When I walk among the trees,
and look up to the pointed sky,
I hear the whisper of something
I might call God in this moment
that’s holy and set apart for me.

But I am an atheist and long
dispensed with this transcendent being
with all his odious demands, and yet,
at the same time, in this my
strange paradox, I yearn for the divine,
for the sacred, for the good
that lies hidden like a precious
pearl of very great price.

I long for the spiritual and find
at the heart of encounter the
divinity that makes the meaning
in the pointlessness of all the striving.

So, I walk among the trees,
and lookup to the stars and hear
the birds in their chatter and find
God, whatever it is, moving and
quietly whispering grace
in all these simple things.

 

15/6/2023