THE SAME WELL

I began my morning by reading John O'Donohue's lovely poem “For Light” from To Bless the Space Between Us. My first thought was, “How beautiful!” A second, louder thought blurted out, “I’ll never write like that!” Then, thankfully, a third gently eased the second aside, whispering, “We all draw from the same well.”


We all draw from the same well.
In its shallows there is a clouding differentness,
but the deeper we go the more same we see.
Somewhere down under even the slightest
of our separateness clears.
Then a deep knowing comes:
When we draw of these waters
--cool, crystalline, creedal--
we all draw upon the one and same source.
And what each of us brings to the surface for all to see
is our beauty at its best, beheld as it alone can be,
catching the breath of the insightful eye,
astounding the outer orbits of the mind,
and delighting the sensors of the spirit.

This is where art begets art.
This is where beauty becomes beauty.
And here, regardless of continent or covenant,
we all recognize this truth for what it is:
A sensual, if nonsensical, feast.
Having moved from the world of reason
to the realm where it is our innermost perceivings
that give glow. Shed light. Make way.
Here what is most intimate within us guides our steps
while never losing its bearings. Indeed,
here these are only sharpened and heightened,
heralded kings as Solomon, queens as Sheba.

We all draw from the same well.
Let us drink deeply then. Yes, you. Yes, me.
Let us draw with the strength of the stars
and the stamina of gravity.
For it is in this doing, in this act of drawing
that the sweet nectar of discernment is drunk.
The words and wisdoms
that make it back up to our surface
are but the cup, a souvenir of our visit,
the holy grail with which we are graced, which
when raised to the lips of our consciousness,
forever anoints us with its contents,
satiating our spirits and sending us soaring.

The woman at the well said to Jesus,
“Sir, give me that water...” (John 4:15)

TODAY.
GIVE YOURSELF & THE WORLD A GIFT.
TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW YOU THINK.