consider

the gentlest of commands
is offered to me as a suggestion
a pathway to my own benefit

the way of contemplation
has no predetermined landing zone
no forced requirement, no result

ah, but i've been invited to think,
not to nod yes or act perfectly
or anything of the sort,

but merely to ponder,
to open my heart to wonder
or the possibility thereof

and so this morning
in the silence before dawn
in the stillness of winter

i rose to do something
something important, it seemed
and then i braked

for daybreak is precious,
as is each day and moment,
sacred if i permit it to be

so here I am, a man alone,
surrounded by a cosmic miracle
and a scope universal

and quite possibly beyond,
more than i can imagine
more than i can fathom

jesus said the kingdom of heaven,
the utopian vision,
is within me

and eternal life a current reality,
but only, I think, when i stop
to consider