Beyond Belief - embracing what we don’t understand in order to better understand what is beyond belief
Have you ever had something happen to you that you just can’t explain rationally?
Someone calls you at the same time you are thinking of them. Perhaps you find something in your path; a coin, a book, a word, an image that you haven’t seen before, and it is exactly what helps you move forward. You experience a miracle in your life or in someone else’s life. Are these just coincidences, or is something else happening?
I invite you to stop and recall one of your own experiences, a “beyond belief” experience!
Frederick Buechner says that we all experience things like this at times in our lives but most of us just go on as if nothing happened. But those who pause and take in what happened may have a deeper experience of the event and what it means for their lives. I once asked a group of corporate employees if they had ever had a spiritual experience at work and their stories started pouring out. Mind-bending stories, exquisite stories, meaningful stories, non-rational stories. It was quite inspiring and amazing to hear (even in a work setting) all the things we rarely share.
Henri Nouwen says this about these experiences: “Something very deep and mysterious, very holy and sacred, is taking place in our lives right where we are, and the more attentive we become the more we will begin to see and hear it. The more our spiritual sensitivities come to the surface of our daily lives, the more we will discover—uncover—a new presence in our lives.”
I wonder why we so rarely name or share these things. Do we assume people will think we are strange? Do we wonder if we are just imagining them? Do we want to avoid skeptics? Do we question our sanity? Are we afraid of what would happen if we found out there was something to it, after all?
Most of these things belong in the “beyond belief” category. What are these experiences? Why do they happen? What do we make of them? How do we respond?
There is no unequivocal answer to those questions but there are quite a few options to consider. Yet to even consider them we need to allow for something that may now be beyond our rational mind to comprehend. Noticing things beyond belief asks us to suspend our judgment and invite both our experience and our other faculties like curiosity to speak to us. It may even ask us to slightly open ourselves to new ideas, to new experiences, to new realities. Brian Andreas, a gifted poet and artist speaks of this juncture so well…
When you start to crack open,
don’t waste a moment
gathering your old self
up into something
like you knew before.
Let your new self
splash like sunlight
into every dark place
and laugh and cry and
make sounds you never made
& thank all that is holy for the gift.
Let’s turn to several stories from real people describing what happened to them that was beyond the realm of rational thought but proved to be experiences they couldn’t easily ignore or negate.
*A woman whose daughter died tragically of concealed alcoholism at a young age went to her daughter’s grave on a regular basis, both to grieve and to embrace and heal her daughter’s story. Each time she arrived there was a robin sitting on or near the gravestone, even in the middle of winter. She said the experience of the bird’s presence helped her to feel her daughter’s spirit more intensely. And it comforted her. This bird was especially meaningful because her daughter’s name was Robin.
*A man who is an artistic quilter had a beautiful story written about him in a local hospital magazine. This invitation to tell his story was a big surprise and a gift because he had intentionally given up trying to promote his work. Several months later, in the large city where he lived, he was stopped in a restaurant by a woman who said she recognized him from that article months ago and had been so inspired by his story that she started to quilt herself. They later met and shared their stories, realizing that they both had the same philosophy about their creativity, sharing it freely without trying to promote it.
*A woman who was receiving treatments for stage four metastasized breast cancer was in her doctor’s office at a threshold time in her treatment process. She looked up at one point and saw a light infused angel standing in the corner of her doctor’s office. She was surprised yet felt comforted by this presence. Another time a butterfly landed on her shoulder after a meaningful church service and stayed there for about forty-five minutes. As it flew away it gently brushed her cheek. She felt these were signs that she was being held in the arms of something beyond her. She recounted several other mystical experiences over the seven years of her cancer, and she “knew” that these occurrences sustained her for a longer life. Initially she had only been given six weeks to live.
*Many of us have had the intimate experience of holding eye contact with a domestic or wild animal and feeling that they are looking more deeply into us, animals like deer, foxes, owls, dogs, cats, birds, wild turkeys, dolphins, herons. Or what about nature experiences that make your skin shiver with personal meaning?
How do we explain these “beyond belief” things?
