thank you for your most generous comments. – bill
Wonderful… what a beautiful write. Love the wordplay and the ending. Thanks for sharing. Love and Light, Sender
Thank you for your feedback. Much appreciated. – bill
This so beautiful. Anita must be so honored!
Thanks. She did smile. – bill
Holy with much bliss 🙂 Light will guide you through a wonderful journey, beautifully written.
Thank for sharing, happy poetry potluck!=-D
Beautiful expression of love.
thank you for stopping by and your feed back. Much appreciated. – bill
beautiful write on the awesomeness of God…blessings…bkm
Thank you. I always appreciate it when you drop in to read and comment. – bill.
Just remember: K.I.S.S.
Keep
It
Simple,
Stupid!
Thanks for passing this dish for the potluck!
I am in awe of this writing, the poetry of it and especially, that which it expresses. We worship the same God, it seems. I don’t know what more to say about it – please know that from me, that is a high compliment.
Thank you!
I do appreciate your generous feed back. I do think we share a common spirit and a desire to have faith inform our writing. I look forward to following your blog. – bill
love how you closed this piece…God found in a kiss…nice.
Thanks. I appreciate that you linked over and took the time to read and comment. – bill
I am totally an admirer of your work Bill, the ending of this gave me goose bumps. So wonderful to see yours linked with Potluck too…we’re a great team:) Thanks so much ~ Hugs x
Thank you. I do so appreciate your encouragement. Have a great day. – bill
This is wonderful! A great reminder that we can find deity wherever we look.
Mine is here. http://razzamadazzle.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/iowa-sky/
Thanks you so much for reading and commenting. I look forward to jumping over to your post. – bill
How beautifully you’ve expressed Incarnation. Anselm and his buddies back then had some wonderful things to say, but I’d have to say your point of view seems more aligned to what (I believe) is the divine intention. Thanks, Bill.
I appreciate your comments. I especially appreciate your response to the theological side of the poem. I actually do very much appreciate Anselm’s concept of God. Keeps us humble. – bill
Romantic reality…love it!
Thank you. – Bill
hope u well,
do find time enjoying some treats of poetry in our entries…
Happy Tuesday!
Thanks for the support.
xxx
Thanks. I am enjoying the reading. – bill
Rich words.. God is and so miracles do happen..
Blog On Dear..
Love
Olivia
Thank you for your encouraging words. – bill
Absolutely lovely. Thank you for posting a poem to cherise.
“I have written the little work that follows . . . in the role of one who strives to raise his mind to the contemplation of God and one who seeks to understand what he believes.” St. Anselm of Canterbury.
I so love it that you have read Anselm! Have a wonderful day. You have brightened my afternoon – bill
If God is not found in love, where is He found! A beautiful piece of poetry.
Eaton. 🙂
Thanks for your comments. I totally agree. – bill
Happy Wednesday,
Thanks for the support.
BEST!
Rally week 29 is next week.
take good care.
A beautiful Ode to love and a clever dare to prove you wrong to Anselm’s Ontological Argument. God can be in anything that we choose to accept as the gift given.
Thank you. You are right on the allusion to Anselm . Its a delight to hear from another theological thinker who is familiar with Anselm, – bill
i read love poetry and it is beautiful… i write love poetry and it is sloppy! 🙂 great work and loved the ending!
Thanks for your most generous comment. I appreciate it. – bill
To understand and appreciate your poem, I read up Anselm. And I found the more I seek to understand, the more I find parallel in so many ways. I guess I am innocent, but I see God in all that is good and blessed. Thank you Bill.
Thank you for doing that. I do find that the more I study, the more humble I am about what I think I know. The similarities between the great religious traditions are very real. I appreciate the effort you put into your reading of this poem. – bill
By the way, I love the new look of your blog. And the poetry, stunning.
wow- love the last line bill- nice!
Thank you. I really appreciate your comments. – bill
Your work is so beautiful and touching.
Our poetry potluck is open, if you have poems (old or new) to share, link in NOW,
you can link up to 3 poems, the more you share, the happier we are.
