Now IS the Time

An Opening

Somehow it feels like now is the time.  

As if this is the cosmic opportunity, finally,

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To see a fuller version of the truth,

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That illusive view which sweeps away our illusions,

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Allowing us a moment to glimpse the Greater Reality

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Of which we could, each of us, and everyone, become a part.

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Ah, to taste Life, to hear the music of the Spheres, to smell our own breath,

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To touch Infinity and to dwell in the Eternal Moment.

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If we just take the time and create the place,

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To pause, to reflect, to self-review, to self-renew,

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For the potential rewards of any "here and now,"

 

Especially this NOW !!!

 

Call your guardians around you.

This IS the time.

 

Take this time,

Before it too is lost, fleeting into the time killed,

The time not realized.

The Time is NOW !!!

 

It is hard to find these windows in time

Through which we can look and see with crystal clarity,

Around corners, across time, and behind the back of beyond.

Back into the wisdom's of the past,

Into the depths of ourselves in the present,

And, even into a clearly perceived future,

We can plan to be the fullness of our potential.

THIS is the time our of time.

 

Entering Through Our Doorway

Finally, in this moment, if we choose,

We can pause in a deep way,

For in this moment is

An opportunity forced on us by tragedy,

Yet, an opportunity we have been waiting for

From the deeper levels of our being-ness.

This moment, somehow intuited, but never quite felt before.

 

This moment, to pause for reflection,

Brought to us by the deep oceans of our despair,

A deep cleansing only offered to us

After the sweat of our sincere labors,

Flows from the core of our hearts,

In times of deep and tragic circumstances,

Which confront us with our denied limitations,

Which humble us in a forgotten way.

 

Some of these moments are

Only occasionally offered to us,

For the possible vision of our wholeness,

At least, as best as we ever can glimpse it,

From our huddled, prayerful human-ness.

 

This is a moment that we never would wish on anyone,

But must grasp with all the firmness of our greater Self,

As Jung would say, with a capital "S."

 

We each will do this in our own way,

Given the uniqueness of our ability for seeking, ...

For finding, ...for knowing.......

We must call forth our courage

To stay near our core.

For all there is, for us, for others, and for that beyond our ken.  

 

Finally, the moment of promise has come

To seek and know the perennial wisdoms,

Which have been laid down

As the basis for all of life's lessons,

Taught, but not yet comprehended,

Hard fought, and yet never learned with inspiration and clarity,

 

Holding Onto Eternal Time?

Seize this moment

For it may not cycle back through us again,

In this lifetime.

For that is just the nature of things,

As we can know them to be.

These are things far beyond our control,

Beyond our meager management.

We are helpless to manage

Father Time and Mother Nature.

We are their children,

Not their makers.

 

In these kinds of moments,

We can hold dear an opportunity

To reflect on the past, with all its harshness,

And with all its beauty, harmony and balance,

From our safe place,

Where we commit with sacred intention,

To know justice and truth.

 

From our safe place of no place,

Which opens into the broader horizons

We all are capable of navigating,

When we take the time and set aside the space in our lives,

For that which we call sacred.

 

 

A Place Made Sacred

Finally, a place of sacredness,

Where we can take measure of

That which we must, and most, truly treasure

And give gratitude for the inventory of our many blessings,

Forgive ourselves our transgressions,

Atone for our omissions,

Suffer our consequences,

And find the plan that will balance our sorrows with our joys.

 

It is at this kind of time, in this kind of space,

Where we feel Grace,

Which we have worked so hard to attain,

But, can only open to,

Pray for, and wait for..........

 

It is that kind of time,

When we pause to give back,

Sacrifice our greeds, to only ask for our needs,

To beseech us our forgiveness,

And finally feel satisfied,

Finally knowing of the depth of our value,

Before our wealth, and after a tally of our blessings.

 

It is this kind of reflection that leads us

To the eternal, veritable truths,

That are offered to us, daily,

But which we hurry past,

In the everydays of our humming~drumming existences.

