I know a man,
demolished - leveled - held up at
gunpoint
stricken - victimized
by unwanted sexual behavior
and a constellation of undergirding delusions
locking the addictive system securely, stubbornly, in place
reality brought tidal waves of clarity, shock waves into his home, giving him two travel options:
(A) a broad highway
(B) a narrow path
acquiescing to grace and opportunity,
he went into the woods, shaved his head,
in ash, he knelt so earnestly, he fell into an essential trust
acquiescing to grace and opportunity,
It was a backcountry trail, blazed blue,
marked, clean, clear, and level,
leading to inevitable death to the right.
and there was also the black blaze to the left, barely traversable,
barely noticeable, ascending, descending, countless double-blaze switchbacks,
gaining elevation, with scant paint on trees to mark a man's way.
Turning his intrepid back to the tame path,
he chose the limb-strewn,
narrow, black markings of surrender
It was, and it still is effortless work, a striving rest, a collaborative gift,
that brings him to the backyard I live with; this evening, ten months delivered
from the clutches of unwanted compulsions of pornography
I know a man,
and let me go on record to say,
from the way I sense it,
The Cardinals are cheering,
Carolina wrens are playing in the bush,
mother Pecans are blessing in silence,
and a 37-year-old weathered animal is witnessing,
celebrating
a man's initiatory path
into empathy
vitality - a full sensing
belonging
intimacy
into focus
a simplicity
the worn-out planet is asking for
these capacities that
inevitably make a difference to the foothills
when just one mammal
when just one male
turns his intrepid back to the tame trail of business-as-usual
and plants his anxious & brave hiking boots into the
muddy, barely beaten
road of recovery
He becomes,
Bringer of Light
and that glow, which can't help but emanate, is wholeness,
and we all know,
that it is Light,
that touches upon
the water oak, the cedar
and a constellation of interconnected
organisms
making
a measurable
difference.