I suppose each person will have a different approach. Some would say “Just enjoy it. Don’t try to explain it.” I appreciate that--and I do practice it. Yet it does beg for more exploration, at least for me. Jung might say it is synchronicity, that things happen across time and space and that we are all connected in that way. Scott Peck would describe it as serendipity. Brain specialists might say that they’ve found parts of the brain that connect us with these larger ideas or different wavelengths.
Spiritual teachers might say that these are examples of “thin places” where the veil between this side and the other side is permeable, and that it is something to be grateful for. Mystics might say that these are ways The Infinite chooses to be in intimate touch with us, showing us that we are loved and never alone. Counselors may say that healing from traumatic events allow us to open to a wider view of things than we ever knew existed. And even some forms of mental illness may allow people access to parts of the world that are unreachable to others.
I’d like to suggest that these unusual things that may seem “beyond belief” could be “heaven-on-earth” experiences. The idea being that the veil between heaven and earth opens so light and love energy from somewhere beyond us can break through. Currently these experiences are showing up in discernible ways we can’t ignore. We are being asked to be more aware of them—and maybe embrace them. What if they could change the way we view the world?
I deliberately use a variety of names for the “beyond us presence” because for many people in our culture the image and experience of God has been a less than generous or loving image. Other names we can give to this “beyond belief” presence are Higher Power, Mystery, the Universe, the Holy, the Divine, Ancestral Spirits, the Holy Spirit, Infinite, Love. I will choose God or Holy as the presence because I’ve done a great deal of inner work to heal and reclaim my experience and image of God. That was the journey of healing for me. Yet whatever works for you is the way into this deeper experience.
In this segment I will, however, give a brief explanation from the Christian world perspective as to what may be behind this emergence, namely the rise of the Spirit at this point in world history. It may help those of us who have struggled with the church or with theological beliefs to come to a new and more settled place in our faith. May it be so.
Phyllis Tickle, a well-known theologian, suggests a historical idea in her book, The Age of the Spirit. She shows from her research and scholarship, that we are now leaving the Age of Enlightenment and have entered the Age of the Spirit, where the way in which we connect with God, the Holy and that which is beyond us is through the Spirit, more specifically the Holy Spirit. How the Spirit is viewed and what it means have brought about much controversy, many battles and theological disagreement within the history of the Christian world over the centuries. But the Spirit seems to have survived all the external controversy and continues to attract people from many walks of life and many different religious and cultural practices.
What other ways might “beyond belief” experiences show up?
Now the Spirit seems to be showing up in more conscious ways and in wider circles, through charismatic experiences all over the world. The fastest growing churches are Pentecostal, world- wide. The gifts of the Spirit are named in Christian scripture to include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophesy, discernment, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues.
But what about outside of the church or outside of a particular faith tradition? This group might call themselves “spiritual but not religious,” a rapidly growing segment of the country. And their emerging ways of being spiritual may include things like spiritual direction, more intentional connections to the Spirit through popular music, nature, pilgrimages, art, ceremony, body and breath work, and many healing experiences (including mushrooms!). Emerging ways also include embracing chosen practices of Eastern Orthodoxy, Buddhism, Jewish thought, and Native American practices.
This transition into a new Spirit world within current faith traditions is propelled by different energies within our spiritual lives. I’ve come to believe that the call is to shift our focus. Simply put, we shift from a primary focus on beliefs about God (like theology, head knowledge, doctrine) to intentionally embracing direct experiences of the Mystery who is God. It does not mean discarding theology but viewing theology through the lens of these direct heart experiences. Simply put, our whole lives could be seen through the eyes of Eternal Love. In our everyday life, we all experience things that are “beyond belief” yet it may seem hard to integrate it with our faith experiences or in our faith walk. But if we pause and think about it, we already accept important experiences that we can’t prove. These are things we believe are spiritual but are not provable (although with new breakthroughs in brain science, we are now able to locate some of these emotions in the brain). Consider love, compassion, beauty, joy, altruism, intuition, visions, dreams, peace of mind.
