I Intended To Walk

I intended to walk this morning
In the clear, blue cold of winter,
To watch birds squabble,
Feel the wind chill my face,
And read from the book of life.
But on my way
I passed through the fair field
Where welcome signs are posted,
Even though ancient invaders
Left exploding mines
For anyone who would pass.
I have no map but experience 
To show where the bombs lie,
And once again I am fooled,
Invited and ambushed
By the owner whose posted signs 
Should warn that trespass here
Will cost a limb.

Reflection
1.All of us experience mine fields that change our day. What mine field did you stumble into recently?
2.Did the mine field change your outlook, as well as your circumstances? How?
3.Have you recovered a hopeful outlook, or are you still working on that? 

Broken Castle

Since boyhood 
I believed in you, trusted you,
Listening to your passionate prayers,
Your heartfelt singing,
Your delicate unfolding of truth's flower
As a gardener examines each petal,
As a lover explores his beloved,
And I saw in you
Wisdom worth learning,
Journeys worth following,
Lesson by lesson 
As the mile markers flicker by.
I built a castle of vision,
Founded on your shoulders,
A tower from which 
I could gaze upon the world
And recognize distant shores.
But while I was gazing
I saw you, crawling out 
From your foundation place,
And shifting before my eyes,
Once a solid stone,
Turning now to sand,
Washed away from me
And from solidity itself
By preposterous tides
To which you clung
In denial of all you once knew
And all you once taught,
So that truth disintegrated
Around self-serving falseness.
And as the castle crumbles,
From bottom to top,
I wonder what solid stone
Can I find now on which to perch?
What rock will not erode 
Before the tide of falsehood
That carried you and my trust in you
Away forever?

Reflection
1. Have you ever felt betrayed by a group or individual you once trusted? Were you wrong to trust them in the first place, or did they change in some way? How did that affect you?
2. What did you lose when you were betrayed, and how have you reacted to that loss?
3. If the “castle” can be restored, what is our part in that?
4. Assuming that the “castle” cannot be restored, what do you do now to replace it and find the good things it used to offer you?

The Lion

I see the lion over the dome,
Flexed, crouched, ready to spring,
Jagged teeth and claws
Able to rip flesh from bone.
You, in your factless fantasy,
Thought he was there to destroy,
When he was actually there to protect
The defeat of evil, your evil, by good,
The vanquishing of falsehood, your falsehood, by truth,
The overcoming of violence, your violence, by justice.
You now have an opportunity
To attack or join the lion,
Though it will cost you your illusions
And require of you a humility
That you once banished.
A turning is called for,
But it is entirely 
Your 
Choice.

Reflection
1. In your life what is the guardian agains evil, falsehood, violence, and injustice? Is it effective, or is it failing?
2. How would you know if you were on the wrong side of that conflict, and what would you do, if you realized that you were?
3. What illusions do you need to abandon? What humility do you need to return to, and what do you need to turn from or toward?