Thanks for the participation! Tuesday 8pn is the deadline to link up, please hurry up!
Happy Monday Poetry Potluck!
Happy Tuesday!
award on short stories,
u got to check out details yourself…
Thanks!
Hi Jingle, I remain amazed that you hold all of this together! You touch so many people with your work. Thank you for all of it. – bill
that’s a beautiful love poem and I think God is found in the concrete.
Absolutely. Thanks for reading and for your encouraging feedback. – bill
Well said, Rev.!
In God’s image, we are made.
Evil is therefore insubstantial.
Does that mean Lucifer doesn’t (and never did) exist?
Wood you mind shedding some Light on that subject?
*
Love the W.P. theme you have chosen 🙂
Nice to meet you, and have a great Sabbath! Peace, UT
Hi Uncle Tree. Thanks for reading and commenting. I generally don’t get invited to a theological discussion on this site (you might find my other blog interesting, although I have not had time to write in it these last few weeks: http://www.revbillcook.wordpress.com)
On Lucifer, since you asked, and very briefly, as I am sure you know Christians have a wide scale of beliefs around the character of ha satan, and demons. Clearly in that first century world people would have commonly held to their reality, and they are characters in the biblical story (although Lucifer is an extra-biblical name not found in the Protestant canon). The character of “the devil” has different roles in different texts at different periods.
The scale of beliefs today do range from those who hold tightly to a literalism in reading the texts and affirming the reality of demonic beings, the head of which is the devil, who are at war with God and do possess people, to those who read these characters as being something that reflects the world view of the first century written into the texts that come from that age.
I am among the latter. I do believe the texts are products of the cultures that produced them. I do believe there is a something about them that also transcends their cultures, and that they do point us authentically toward the divine. I do not think we need to read them literally, or need to adopt a first century world view to embrace them and discover God through them.
So, I do not find the idea of demonic beings trying to inhabit us very convincing. However, I do find that the biblical language does help us think and talk about the reality of evil, that is larger than individuals, and to which people can and do give themselves over, and which distorts (or perhaps is the distortion) in larger systems, structures, and institutions.
I don’t know if that helps at all, but it is how I think.
Thanks for the question,
Bill
Actually, Rev. Bill, I was looking at it from a pantheistic perspective because — that’s what came to mind after reading your poem. Born and bred a Southern Baptist, the literal interpretation is what I was fed and bought into as a child. It wasn’t until I was a young adult that I had an experience that basically dispossessed me of that belief. Long story…anyway, I thank you for taking the time to let me know just what you believe personally.
Evil is a tough subject to take on. From a quantum physics point of view, I sorta see the entire universe as being part of God’s image — in which we have our existence. You, dear sir, have one of the toughest jobs on earth, in my humble opinion. Good on you for that!
Again…nice to meet you. It’s funny how these (internet) things go 😉 UT
Hi, I am enjoying the conversation. Actually I tend toward panentheism. I know almost nothing about process theology, but I have heard that comes closest to bringing together the implications of cutting edge physics and concepts of God. Have you explored it?- bill
I may have meant panentheism, Rev. For ‘over and above all’ keeps the idea of a Creator in the mysterious realm, and seeing that we mere mortals can’t (and never will) ‘know it all’, I believe it is and will always remain a mystery. Actually, I also believe that’s the way most humans want it — unknown.
I went back to look at a few of my own words. May I let them speak for themselves?
From “The Oath Of Optimism”. My Dad teared up after reading this one. Made my day!
*
To continue to sustain our reasonable optimism faithfully,
for the joy and peace that surpasses all understanding is
at once transcendent, immanent, and eternal; imagining
it to be, and acting as if this sacred right simultaneously
belongs to members and spirits alike, who work toward that
which serves the most noble, honorable, and just cause.
http://me2watson.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/the-oath-of-optimism/
I have explored quite a bit, Bill. I simply had to. Have a great day! 🙂 Keith
.
i love how you did this, how God is transformed from thought, shadow, mystery… to the simple beauty of a kiss. thanks for this.
Thanks for checking this out. I appreciate your feedback. – bill