© 2003 Stephen Zendt
© 2003 The Urantia Book Fellowship
When I shed the suit of worry
That I carry on me day and night,
When I strip away the anxious bands
Of tightly held beliefs,
I stand naked to the gaze of God, and I tremble.
What happens then is nothing short of cosmic love:
Down from the utmost reaches of my mind
Stream consciousness and light in healing waves of wonder.
Enfolded, embraced within supreme creative being,
I am surrounded by the power of righteous thought.
I behold as I am beheld.
What I had clutched to me as vital crumbles into dust.
Selfish hopes are whisked to insignificance
By a force at once benign and beautiful
That powers stars and galaxies,
Yet makes me feel beloved,
At home, encouraged.
The love that forgives, serves. resurrects, remembers,
Showers down on me and on my world of pain and fear.
Our God makes all things newt in spite of our determined doubt.
If I remove rny tiny self, God is there in radiance and mercy.
How can I cling to outmoded ways,
When our world is breaking open before astonished eyes?
Stephen Zendt
San Francisco. 2002