A dark, narrow place

A dark, narrow place                                                                                

Go into a closet to pray, Jesus said,

not just to thwart a pious display –

but to go to God is to go alone,

into a dark, narrow place –

that being the reason so few venture toward the Divine. 

We hug and gabble of brotherhood and spiritual links,

but if you are not laid low, 

lonely as the day you were born,

unacceptable to the many,

you have no chance at all

of securing an audience with the One

Who is shy of crowds and flattering strangers.

Strait is the gate, quoting Jesus again,

and narrow (as a grave) is the way.

Best to pare down, pilgrim; get lonely,

odd and disconnected, rather

than dressing yourself in virtue,

hiding among the bowed, religious crowd –

the sure way to speciousness,

death, rejection and return.

O child of God, when you address pilgrims

you must surely always include yourself.