The magnitude of this redemption
is that it glows through all time
even as dawn
glows through all our space,
even as the radiance of love
makes everything alright,
even our history.
Any fears and sorrows that lurked there
are resolved,
for truth’s appearance
alters the past
as surely as it does the present
As for the future —
what will we know of it?
— when we are so rapt
in the presence
of unfolding day.
©Wendy Mulhern
December 30, 2017
The rain beats down on houses,
people inside staying dry,
the rain beats down on cars,
splashing through, headed home,
the rain beats down on heads
on their pathways
towards their chosen shelters,
the rain beats down
on those who have none
And every one of these is worthy,
and every one of these deserves a home
and every one of these deserves redemption
from whatever made them feel they were alone
The rain may fall
but no judgment
falls upon the heads
of those who find themselves
here in this state of consciousness,
here where their blessing precedes them.
©Wendy Mulhern
November 8, 2017
We wanted to be forgiven.
We wanted this, without even knowing
who, or for what — some deep shadow
cast within us. Some light
we hoped would shine on all our being,
showing that we were never
what we most feared we were,
and we never needed
to be punished
We have sensed there is such a light
like an orange glow
in a distant upper window,
a window that turns out to be ours,
a place that turns out to be home.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 19, 2017
There’s no escape for me
from the debt I owe
to my past,
no self-satisfied slide away
from what I was cast in
To be truly free
I must go back
to what I walked away from,
must bring the liberation I have won
to my perception
of those I left behind
This is not a task for intellect
nor for alleged virtue I have earned.
I surrender it
to the great truth that lifts me —
if I am lifted,
so, too, must be we all.
©Wendy Mulhern
October 1, 2017
Here where you are,
as you are held,
nothing can jostle
your settled being
No shock nor growl
can stop the steady purring
of your confidence,
your centered peace
Not even a thousand
murmuring grumblers,
self-justified and full of disapproval,
can ever touch you
Even if it seems like
they got inside
and are screaming at you
from within —
they can’t —
they aren’t you, and never have been
Here where you are
in the Principle that holds you
you are always safe.
©Wendy Mulhern
August 5, 2017
But if I am a prodigal
I don’t regret
the years my older brother would call squandered
This path has taught me
everything I needed day by day,
this life has brought me
all these precious gifts
which I can offer,
humble and in awe
upon Love’s altar
I have grasped the very substance of my being
in the brothels, streets and bars,
in my losses and my tears
Proving
my Father’s hand never left my shoulder,
my days were always guided,
my return assured.
The song of gratitude I sing
is purer, bolder,
now that I know Love’s hand
is ever here.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 14, 2017
Today I have proof
that nothing is lost,
though the hounds of regret
may howl and whine,
though sorrow sinks like cold air
into the place where hope has been uprooted
The great Love that fills all space
will finally be felt embracing everything,
and every loss will prove to be
a place that fills with joy
and all misunderstandings
will be redeemed
Even the most unconscionable blindnesses
will be revealed — eyes will be opened,
remorse flowing like tides
till all is equalled
and everyone will get to go home
Nothing is lost —
not chances, not years,
All will have their moment
to be the gift of love.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 10, 2017
There is a freedom in discovering
you’re on your own,
that most of life’s important tasks
you’ll face alone
There’s a relief in realizing
it’s not your job
to save anyone else —
their salvation, too, is their own
They, like you, are guided
on a singular arc
that can’t be analyzed
standing outside it,
they, like you, have all they need
to make the journey,
like you, they need to listen from inside
What a surprise, then,
the rush, the roar
(as hooves that pound together,
as wings that soar)
of finding we are moving
in the same beat,
thunderous in our unity,
burnished in our heat.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 9, 2017
Wake me up, remind me
I am not fallen
and I never fell. I don’t need
to claw my way up,
the pit sides
crumbling and smearing,
sending me back down,
I don’t need to be
covered in mud as I climb
I am not fallen
and the dawn,
calm as it ever was,
celebrates me
every bit as much
as these reverent trees.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 3, 2017
Under the hand of
that which holds me
with gentle humor
comes the release
of a great weight
and the relief of knowing
all my guilt and ignorance and fear
are nothing
They have not turned my maker against me,
they have not barred me
from the place of peace,
there is no sentence
meted out in loss of joy
I am beloved, as it turns out,
and incapable of falling,
and none of this worry
has made me drop
in the esteem of that which
loved me from the start
and always will.
©Wendy Mulhern
April 30, 2017