Altar of the Mundane
Did the Virgin Mary perceive Archangel Gabriel
with spiritual sensing? Or did Gabriel slow
his vibratory rate so she, a mortal,
could receive him with earthly eyes and ears-
apropos for the annunciation
that she would birth essence into flesh?
What if an Archangel did so for you and you
could see him with physical eyes,
hear his voice out loud? Would you require
him to do something significant
to be worthy of your attention?
Would you inquire
if he had any special stature?
I mean, how high of an Archangel are you?
Are you newly minted and hovering
haltingly above the terra firma? Or are you
at the right hand of God,
leading legions
against the Prince of Darkness? No,
you would simply bask
in his preternatural presence.
His beingness would be enough.
As Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient unto thee.”
Yet, we demand more from ourselves
to merit wonder, though we are
spun from the same substance as he.
What if the thin membrane
between the human and angelic realms was torn
and we suddenly appeared
to an Archangel on his turf?
Perhaps he’d think us a Godly
apparition, too. Be us human or angel,
if our sense of reality shifts, we are thrust
into spontaneous awe and worship.
But must we wait upon numinous
happenstance, grace, to awaken
to the miracle of the moment?
It seems our attention is appropriated
into what is loudest.
When we consciously pause
and revel in the quotidian, like
we would our winged brethren
made visible, we luxuriate
in the now, worship within the mundane.
As we love what is, God
tips our face to His lips
and spills the antidote
to Eve’s apple.
We die,
but only to this world,
so we might live
within the next,
even while we walk the earth.
Now, you see, through burning eyes,
the Archangel’s heart
still wildly beating from bridging
the seemingly variable realities of
angel and human.
From azure eyes, the color of the ocean of love
and mercy, he gazes at you with unfathomable
tenderness. Waves of light lap upon the shore
of your awe until you
dive into the deep
of divine intimacy.
He worships you
worshipping him.
This must be how God adores,
at the altar of wonder,
all of His creation.