Here are a few more “beyond belief” experiences…
*A woman working as a spiritual director in a prison setting was sitting at a table with inmates (insiders) and they were introducing themselves to her. She turned to the woman next to her and asked her first name. It was the same as hers. Then she laughed and said what a great name it was and casually asked what the insider’s middle name was. It turned out to be the same as hers. This was getting interesting. They both looked at each other, anticipating the next question—the insider’s last name. Amazingly it was the same name as the spiritual director’s maiden name. That was a wakeup call to the director, who realized at that moment, that she could, if given the right set of circumstances, also be an insider, an inmate. And it began an eight-year spiritual direction relationship between them, a rich experience for them both.
*A man working in a dementia unit of an organization had no idea how his clients would change his life. At first he intuitively starting using new connections with them, like looking directly in their eyes, kneeling to be on their level. With that vantage point and deeper connection, he noticed that they were decidedly more present. He developed ways to interact with them on an entirely different non-rational level of relating. You might say soul-to-soul or spirit-to-spirit. He became, some would say, a “dementia whisperer.” Now he is writing a book for caregivers and families about how to connect more deeply with their loved ones.
*A woman who walked regularly around a small lake in a local park heard footsteps behind her one day and turned around to see who was there. No one was there. She started walking again and the footsteps started too. She knew there was no human there and she stopped to think about what it could be. The gentle answer for her was that it was God who was letting her know that she was not alone. In the future when these footsteps occurred, she just smiled and thanked God.
*A woman held a precious rock in her hand each day in her quiet time. It was shaped like the palm of her hand and was sheer gift. One day after she had placed it back where it always rested, she returned later to the spot and couldn’t find it. It was gone. She searched. Her granddaughters searched. Gone. She grieved since it was so special to her. Several months later after she had spent the day with her family she returned to her home and the rock was back, right in its place. Did someone in her family secretly replace it? But no one could have snuck in that day since she was with her family all day. She sensed it was her deceased former husband gifting her with this experience, reminding her of how they frequently held hands as a form of their connection.
How do we now choose to embrace our “beyond belief” occurrences?
I don’t know the answer to that for you, dear reader. And there may be hundreds of answers, each designed especially for different individuals. I’ll just offer one of my experiences here and my meaning. I’ve had various kinds of Spirit experiences or “beyond belief” happenings. At first, I was afraid of them or too awed by them, so I took the experiences to my spiritual director to ask her about them. When she didn’t faint, I felt comforted and was willing to not only experience them but to be open to them or even invite more of them. I don’t claim to own any special gifts, just to be open to the gifts of the Spirit that come.
Over time, these gifts began to infiltrate my life and my faith. I noticed the subtle shift I mentioned, from a primary focus on beliefs about God (theology and doctrine) to experiencing God as Mystery directly and intimately.
Here’s my example of a “beyond belief” experience. I used to refrain from tears and crying, especially in public but with this deeper experience of God, I found that meaningful things brought ready tears to my eyes. I read that it could be a sign of holy things happening, so I kept track and sure enough it usually was. And my tears became a gift. Then I started crying often for no apparent reason and I had no way to understand it, since I knew I was not depressed. I brought it to my spiritual director, and she said it could be a sign of intimacy with God and discernment. She told me that Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Jesuits) had a similar experience for a whole year when he was trying to discern something important for his followers. She even found a small book about his experience. I read it, and yes, the tears were a sign of deep discernment for me as well. As a result of knowing that, over time I made a difficult but life-giving decision. And those constant tears ceased.
I’ve found these intimate gifts to surprise, humor and ground me in life-giving ways. I’ll share a few of the fruits of them in my life. I chuckle more at the ways God works. I am inspired and awed by small things, and especially beauty of all kinds. My shadow behaviors don’t scare me as much and I can view them with patience and humor and less shame and guilt. The joy that results is tangible. I consciously keep my relationships steady with honesty and love, which means I am calmer and less entangled by chaos in the world. Losses still come but I don’t seem as undone by them because I’m not alone. I care more about other people, and I search for solidarity with them. I genuinely love and trust God more because I never feel judged or condemned. On my good days. On the other days I return to prayer and ask for direction!
Mystery is something we can’t explain and maybe that’s what makes it so intriguing. So, we are invited to just sit with these experiences and see where they take us. Mary Oliver summarizes it so well in this poem.
Mysteries, Yes.
Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.
How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds will
never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.
Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.
Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.
