Through squinted eyes and gritted teeth
A hermit priest once said to me
Some words now seared in my conscience
He said “kid, it ain’t so clear to me
Who is on the winning team
Or if there is a winner
We may never know for sure
I’m Catholic, right, but don’t know why
My people think they’ll reconcile
The whole of humankind within our borders
Cause we all just grew out of the earth
Tried out sounds, formed some words
Clumped up into cultures,
Made some art, and went to war
And now out there are a million tribes
Who never heard the words of Christ
Do you think that when they die they’ll just simmer
Or could it be that Jesus meant
He’d live in strands of every nation,
Through their own traditions
Bring the Way, the Truth, The Life
And I know that I’ll never find the secrets
Nobody ever held before
But I’ve found that life is in the seeking,
Love cannot be stagnant,
And we’ll always crave more
So I’ll savor the good that I’ve been given,
Hold loose the things I’d like to keep,
And I’ll give all I have in search of freedom
And live to set other prisoners free
Now I won’t pretend to hold the truth
Of who is reconciled and who
Is destined for eternal flames or torture
Cause the most hellish atrocities
Were caused by men like you and me
Who, in the name of God
Desecrated human dignity
And I don’t believe we’ll ever heal
Until we learn to see and feel
The pain in the eyes of our victims
Cause this mystery and sacred text
So many men said had thought they’d pegged
But disagreed on what it said
Like what defines humanity
Like what defines humanity
And I know that I’ll never find the secrets
Nobody ever held before
But I’ve found that life is in the seeking,
Love cannot be stagnant,
And we’ll always crave more
So I’ll savor the good that I’ve been given,
Hold loose the things I’d like to keep,
And I’ll give all I have in search of freedom
And live to set other prisoners free
Of course God is a mystery,
Beyond human capacity
But you know I can’t pretend He’s nonexistent
He or She or It or We
Divine, Abyss, or Ground of Being
All is infant language
That we use to comprehend
Providential serendipity
That sometimes tells us where to be
But never gives our pain an honest answer
But amidst this ambiguity
Divine belonging might just lead
A few fearless lovers
To bring heaven here to earth
And I know that I’ll never find the secrets
Nobody ever held before
But I’ve found that life is in the seeking,
Love cannot be stagnant,
And we’ll always crave more
So I’ll savor the good that I’ve been given,
Hold loose the things I’d like to keep,
And I’ll give all I have in search of freedom
And live to set other prisoners free
And then he handed me a seed and said
Your task is now to plant and tend
To every truth your teachers tried to give you
Cause the path that leads to life is thin
But if you keep pursuing it
There’s no doubt in my mind
You’ll discover how a saint is made
And when he’d said his final word
He gave a peaceful smile and turned
And disappeared into his little cabin
And all the truth he shared with me
He packed into that little seed,
Laid it in my palm,
And I knew I had to dig
And I know that I’ll never find the secrets
Nobody ever held before
But I’ve found that life is in the seeking,
Love cannot be stagnant,
And we’ll always crave more
So I’ll savor the good that I’ve been given,
Hold loose the things I’d like to keep,
And I’ll give all I have in search of freedom
And live to set other prisoners free
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