Before me the Word...

Open wide the Bible rests upon its perch,

its pages full of ancient tales and teachings,

its heavy legacy grown heavier with time,

its mass more ponderous with the dust of age.

Before me, the Word of God, set down by man,

beside it a burning candle to illumine the Word,

around me the dense darkness of the void.

The Word, the Flame, the Light of the World.

I can go into that Light, embrace that Word,

or I can turn away and melt back into the dark.

There is no easy way, no choice free of doubt;

either way the path is long and winding,

and fraught with trials and tribulations.

The darkness, the candle flame, the stillness,

and in their midst the Word writ upon the page.

And a soft sweet holy chant born in my mind,

gently welling within me, gentle but strong,

fills me as I stand in the darkness before the Word

that illumines the Light that illumines the Word

that feeds the soul with the breath of the Spirit…