Of God and Me | Isabel Horne

I woke up this morning a lamp,

as I usually do.

My soul has come back from another place.

My light flickers with my lungs as they breathe and my mouth as I speak and my eyes as I close them to pray.

I feel a strange kinship with the rising sun.

The sun. Our star. Our perpetual flame,

barely different from the lamp

all it lacks is the cage.

Remove mine hold up the flame and tell me

against the sky do we not look the same.

I’ll tell you a story, if you don’t already know.

That if you go to Babylon on the right day

you might meet an angel in the right cave.

they might teach you god’s

most sacred name.

And if you say the most sacred name

your lamp will become nothing but flame.

And you will wake up away so far

you will wake up as one of the stars.

And on the occasion I do not wake up a lamp.

I have been know to be a raindrop

falling fast afraid from the sky

I land on rivers rushing by

I make way to a stream

join in a creek

all on my way inevitably

back home to the great big sea.

Because what is the difference between rain drop and water?

What is the difference between me and a Heavenly Father?

My soul bubbles up in my body

like sea foam on sand.

And though you cannot have sea foam without the land,

you wouldn’t say it is of the beach.

It’s sea foam by name, it’s of the sea.

I am of God, without him there’s no me.

And on the very worst days I wake up a mirror.

Typically coated with layers of rust.

And when this happens I know that I must

find my way to my knees to pray

and ask forgiveness and give thanks for the day.

so that when I walk out my door I’ll blind

anyone who happens to be walking by.

There is so much good in the world to give

I could reflect it all and as long as I live

give only to others what god gave to me.

And it would be enough for all of man to be happy.

“A takeaway I have from this incredible, ongoing experience is that sometimes, different ideas cannot coexist, but the people who hold them always can. Sometimes, what I hold to be true is just not true for you and I cannot make it true for you. And not only is that OK, but also, we can both exist in that and commune together even if we disagree.” - Gwyneth F.

“IAY helped me view my Sikh faith in a more active way because I was able to truly apply the teachings, not only to myself, but to how I see and treat people from all walks of life.” - Arjun S.