Janet Hagberg, 2023. Please pass along.
Have you ever had something happen to you that you just can’t explain rationally?
Someone calls you at the same time you are thinking of them. Perhaps you find something in your path; a coin, a book, a word, an image that you haven’t seen before, and it is exactly what helps you move forward. You experience a miracle in your life or in someone else’s life. Are these just coincidences, or is something else happening?
I invite you to stop and recall one of your own experiences, a “beyond belief” experience!
Frederick Buechner says that we all experience things like this at times in our lives but most of us just go on as if nothing happened. But those who pause and take in what happened may have a deeper experience of the event and what it means for their lives. I once asked a group of corporate employees if they had ever had a spiritual experience at work and their stories started pouring out. Mind-bending stories, exquisite stories, meaningful stories, non-rational stories. It was quite inspiring and amazing to hear (even in a work setting) all the things we rarely share.
Henri Nouwen says this about these experiences: “Something very deep and mysterious, very holy and sacred, is taking place in our lives right where we are, and the more attentive we become the more we will begin to see and hear it. The more our spiritual sensitivities come to the surface of our daily lives, the more we will discover—uncover—a new presence in our lives.”
I wonder why we so rarely name or share these things. Do we assume people will think we are strange? Do we wonder if we are just imagining them? Do we want to avoid skeptics? Do we question our sanity? Are we afraid of what would happen if we found out there was something to it, after all?
Most of these things belong in the “beyond belief” category. What are these experiences? Why do they happen? What do we make of them? How do we respond?
There is no unequivocal answer to those questions but there are quite a few options to consider. Yet to even consider them we need to allow for something that may now be beyond our rational mind to comprehend. Noticing things beyond belief asks us to suspend our judgment and invite both our experience and our other faculties like curiosity to speak to us. It may even ask us to slightly open ourselves to new ideas, to new experiences, to new realities. Brian Andreas, a gifted poet and artist speaks of this juncture so well…
When you start to crack open,
don’t waste a moment
gathering your old self
up into something
like you knew before.
Let your new self
splash like sunlight
into every dark place
and laugh and cry and
make sounds you never made
& thank all that is holy for the gift.
Let’s turn to several stories from real people describing what happened to them that was beyond the realm of rational thought but proved to be experiences they couldn’t easily ignore or negate.
*A woman whose daughter died tragically of concealed alcoholism at a young age went to her daughter’s grave on a regular basis, both to grieve and to embrace and heal her daughter’s story. Each time she arrived there was a robin sitting on or near the gravestone, even in the middle of winter. She said the experience of the bird’s presence helped her to feel her daughter’s spirit more intensely. And it comforted her. This bird was especially meaningful because her daughter’s name was Robin.
*A man who is an artistic quilter had a beautiful story written about him in a local hospital magazine. This invitation to tell his story was a big surprise and a gift because he had intentionally given up trying to promote his work. Several months later, in the large city where he lived, he was stopped in a restaurant by a woman who said she recognized him from that article months ago and had been so inspired by his story that she started to quilt herself. They later met and shared their stories, realizing that they both had the same philosophy about their creativity, sharing it freely without trying to promote it.
*A woman who was receiving treatments for stage four metastasized breast cancer was in her doctor’s office at a threshold time in her treatment process. She looked up at one point and saw a light infused angel standing in the corner of her doctor’s office. She was surprised yet felt comforted by this presence. Another time a butterfly landed on her shoulder after a meaningful church service and stayed there for about forty-five minutes. As it flew away it gently brushed her cheek. She felt these were signs that she was being held in the arms of something beyond her. She recounted several other mystical experiences over the seven years of her cancer, and she “knew” that these occurrences sustained her for a longer life. Initially she had only been given six weeks to live.
*Many of us have had the intimate experience of holding eye contact with a domestic or wild animal and feeling that they are looking more deeply into us, animals like deer, foxes, owls, dogs, cats, birds, wild turkeys, dolphins, herons. Or what about nature experiences that make your skin shiver with personal meaning?
How do we explain these “beyond belief” things?
