Reaching God
(A poem by Sal Godoij.)
You say, I want to reach God
So you pray
Still you don’t reach God.
So you try to be a good person
Still you don’t reach God
Because God is never elsewhere
God is in you
God is around you.
See?
God is all the goodness that reaches you
Therefore, hold your peace
For God resides in every piece
Every piece that makes you who you are.
You say, I want to reach the sun.
You cannot reach the sun
But the sun reaches you every day
It gives you life, it gives you energy, it gives you light
It ripens the fruit, nurtures the seed, colours the leaves
Warms your skin
Therefore, hold your peace
For God resides in every piece
Every piece that makes you who you are.
You say, I want to reach the stars.
You cannot reach the stars.
But the stars reach you.
They reach you with their sparkling, their beauty
Oh, those starry nights, those shooting stars
They move your eyes to tears; they move your heart to wonder.
And so, hold your peace
For God resides in every piece
Every piece that makes you who you are.
You say, I want to reach the clouds.
You cannot reach the clouds.
But the clouds reach you.
With the rain that brings seeds to fruition
The rain that awakens the earth, fills the rivers, embraces the seas.
Therefore, hold your peace
For God resides in every piece
Every piece that makes you who you are.
Still, your curiosity may lead you to want to reach hell.
You cannot reach hell
But hell can reach you
When you disguise the truth
When your silence makes you an accomplice of crimes
When moral turpitude becomes your compass.
But if, despite all that I have told you
You still want to reach God
I will repeat to you where God resides
God resides in every piece
Every piece that makes you who you are
In the vinegar and in the syrup
In the wound and in the healing
In whatever shatters your peace
And in whatever brings you back
In one piece.
