heaven

we human beings are
so naïve, so ingenuous,
that after you put aside
our capacity for wickedness
you can only want to hug us.

take, for example,
our childlike capacity
to long for bliss, for utopia,
for nirvana, for shangri-la,
for eden, for perfection,
for heaven in the great beyond,
to believe in them
despite the massive evidence
of experience against.
it is so charming, in a poignant way.

some would say it’s harmless,
this capacity to believe
that we were once perfect,
or lived in a perfect place.
that it keeps us striving, motivated.

i think it misses the point,
the reality.

eden, heaven, all of them,
the utopias “out there”,
they drain Life of its life.
they encourage us to live in fantasies,
they suck the very joy
from the moments in the now,
in mortal time and space
when utter bliss explodes
in every cell.

they aren’t meant to be forever,
these fireworks of perfection,
just moments of wild love,
reconciliation, faithfulness,
self-giving, beauty,
awe,
breaking in and transfiguring
like jesus on the mountain.

i don’t think we should wait
until we’re dead
for heaven in the great by and by
on that beautiful shore
or any of the rest.
I think when we hurt
we should pour our heart out
into the space around us
and be healed.

bhoam+ 110211