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Shekhinah: The Presence

From Beyond Conclusions

An excerpt from Shekhinah: The Presence by Joseph Zitt.


The Presence reaches out once more,
all moments crystallized within her gaze.

Invisibly, in silence,
she moves along,
around the time-encrusted congregants,
to grace the walls, the doorways
through which all who leave must pass.

One final kiss, then, 
for those who leave
  to greet the warmth of morning.
Her spirit fills the box of memories
  that stands sentry
  on the doorposts of the hall.

One kiss then,
  as she stands there
  in her gentle light.
Sister to the scrolls,
  she touches lips to hands,
  as those who pass her
  have touched theirs to theirs,
then touches hands to loving hands

and her fingers whisper messages
to the listening palms
of those who sense her there:

I am with you now, forever,
  as you venture out, 
  into the harsher rush of morning.
I have always been with you,
  in righteousness and justice,
      kindness, mercy,
  with you who knew of me and loved me,
  even with each of you
      who may or may not have known
          that I was there,
      who may or may not have cared,
          have listened,
          have believed.

I will always be with you,
  in faithfulness,
  and you will know my love
  as you wander onward
      through this world,
  as you pass beyond this life
      to the unknown,
  as you, within the mist, await the day

  that all times will again be one,
  that all of space will come together,
  that the river of life will flow
      beyond the pillars
      beyond the walls between the worlds
  and what was once the Earth
      will be once again a garden
      and all pain will be forever banished
      and all people will be clothed
      in the flesh of truth and honest love
  and all will eat without shame
      of the firm, sweet fruit of life
      digesting the knowledge of good and evil
  and the serpents
      will again walk proudly,
      will walk straight-legged, tall and wise,
  and all creatures
      will discover their true names
          as whispered in their ears by Adam
          but forgotten for an endless moment
          when first the garden was concealed.

I am with you, 
was,
will be with you
in all my hidden forms:

Rachel,
  tears about to turn to joy
  at the transformation of her children

the Sacred Scrolls,
  the ink and parchment gaining life
  and dancing free, a skin of comfort

the Moon,
  her cycles shown to be
  illusions framed by the tides of Earth,
  forever full, forever shining,
  with glory equal to the sun

the Sabbath,
  Queen of Comfort, mystic day
  that all days will soon become.

Listen:
  the daughter of a voice
  you hear within
  as you catch your breath
      before you say
      each on of your passing prayers
  is the modulation
      the harmony
      of my voice with your own.

Listen:

  Here till the end of days

  we together as one

  now

  stand.

Listen:

  I will be with you,
  remaining here in my hall to dream
  as in my dreams I enter yours

      and guide you onward

      through the world of life
      through the world of dreams
      through the greater world

      within your souls.


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