Words Fall Short

This morning's poetic greeting from Panhala is "What's in the Temple" by Tom Barrett.

I enjoyed the whole poem and particularly these sections-

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...The poets speak in obscure terms pointing madly at the unsayable...
The monk sits pen in hand poised to explain the cloud of unknowing.

I am reminded when teaching classes this fall that we are always describing the invisible and the mystery and postulating our belief how it works. This section reminds me of describing the 'unsayable'

Put your ear to the wall of your heart.
Listen for the whisper of knowing there.
Love will touch you if you are very still.

Although there is no recipe for hearing this whisper it does happen. When you listen, the attention moves from the brain to a larger knowing, which some would say comes from the heart. I think the heart is a word that just means, 'from within' It is amazing because this inner voice comes with loudness and clarity. 'Love touches you'

If I say the word God, people run away.
They've been frightened--sat on 'till the spirit cried "uncle."
Now they play hide and seek with somebody they can't name.
They know he's out there looking for them, and they want to be found,
But there is all this stuff in the way.

I love this section- People come from all different backgrounds of religious and spiritual training. In order to move ahead to a deeper understanding of the mystical each person must come to peace with where they have come from- what they learned first and then 'all this stuff' falls away.
Words we have learned in the past can be accompanied with strict interpretations- e.g. faith, heaven, hell. I have learned to speak using language inclusive of Divine qualities- infinite, joy, trust, support, peace, kindness. The choice of words helps to bridge old history and old beliefs into being present today to the Divine ideas.

I can't talk about God and make any sense,
And I can't not talk about God and make any sense.
So we talk about the weather, and we are talking about God.

This is my favorite. From Emerson's 'The Transcendentalists' we walk as idealists and materialists at the same time. And the weather, the sun, clouds, wind and rain help us bridge that which can be challenging to articulate.