20160305 (adoration)

Don’t much use the word adore

Lately, even in romantic talk

Except when it’s about a third 

Person, e.g., she adores him. It

Appears in some songs but not of 

Recent vintage. On that I’m guessing

Because I don’t listen to much of

Today’s music. But I suspect I’m

Right as I sense such devotion 

Would be excessive in this time

When people are more guarded,

Circumspect about declarations so

Intense. Could be I’m answering

My own reservations after a failed

Marriage. There are so many like 

Me though, in a country where first

Marriages face a one-out-of-two

Failure rate, seconds even higher,

And thirds we’ll just leave alone.

I mention this after watching a

British romantic comedy Love,

Actually made in 2003 in which

I did not hear the word once. I

Wasn’t setting out to talk about

The flick though, nor about the

Word’s romantic sense. I wanted

To distinguish it from the use

We more properly put it to, as in

Worship of a deity, or God, if

I may so boldly state it. For all

We think of making human

Sexual love a private matter

I would offer no one wants their

Love of God, their adoration,

To be a public affair partly

Because of a comparable 

Nakedness of spirit such prayer

Demands, and partly because it

Is so intensely personal. That’s 

Not to say adoration cannot be

Expressed by a body of believers

Through hymns or standard prayers.

So much again I’d emphasize the

Personal authenticity involved

In individual instances. I challenge

Anyone to find art depicting a

Soul in adoring contemplation

Which does not convey it as

Private, singular. I personally

Envision its expression as a 

Wordless event, as much 

Apprehension as expression—

Those times when the innermost

Self feels, sees, hears that which

Is most real, most good, and 

Responds with a comparable

Reach of comfort, vision, and

Equally wordless reply which they

Recognize as their own but cannot

Identify from where in themselves

Those images come. These may 

Happen while in verbal prayer,

Or while driving, or during sex,

Or amongst others, when you are

Softly or swiftly removed from

The scene to become aware in a

Totally different way than you

Have ever been aware of yourself,

Others, the world, and that 

Captivating something else Who

Makes life orderly, awesome,

And wonderfully complete for

A moment—then you return.

Try as you may, you can’t make

It happen. Pray for hours. Upside

Down if you want to. Then one

Day when you look out the 

Window, sit in a chair with 

The cat on your lap, or talking

With your brother, again you

Hear the Poet of Heaven

Whispering in your ear.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016