Tread carefully…
This is hallowed ground on which
You walk
Sacred parchment on which
You run
Sanctified clouds on which
You fly
Blessed waters on which
You float
Small, fragile thing, tender at the
Bone and everywhere else too, soft
As a shudder, artless as sincerity,
Innocent by nature, shy by nurture.
Like a quiet child in a room full of
Boisterous adults, easily overlooked;
Like a young, sweet flower growing
Out a crack of seasoned city asphalt,
Easily trampled.
Tread very, very carefully.
But some don’t think
Don’t think so:
They walk all over it, talk all over it,
Crawl all over it, pour all over it, run
All over it – Get over it, they say –
After all:
Small fragility is inconsequential when
Compared to the big sturdiness of global,
Universal issues – hey, it matters less what
Is underfoot than what is overhead – why
Worry on what your heel treads when your
Mind is in all the right places – big ideas are the
Sun to small trivialities’ pliable, waxy candle!
The game may be afoot, they say,
But the player is ahead!
And they would be right, if we were talking
About those superimposed things in life, which
Are less super, more imposed – you know, those
External nuances necessary for a soul to exist in a
Physical universe but not necessary for a soul to
Exist. Period.
But we talk not of external things, but of internal,
Eternal things; we speak not of the barrel but of
The potent wine it contains; we paint not the
Expression but the essence it expresses –
And regarding essence…
And it will be
Because you hearken
These ordinances
Ordinances; what is an ordinance?
What to heed; what to hearken?
For many, I’m sure, an ordinance is
A rule, a regulation, what they would
Probably call a restriction.
But what if an ordinance is a connection,
A way to touch something divine, a way
To touch our souls, our essence – would
That be restricting or liberating? Would
That be called an ordinance or an
Extraordinance?
And when talking about connections,
Touching something eternal, real, true,
Does a small, fragile thing connect any
Less than a big, brawny thing, does a
Simpleton’s kind word touch heaven
Any less than the ingenious works of a
Brilliant scholar dripping with profundity?
When is a connection, a relationship more
Genuine: when one connects with big things
That receive plaques and recognition or when
One connects (also) with the small things that
May go unrecognized to the world at large but
Which make all the difference to the one you
Connect with, the one you love?
To think big is (sometimes) easy; to do all the little
Things to get to that big place, not so much.
Eikev – many translations:
Because
Reward
Heel
It will be the ultimate reward of finding the essence
Because you connect (also) to and with the small things.
Tread carefully: sometimes it is the little things which
Heel
The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.