I suppose each person will have a different approach. Some would say “Just enjoy it. Don’t try to explain it.” I appreciate that--and I do practice it. Yet it does beg for more exploration, at least for me. Jung might say it is synchronicity, that things happen across time and space and that we are all connected in that way. Scott Peck would describe it as serendipity. Brain specialists might say that they’ve found parts of the brain that connect us with these larger ideas or different wavelengths.
Spiritual teachers might say that these are examples of “thin places” where the veil between this side and the other side is permeable, and that it is something to be grateful for. Mystics might say that these are ways The Infinite chooses to be in intimate touch with us, showing us that we are loved and never alone. Counselors may say that healing from traumatic events allow us to open to a wider view of things than we ever knew existed. And even some forms of mental illness may allow people access to parts of the world that are unreachable to others.
I’d like to suggest that these unusual things that may seem “beyond belief” could be “heaven-on-earth” experiences. The idea being that the veil between heaven and earth opens so light and love energy from somewhere beyond us can break through. Currently these experiences are showing up in discernible ways we can’t ignore. We are being asked to be more aware of them—and maybe embrace them. What if they could change the way we view the world?
I deliberately use a variety of names for the “beyond us presence” because for many people in our culture the image and experience of God has been a less than generous or loving image. Other names we can give to this “beyond belief” presence are Higher Power, Mystery, the Universe, the Holy, the Divine, Ancestral Spirits, the Holy Spirit, Infinite, Love. I will choose God or Holy as the presence because I’ve done a great deal of inner work to heal and reclaim my experience and image of God. That was the journey of healing for me. Yet whatever works for you is the way into this deeper experience.
In this segment I will, however, give a brief explanation from the Christian world perspective as to what may be behind this emergence, namely the rise of the Spirit at this point in world history. It may help those of us who have struggled with the church or with theological beliefs to come to a new and more settled place in our faith. May it be so.
Phyllis Tickle, a well-known theologian, suggests a historical idea in her book, The Age of the Spirit. She shows from her research and scholarship, that we are now leaving the Age of Enlightenment and have entered the Age of the Spirit, where the way in which we connect with God, the Holy and that which is beyond us is through the Spirit, more specifically the Holy Spirit. How the Spirit is viewed and what it means have brought about much controversy, many battles and theological disagreement within the history of the Christian world over the centuries. But the Spirit seems to have survived all the external controversy and continues to attract people from many walks of life and many different religious and cultural practices.
What other ways might “beyond belief” experiences show up?
Now the Spirit seems to be showing up in more conscious ways and in wider circles, through charismatic experiences all over the world. The fastest growing churches are Pentecostal, world- wide. The gifts of the Spirit are named in Christian scripture to include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophesy, discernment, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues.
But what about outside of the church or outside of a particular faith tradition? This group might call themselves “spiritual but not religious,” a rapidly growing segment of the country. And their emerging ways of being spiritual may include things like spiritual direction, more intentional connections to the Spirit through popular music, nature, pilgrimages, art, ceremony, body and breath work, and many healing experiences (including mushrooms!). Emerging ways also include embracing chosen practices of Eastern Orthodoxy, Buddhism, Jewish thought, and Native American practices.
This transition into a new Spirit world within current faith traditions is propelled by different energies within our spiritual lives. I’ve come to believe that the call is to shift our focus. Simply put, we shift from a primary focus on beliefs about God (like theology, head knowledge, doctrine) to intentionally embracing direct experiences of the Mystery who is God. It does not mean discarding theology but viewing theology through the lens of these direct heart experiences. Simply put, our whole lives could be seen through the eyes of Eternal Love. In our everyday life, we all experience things that are “beyond belief” yet it may seem hard to integrate it with our faith experiences or in our faith walk. But if we pause and think about it, we already accept important experiences that we can’t prove. These are things we believe are spiritual but are not provable (although with new breakthroughs in brain science, we are now able to locate some of these emotions in the brain). Consider love, compassion, beauty, joy, altruism, intuition, visions, dreams, peace of mind.
