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

Passing Peace

Thou who art the eye of my eyes,

            the ear of my ears,

            the heart of my heart,

            the mind of my mind,

            the breath of my breath,

            the life of my life,

            the soul of my soul,

Bless us, dear God, to be aware of thy presence

            now and here.

—Swami Omkar

In my day to day life, I am blind to you, O Lord.

I am deaf to you.

I do not see you when I see you.

I do not hear you when I hear you.

You are the one behind my eyes, seeing the world,

but I am not conscious of your seeing.

You are the one between my ears, hearing the world,

but I am not conscious of your hearing.

You dwell in the center of my heart,

you pulse with my heart,

you beat my heart,

you own my heart,

but I do not look to you for answers often enough,

I do not meditate on your holy presence often enough,

I do not feel you there loving with my love.

You are the presence that is aware of my thoughts.

You are the presence that is aware of watching my thoughts.

You are the presence that feeds my mind divine ideas.

But I do not pay enough attention to your presence,

despite a deep existential longing to know you more.

You breathe my lungs, so I don’t have to.

You breathe with me.

You are the air that enters me.

You are the beautiful rhythm of breathing.

And yet, I do not thank you often enough

for giving me this rhythm to watch,

this deep rhythm.

You are the foundation of my life.

You have breathed life into me.

You govern the function of each cell.

You formed me in my mother’s womb.

You’ve given me my shape, my body.

You are the one who makes matter matter.

You are life itself, bigger than any one identity.

Without you, I could not exist.

How glorious, this gift that you have given me.

One precious life to spend and cherish.

If only I would recognize your presence, your being more often.

You are the soul that makes souls out of itself.

You are the consciousness that unites us all.

You formed my soul out of your eternal substance.

You gave me a piece of the eternal to remind me of you.

You gave me a piece of the eternal to remind me of my true home in you.

You gave me a piece of the eternal to remind me that I am you.

You are the eternal in me, perfect in every way.

You are the presence that gives me presence.

You are the holy one that makes me whole.

You are the silver that cannot be tarnished.

If only I would spend each holy moment reveling in you in me.

I am absorbed by the things of this world.

I think constantly of human love, of money, of food and drink, of my career.

I find no peace in these things.

Your presence is the peace I seek.

I have only to think of you to touch that peace.

May I meditate on your presence day and night.

May I pass your peace to all the world.