From the forest branches fading birdsong offered Self-sacrifice to a huge silence. Dark formlessness settled over all diversity Of land and water. As shadows, as particles, my body Fused with endless night. I came to rest At the altar of the stars. Alone, amazed, I stared Upwards with hands clasped and said, "Sun, you have removed Your rays: show now your loveliest, kindlier form That I may see the Person who dwells in me as in you."
You are above me, O God You are within. You are in all things yet contained by no thing. Teach me to seek You in all that has life, that I may see You as the Light of light. Teach me to search for You in my own depths that I may find You in every living soul.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours. May the clarity of light be yours. May the fluency of the ocean be yours. May the protection of the ancestors be yours. And so may a slow wind work These words around you As an invisible cloak to guard your life.