Here are a few more “beyond belief” experiences…
*A woman working as a spiritual director in a prison setting was sitting at a table with inmates (insiders) and they were introducing themselves to her. She turned to the woman next to her and asked her first name. It was the same as hers. Then she laughed and said what a great name it was and casually asked what the insider’s middle name was. It turned out to be the same as hers. This was getting interesting. They both looked at each other, anticipating the next question—the insider’s last name. Amazingly it was the same name as the spiritual director’s maiden name. That was a wakeup call to the director, who realized at that moment, that she could, if given the right set of circumstances, also be an insider, an inmate. And it began an eight-year spiritual direction relationship between them, a rich experience for them both.
*A man working in a dementia unit of an organization had no idea how his clients would change his life. At first he intuitively starting using new connections with them, like looking directly in their eyes, kneeling to be on their level. With that vantage point and deeper connection, he noticed that they were decidedly more present. He developed ways to interact with them on an entirely different non-rational level of relating. You might say soul-to-soul or spirit-to-spirit. He became, some would say, a “dementia whisperer.” Now he is writing a book for caregivers and families about how to connect more deeply with their loved ones.
*A woman who walked regularly around a small lake in a local park heard footsteps behind her one day and turned around to see who was there. No one was there. She started walking again and the footsteps started too. She knew there was no human there and she stopped to think about what it could be. The gentle answer for her was that it was God who was letting her know that she was not alone. In the future when these footsteps occurred, she just smiled and thanked God.
*A woman held a precious rock in her hand each day in her quiet time. It was shaped like the palm of her hand and was sheer gift. One day after she had placed it back where it always rested, she returned later to the spot and couldn’t find it. It was gone. She searched. Her granddaughters searched. Gone. She grieved since it was so special to her. Several months later after she had spent the day with her family she returned to her home and the rock was back, right in its place. Did someone in her family secretly replace it? But no one could have snuck in that day since she was with her family all day. She sensed it was her deceased former husband gifting her with this experience, reminding her of how they frequently held hands as a form of their connection.
How do we now choose to embrace our “beyond belief” occurrences?
I don’t know the answer to that for you, dear reader. And there may be hundreds of answers, each designed especially for different individuals. I’ll just offer one of my experiences here and my meaning. I’ve had various kinds of Spirit experiences or “beyond belief” happenings. At first, I was afraid of them or too awed by them, so I took the experiences to my spiritual director to ask her about them. When she didn’t faint, I felt comforted and was willing to not only experience them but to be open to them or even invite more of them. I don’t claim to own any special gifts, just to be open to the gifts of the Spirit that come.
Over time, these gifts began to infiltrate my life and my faith. I noticed the subtle shift I mentioned, from a primary focus on beliefs about God (theology and doctrine) to experiencing God as Mystery directly and intimately.
Here’s my example of a “beyond belief” experience. I used to refrain from tears and crying, especially in public but with this deeper experience of God, I found that meaningful things brought ready tears to my eyes. I read that it could be a sign of holy things happening, so I kept track and sure enough it usually was. And my tears became a gift. Then I started crying often for no apparent reason and I had no way to understand it, since I knew I was not depressed. I brought it to my spiritual director, and she said it could be a sign of intimacy with God and discernment. She told me that Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Jesuits) had a similar experience for a whole year when he was trying to discern something important for his followers. She even found a small book about his experience. I read it, and yes, the tears were a sign of deep discernment for me as well. As a result of knowing that, over time I made a difficult but life-giving decision. And those constant tears ceased.
I’ve found these intimate gifts to surprise, humor and ground me in life-giving ways. I’ll share a few of the fruits of them in my life. I chuckle more at the ways God works. I am inspired and awed by small things, and especially beauty of all kinds. My shadow behaviors don’t scare me as much and I can view them with patience and humor and less shame and guilt. The joy that results is tangible. I consciously keep my relationships steady with honesty and love, which means I am calmer and less entangled by chaos in the world. Losses still come but I don’t seem as undone by them because I’m not alone. I care more about other people, and I search for solidarity with them. I genuinely love and trust God more because I never feel judged or condemned. On my good days. On the other days I return to prayer and ask for direction!
Mystery is something we can’t explain and maybe that’s what makes it so intriguing. So, we are invited to just sit with these experiences and see where they take us. Mary Oliver summarizes it so well in this poem.
Mysteries, Yes.
Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.
How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds will
never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.
Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.
Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.
Janet Hagberg, 2023. Please pass along.