My Shepherd…

I recognize the feeling. Caught. Breathless. Remembering. Forgetting. Some unexpected and unforeseen yearning fulfilled. Suspended from knowing. Free falling, yet cradled, into the sweet abyss of unknowing.

I have been here before…when I first heard the long version of the Gayatri mantra in Sanskrit, the Kal Akal mantra in Gurmukhi, the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic…and now, the 23rd Psalm in Hebrew. Last sounds before sleep. First sounds upon waking. And, each day carving deeper and deeper. I can’t remember how I was when I began and I don’t know where I may land. Yet, it no longer matters as I am held fast in the sweet care of roee, my shepherd.

And, I want nothing more but to be with You…
To lie down in the soft green pastures; to walk beside the still waters…
For only You can restore my soul and lead me in the paths of truth and Love.
As I walk through this valley of the shadow of death, I will fear not for You are with me…
Your rod and staff are a comfort to me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life…
As I dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

And, like a bell echoes on the summer’s breeze, each sound calls me home from distant pastures and, together, they sing to me softly chiming in the wind…

A kind of lullaby known only to the Beloved.

And, I…I am rocked to sleep…even as I am waking…

Kosi r’vaya…
Kosi r’vaya…
My cup overflows…