Pentecost +17 C

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ouch to awe

lost sheep
lost coins
lost boys
lost opportunity
lost innocence
lost direction

 

every loss is significant
O—wail it long—O . . .
even nothing can be lost
O . . .

 

given time monkeys type Shakespeare
given time loss lingers long
an alchemic catalyst
refining lives

 

our identity so wrapt
with signs for meaning
with loss we are lost
and learn hoarding early

 

loss by loss
we find more than less
‘til finally
a simple Ah . . .

 

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2013/09/ouch-to-awe.html

 

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The Commercial Spirit

The Commercial Spirit
Meister Eckhart

As long as we look for some kind of pay for what we do, as long as we want to get something from God in some kind of exchange, we are like the merchants. If you want to be rid of the commercial spirit, then by all means do all you can in the way of good works, but do so solely for the praise of God. Live as if you did not exist. Expect and ask nothing in return. Then the merchant inside you will be driven out of the temple God has made. Then God alone dwells there. See! This is how the temple is cleared: when a person thinks only of God and honors God alone. Only such a person is free and genuine.

- - -

tiny inside merchant
price tagging life
50¢ for learning math
75¢ for a loving partner
$300 for military security

how do you do it
commodify life
$4 for a janitor
$6 for a doctor
$200 for a CEO

it seems to change
with your desires
$10 for Milwaukee Braves memorabilia
$15 for a Winnebago Sightseer
$100 for bypass surgery

until there is nothing left
but to earn twice as much
for half the satisfaction
invested in manipulated chance
with no way around death

a better economist
values differently
$50 for you
$50 for each
$50 for me

sending prophets
to ensure profit
through regulations
beyond desire and
dishonest wealth

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2010/09/commercial-spirit.html