In God Makes the Rivers to Flow; An Anthology of the World’s Sacred Poetry & Prose, Eknath Easwaran includes a selection from Swami Paramananda entitled “O Infinite Being.”  I’ve written the following poem-like reflections inspired by this selection.

Divine Presence

Grant that we may feel Thy Divine Presence within us;
That our soul may awaken from the sense-slumber of unreality
            and be ready to hear Thy call;
That our heart may be full of tolerance and compassions;
That peace and tranquility may pervade our whole being.
—Swami Paramananda

Walking in a forest with sandy soil

Leaves scattered across the trail

Sunlight filtered through the trees

Squirrels leaping from branch to branch

Birds singing

A softness to the scene

Alone in nature

Alone with the Divine Presence within and without

Awake but walking as if in a dream

Feeling quiet within

A call stirring in your heart

To know the Divine more deeply

To be one with it

When one can only be one with it

To feel that oneness

To feel that deep peace that transcends all circumstances

To know what’s real

To know the energy of the Divine

That is all there is

To see that Divine spark

In the strangers coming toward you from a distance

From the dunes in the distance

From the water

You are headed toward

That lake of tranquility

That place of sailboats and seagulls and sandpipers

The sweet sounds of waves

And deep in your soul

You feel this love for all strangers

You feel this knowing that they are like you

Even though they are different

Like you they are expressions of the Divine Presence

Like you they are the energy of God

Like you they are pure love made material

Like you they are consciousness made individual

Like you they love

Like you they long to be loved

Like you they long to return to the Presence

To return to the present

To be fully and completely alive and awake

Knowing joy

Knowing the Divine Presence within and without

Knowing that Presence as All-That-Is.