Based in part on Augustine’s Enchiridion:
In A Place of Longing by Michael Doyle I suppose there's no sense in prolonging Stating that the gist of life is belonging The rumor has it that its in what we love And if our eyes are transfixed on the above Shaping our lives around our truest desire In this we find the things that spark our fire This matters most in determining how we live And how we learn to love and in this to forgive As we first are the forgiven by our Father And as any of us parents do for our son or daughter So much of what surrounds us hopes for a mood A subtle intervention that quietly intrudes The ad men in Madison know this setting illusion Meant to evoke in us the grandest confusion Bringing badness into meaning in double vision Creating false longing that truth would see with derision It's there in the subconscious only a bit deeper In a place in our souls in which the climb is steeper Christ promises the best of life given abundantly While the lesser things call to us selfishly Our longings call out unstructured and dangling Calling in an immediacy of wants soul entangling We tell ourselves that we don't lack the dedication It's just that we really crave a permanent vacation Such a desire - not so bad - pulls toward the self Putting God's word, dusty as it is, on a shelf Fighting as it is against knowing God more deeply We lose our way in our battle for our integrity I suppose I run on in my rut of propelled verbosity Though I want deeper relationships of generosity Weary and heavy, I find myself needing to rest Hoping in my prayer to somehow pass this test My precious Lord tells me his yoke is light At times, I am certain that I am blind in sight Stumbling too often while I seek to do the right But suffering with my fumbles taken in slight Human desires it seems are also God's desires Calling to us to light our vanity's bonfires When truly listening I find the merest Christianity Might just lead me further into awe of His Divinity I feel His will when I find my earthly pleasure Is but a weak echo of Heaven's greater treasure But remain ever thankful for His gift of you And am reminded of my gratitude in all you do All of this given is to sense my satisfaction None of this is meant to be my distraction But tools to teach me of joy and fulfillment Knowing as I do that all is truly Heaven sent Yet, I know as I enjoy this show in my earthly days That I am best led when lived in God's good ways This living body of mine is too often that of death When I forget that God gives me my every breath Storm chased in selfish focus on things of self I reach for that dusty Bible from it's old shelf Oft bittersweet in tasting and knowing God is good Laughing at myself least I never be fully understood Taken it all with a grain of salt in my attitude Living each moment with a heart filled with gratitude God's promises are chewed slowly in mindful reflection It is there that I begin to find my truest connection I suppose there's no sense in prolonging Stating that the gist of life is in belonging What defines us as good is what we love A righteous man sets his heart on God above (c) May 21, 2020 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
