elemental things

within the heart of man are elemental forces
which may or may not manifest themselves
in the life of an individual person.
whether they do or no
he nevertheless participates in a life
which has unfathomable depth.

john donne says no man is an island.
I had always understood that
as a personal revelation on donne's part.
I see that I still have not understood this aright.

it is, above all, a statement of fact
discovered or no.
to NOT discover it leads to downward spiral
and personal frustration.

the health of a person
depends upon him discovering,
within his own being,
just how deep the ocean in which he swims
actually is.

one way or another, life does this:
revealing depth to us,
through catastrophe,danger,
tenderness and loneliness.
the last thing we should do at such times
is struggle for the shore.

I still have such a problem
with the name: christ.