One Thousand Iwaku*
I can refuse this universal invitation,
As if it were some T.V. ad. All I have
To do is change the channel. After all,
It would not be the first time, unless
We believe today can be the first day.
So always, to love or not to love
That is the question.
But, is there a choice, really?
Wouldn’t that be like
Cutting off one’s nose
To spite your face?
There are thousands
Of tomorrows, we think.
On each one we can lay
An excuse, that goes
Out to eternity, and
Eternity hears us.
So when we say no
At the dinner table,
I imagine all the excuses
For that now going on
Laid out like a place card
on a thousand meals unserved
Set by our refusal today,
And perhaps, that is
The original sin in us,
If there is one.
Can you imagine a child
Saying I will not suckle milk
To its mother? Some do.
And some having fed
Hold back contrite.
I tread carefully when
It comes to love.
A thousand days
Can be a long dry spell.
It can be a drought,
A dark night of soul
When we blame God
For deserting us, but
Where was the point
When we said no
At the dinner table?
Reflection: Once when I was a young teen, I remember an inner voice telling me not to think something. I don’t remember what it was. I don’t remember the situation. The words were in the ether about to form. They were in that one millisecond before manifestation, and in that one millisecond I heard, “Don’t think that.” I did not listen and let the words form, and there was a long path of words grazing on my consciousness afterwards. Soul crosses over to the material world, but can make its way back up again. If we look deeply at all religions, they speak the same language. They play the same music. They ignite the same song.
*In Japanese, ‘iwaku’ means a reason, but is used to mean excuse. Someone gives an excuse and the other person says “Iwaku.” It means they are making excuses.