this battle has ended; prepare for love’s outpourings

I love wandering through the archives of my blog and noting the
unmistakable, recurring cycles of my journey. This piece appeared
in late 2009, without a name to call its own. This time around, it seems ready
to don the title words that I spoke at the tail end of
a long and liberating bodywork session last week. Truly,
earth and heaven are closer together now than they have ever been.

this battle has ended

your regrets and disappointments
let them go
missteps and infelicities
cast them aside
indiscretions of the past mean nothing now,
if you insist on lugging them along
in some ersatz act of Sisyphusian heroics
your feet will fail you

and you may never arrive

leaking baggage is no longer de rigueur
as proof of your wounded eccentricities,
the weight of these badges has inspissated your soul!
elevate yourself
let each sodden sack tumble over the transom

these millstones
are no longer yours to carry

place your struggle on the ground before you
and walk away
bundle your ancient shame in a canvas bag,
loosen it from your shoulder
and drop it on the doorstep of Creation

who picks it up
is none of your business

do not look back
retrain your gaze
the old holds nothing for you now!
you need not watch in morbid fascination
as it sputters and spins itself out of existence

your eyes were given
to see so much more

divest yourself of the accumulated wreckage of life
and its propensity to drag you to the dungeon,
the light of all that is good and true
sweeps the endless horizon in illuminative glory
searching out the intrepid spirit
that lies beneath your ragged heart

prepare to receive
the outpourings of love