“Original Blessing”

“Sea Eagle”, jane kohut-bartels, watercolor, 2001

 

I have been fighting theological issues my whole life.  I come from a family who has a stance on theology  I just can’t tolerate.  It’s mean, oppressive, fundamentalist and especially misogynistic. There is no room in my life, in my belief system for this kind of ‘theology’.  It is abhorrent to me.  Having said that, I have struggled to come to what I do believe, and it has been an uphill climb my entire life. Organized religion is a sham to me, as I have seen the falsity of much of it.  Baha’is, Quakers, the different churches have left me numb and still an unbeliever. 

I  feel the necessity of Gratitude, and for this I am strong, though my target is not what others in the religious communities would consider the ‘correct’ target.  Too bad.  I am grateful for the beauty of Nature and the random kindnesses I have received, and I am grateful for a place of relative safety.  Perhaps there is little more in life to expect.

Lady Nyo

–

“Original Blessing”

 

I am dizzy with love,

Standing in the rain,

This cosmic blessing

Pouring on my head,

Mingling with tears of gratitude

Til one stream

can not be deciphered

From the other.

 

I am an Original Blessing,

As are you,

And we are not born in sin,

But brought into the light of life

In great joy and anticipation.

 

Our first bellows are not of pain

But surprise at the roominess of the Cosmos,

As we kick our feet, flail our arms

And finally open our eyes at the glorious colors

Of Nature.

 

Original sin would have us

Born rotten,

A theological monkey on our back–

But I know no God of the Cosmos

Who would scar these tiny blessings

With such a heavy burden.

 

Original Blessing is a deliverance,

A deliverance of hope, trust and pride

A heritage where we can discern and save

Ourselves,

Walk in harmony with the Earth,

Stride with God across the span of life–

For this Earth is our cradle,

And all in it our kin.

 

For a truly wise person

Kneels at the feet of all creatures

And is not afraid to endure

The mockery of others.

 

And when the day sidles up to night

I will settle into the nest of the Earth,

Draw the dark blanket of the Cosmos

Across me,

Pillow my head upon stars

And know that the blessings I have been

Graced with today and always

Have come from the womb of God.

=

Jane Kohut-Bartels

Copyrighted, 2012-2016

(“Original Blessing” was published in “Pitcher of Moon” , Amazon.com, 2014, by the author)

 

 

 

Tags: "Pitcher of Moon", Fundamentalism, Original Blessing, the misogynistic practices within religion, theology