 

"All true Wisdom is in open books," Harry said,

"But, we must be ready to read it......"

 

 

The Sacred Void

The time is now and we have found the place.

We have arrived near the center,

Sitting near the core of our being-ness.

We with stay within this moment,

With its momentum.

We will finally take the time to see,

However, painfully,

Past the curtains of our desires,

And into the sacred place

Of our most valued and enduring wants,

Needs and opportunities.

There will be rewards beyond measure,

Hard to transcribe, hard to tally, but of the enduring value

We have been promised.

 

Let us freefall into the Sacred Void,

And accept the nothingness that we are,

The smallness of our self,

The limits of our number

In the face-count of historic time,

The minuteness of our number among the many,

And be relieved of our centeredness,

To experience a greater core of being,

For a moment, glimpse the light

In the darkness, at the center of all that is.

 

We are but a speck among the stars,

Even as our eyes try to grasp the horizon

Of our Planet Home.

Yet, we can be a spark,

Within the darkness,

If we so choose.

 

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It is from this state of being that we can know of things

Which are forever elusive, yet deeply desired,

Known by our Divine self, known by the Divine plan.

It is here and now that we can pause

To tap into the perennial wisdoms,

For the answers to those questions

That haunt us, ....that taunt us, .....that .tantalize us and

Yet, lead us ever onward toward a quality of life

That we somehow know is possible.

 

Even as we remember, we can choose to forget,

Even as we draw up the presence of our being-ness,

We can be present with what we choose,

Even as we hope for the future,

We can realize our choice to carry forward

Only what our Self needs and desires.

 

Heaven was conceived on Earth,

Earth can be our paradise.

Paradise can be our goal,

As well as our life's chosen destination.

On our life's chosen path

Let us remember to realize the fullness,

So we do not waste our opportunities.

Let riches be defined by value

Not by their cold, hard count.

 

 

 

 

 

Feeling The Blessing

 

Let us bless each moment,

Even as we damn our faults.

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Let us love our selves,

Even as we face our hatreds.

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Let us grow into our emptiness,

Even as we release our fullness

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Into a world waiting for our gifts,

To create more sacred emptiness.

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As we can look back across time,

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In this moment of strength of character,

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Supported by the hope and promise of our seeking,

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By moving into the reality of our being-ness,

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All at once,

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We finally can glimpse a greater plan:

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A plan that gives all a sense of value, all a sense of place

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And, all the time to grow into their potential, including us.

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Let us pause now to really look,

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Because now we can really see,

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Because now we can really feel,

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Because now we can really know,

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Because now, we can really understand,

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Because now we can really believe,

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With a clarity and purpose, and with a meaningfulness

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That only our privilege and practice of honor

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Will allow us to attain.

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It is now that our strength will allow us honesty,

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It is now that our hope will allow us the privilege of seeing

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Into a future of possibilities,

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It is now that our faith will allow us to see a grand design,

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Which will offer us an understanding of things far greater than ourselves,

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A vision more inclusive than our everydays,

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Our perceptions are cleared of illusions,

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A commitment that will lead us to a more meaningful and purposeful life...............................

 

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These moments are so hard to sustain.........................

 

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Let us not miss the moment.

 

Let us begin again, even as we finish..........

 

 

 

 

The Re-Invocation

 

Now is the time,

Let us make sacred this place,

Let us live the peacefulness,

Inside us and around us,

And stay strong enough to choose

To be ever open to the Whatever.

Call your guardians around you.

Now is the time.  

Happy New Vision,

Happy New Birthing,

Happy New Year,

Even as every day has a new dawning.

 

 

New Year's 2002,

after September 11th, 2001,

a new beginning.

 

Dedicated to all those who have had the capacity to love

And care for me deeply, as I grew, and as I continue to grow....

Thank you.

Roberta J. H. Shoemaker-Beal
Hidden Creek,
Wimberley, Texas
USA
Copyright 2001.

 

 

 

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