Consent is the willingness to be open,

To invite God and others to meet you

Without agenda,

And to leave some distractions behind.

In hope you may be authentic

 

When you meet in a darkened, still room.

 

I consent.

He stood among us

Not a stranger

Not separate

Not Just divine

 

Which He was

 

But fully human.

 

Seemed like a Sayer of sooths

Interpreter of sacred scripture

Purveyor of knowledge

 

Which He was

 

But He was also us

 

He was with us

He was in us

He was us

He is the I am.

 

Not just authority

Not just more instructions

Like the Old Testament

 

But more.

 

This time human

Creating us

Feeling us

Being us

In community

In love

 

Together redefined

 

So let us not watch

But watch through his eyes

 

Let us not hear the cries

But feel them in our hearts

 

Let us not standby

But act now

 

And make the noise of a Christian in the World.

 

Maybe a misunderstanding,

Or perhaps something more deliberate.

The simple, authentic soul keeps the truth clean,

Avoiding the avoidance,

and excuses,

Never dealing underhand.

 

But humble transparency in all.

 

Only then, can love emerge.

Desire is not the river,

But the current,

Drawing us into the eddies and still backwaters filled,

With self or joy.

 

Dependent on its source.

Hours are spent staring into the blackness,

And shapes emerge.

Shapes needing clothing, nourishment, warmth,

But most of all human love.

 

They cannot be ignored.

 

Unless you leave love behind.

 

The gentle touch,

A knowing glance,

It was meaningful.

 

The relationship of instants,

An understanding of mystery,

It was meaningful.

 

Eyes locked for an extended moment,

Spoke the volumes of the unsaid.

More than meaningful.

 

Memories are not a tape to be rewound,

But a presence relived.

 

Eternally; and soaked in love.

The moments of this morning,

Centered in an unusual way,

Removed time from its normal routine.

 

Avoiding the usual fury of measurement,

Replacing the pendulum with an elastic heartbeat of mind and soul.

One where a few minutes extended themselves, mystically.

 

As if to tell me I am eternal.