© 2010 Georges Donnadieu
© 2010 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
Worship is the religious impulse which brings about worshipful satisfaction, always according to our own course of action, directed by (1) our intuition, associated with (2) our understanding, supported by (3) our courage, approved by (4) our knowledge, directed (5) in counsel, to arrive at a state of worship satisfying the needs of the intuition.
Example #20 from “Morontia Mota” is: “Only a poet can discern poetry in mundane everyday life” (UB 48:7.22)
I will illustrate this aphorism with two poems of worship from two 19th century poets, born on two continents bordering the Atlantic. Both poems are addressed to the Creator of our local universe of Nebadon and to the celestial hosts, even in our local system and on our planet Urantia.
1. Walt Vhitman, the greatest American poet born in 1819 on Long Island, died in 1892. His collection Leaves of Grass went through nine editions during his lifetime.
ALONE ON THE BEACH IN THE EVENING (1856)
Alone on the beach in the evening
While the old mother of men sways singing her hoarse song
As I look at the bright stars that shine, a thought comes to me concerning the key to the universes and the future.
A vast similarity binds all things together,
All spheres, formed, unformed, small, large, suns, moons, planets,
All spatial distances, however great,
All temporal distances, all inanimate forms,
All souls, all living bodies, however different they may be, or in different worlds,
All gaseous, aqueous, vegetable, mineral processes, fish, animals,
All nations, colors, barbarities, civilizations, languages, All identities that have existed or will exist on this globe or any globe,
All lives and all deaths, all those of the past, the present, the future,
This vast similarity connects them and has always connected them,
And forever bind them together, hold them firmly together and encompass them.
2. Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus (1873 — 1897): this “shooting star”, who received her vocation at the age of 9, only lived 24 years on Urantia. I discovered this poem in the collection “Une tendresse ineffable” - Pensées 1 — Ed. Cerf). This 95-page pamphlet was purchased at the bookstore of the Montmartre Basilica on Wednesday, May 12, 2010, the eve of Ascension 2010 where the 2010 French-speaking meeting of readers of the Urantia Book began, in Sologne. This text was also read at a meeting on the last evening of our stay.
WHAT I LIKED
Yes, your hand always accompanies me,
In you, I have the woods, the countryside,
I have the reeds, the meadow, the mountain,
The rains and the snowflake
From the heavens.
I have the melodious lyre,
Harmonious solitude,
Rivers, rocks, graceful waterfall…
The gentle murmur of the stream,
The bird.
I have the beautiful lake, I have the valley
Solitary and all wooded;
From the ocean, I have the silver wave,
Golden fish, various treasures
Of the seas.
In you I have the bright star;
Often your love is revealed,
And I see as if through a veil,
When the day is declining,
Your hand!
You whose hand supports the worlds,
Who plants the deep forests,
You who with a single stroke of exile, make them fertile,
You follow me with a loving look
Always!
I have your Heart, your adored face,
Your sweet look that hurt me…
I have the kiss of your sacred mouth,
I love you and want nothing more,
Jesus!
Georges Donnadieu