The Ladder of Prayer
Once upon a time there was,a ladder made of light;
It stretched from here upon the earth,
Went up clear out of sight,
I felt that I should climb it,
Though fearful to begin,
But knew it was my destiny
to climb it, was to win;
The first step was direction,
It clearly UP did go,
No doubt that Terra Firma left
And sky was all to know;
Confucius said that one would end,
In the direction went,
So up I climbed a rung or two
To see just how I felt.
I felt alone, where I had been,
I blamed those that I knew,
They left me square & didn't care,
My parents too they knew;
No one did care, I blamed them all
My pain was their fault too;
I hated them, for what they did,
And wished they'd all be blue;
At work they'd give me all the jobs,
That they would never do,
Control of others was their thrill,
And mine was to be blue;
I felt so sad & oh so bad,
It must have been my fault,
It always was, right from the start,
When I was but a fart;
So here I was in hopelessness,
In blame and anger too,
And it was all their fault out there,
The others that I knew.
Now at the bottom of the line
That leads to heaven's gate,
The ladder starts just where you are,
In your created state.
For Spirit is so gentle
And patient-kind is he;
And He is there to help you,
Just where you'd hap't to be.
I asked Him then to guide me,
To show me where to go,
He said "just climb the ladder,
And forgive the thoughts you know."
The energy to climb it,
You find when you forgive;
And each illusion of your hate,
Released will help you win;
The thoughts you "know" are judgments,
That keep you where you are,
They prove to you that sin exists,
And you're a fallen star;
So when you see in others,
Some grievous awful thing,
Remind yourself that We are One,
With God and everything;
Remember God created,
One blessed Holy Son,
And those you see are One with you,
And Love is simply One;
So different, a thought like this,
Than mine had been so long,
I felt my heart just lighten up,
And I climbed another rung.
I asked the Spirit why they where,
So bad --these folks out there,
His answer was a silent smile,
Of this I was now aware;
I realized my question posed,
Assumed my little worth,
And came from fear of knowing truth,
To keep me bound on earth;
For what we see in others,
Outside, above, below,
Is but our guilt projected,
And this we'll come to know;
See this and you can then remove,
"The beam in your own eye",
But if you don't then you will see
The faults in those that cry;
For we make everyone so sad,
When faults are all we see,
And blame and guilt, the food we give
To others there in need;
So up I stepped, another rung,
My heart seemed free-r now,
Unsure of what to think of this,
These thoughts seemed so bizarre;
I asked again, the Spirit guide,
How I should think of them,
--the others I convicted,
those I blamed, and feared again;
"Forgive them for the sin you made,
not their's, you placed in them,
And let the Spirit take you
Up the ladder where you'll win."
Then hell broke loose, my spouse came in,
And claimed I worthless was,
Inside I smiled, and said from Love,
Nothing, for Love I was,
Not long ago, my buttons pushed,
Would turn the viper on,
Would have lashed out my fangs of two,
For I could not be wrong;
But here, up on the ladder,
"being right," I needed not,
So others could accuse me,
And defense I had forgot;
There was no need to see them all,
Different than me,
For we were One in God's sweet Love,
And that was all to see;
I climbed another rung or two,
Then down I looked earth-bound;
And fear of falling grabbed me,
And I held my hands around;
I said Oh Lord, please help me,
He said "calm down my son"
There's nothing here to fear for you,
You Are the holy One;
Your fear you made, so let it go,
I can't do this for you,
For your mind is most powerful,
As Mine is, this is true;
So watch your thoughts & let them tell,
You your deep hidden fears,
Your lacks (belief in littleness)
Your knowing (judgments dear);
All that you think is "true" dear one,
Are but distortions of;
The truth of heaven's glory,
And the fear of Love, the Son.
So take my hand and question,
With me, "your truth inside",
And see how the world's illusion
Does hide Our Love Divine;
Each "truth" you leave behind you,
Will push you up a rung,
Until we undo all the blocks of Love,
Oh Sweatness Son!
You see now only dimly,
Through glass distorted be,
The world's the glass distorted,
To hide the Real from Thee;
I said "now wait a minute,
You say the world's not here?
You're going much too fast for me,
And this is very clear";
"The journey's but illusion,
But take your time" said He,
"Each step, we take together,
For alone, You'll never be";
I climbed back down the ladder,
My feet the earth did touch,
But I seemed differed today,
More happy after lunch;
My spouse came in declaring me,
a lazy bastard was,
but while I saw the point thus made,
my heart was One with Love;
How could reaction take me
Into the depths of hell,
When heart was full declaring,
"no end to Love's sweet well"
I smiled instead, and blew a kiss,
To change the field of hate;
I knew the ego's game at last,
It was a big mistake;
My spouse and every person,
They do the their very best,
And every act they do or not,
They call for love and rest;
I thus forgave the error,
Recognizing it was mine,
We went to bed in sweetness,
And in the morning we were fine.