A poem by David Whyte
It doesn’t interest me if there is one God
Or many gods.
I want to know
If you belong or feel abandoned.
If you know despair or can you see it in others.
I want to know
If you are prepared to live in the world
With its harsh need to change you.
If you can look back with firm eyes
Saying this is where I stand.
I want to know
If you know
How to melt into the fierce heat of living,
Falling toward
The center of your longing.
I want to know
If you are willing
To live, day by day with the consequence of love
and the bitter unwanted passion of your sure defeat.
I have been told, in that fierce embrace,
even the gods speak of God.