All things apposite not opposite
birth emergent out of universe
that reaches always for transcendence
without ever leaving immanence.
Nativity easing into life-consciousness,
body in soul, never soul confined to body,
ecumenicity ensuring cosmic inclusiveness,
catholicity providing whole earth identity,
protestation Weeping boundaries open,
pentecostal fire retaining enthusiasm,
orthodoxy temporarily securing interim limits,
heterodoxy escaping from dogma,
friends awed by inspiration,
and good faith, in all faiths,
offering love, passed on, not back;
pastors as prophets
and prophets pastors too,
in cyclical ceaseless creativity,
the gift of life eternally abiding.

CODA

Language being only mundane metaphor,
these terms with any other name
hold just as true
to ineffable unity in totality,
confined frames containing all being.

Wider still in earthly context
dogma dissolves,
penetrating poetry assumes its place;
universal wisdom in sacred quest seeks present relevance,
Buddhist liberating from compulsive obedience,
Judaic authenticity in story-telling of communal justice,
Christian everyday incarnation of divine compassion,
Islamic valuing discipline of surrendering to mystery,
Hindu celebration of priceless diversity,
Bahai conviction in waging peace,
Sufi power of inner awakening,
Jain perception, knowledge and conduct;
all in all a wondering at earth’s patterns,
birthing a renewed Earth Jurisprudence
the contemporary form of Universal Wisdom.

after dialogue in 2012