Between Two Mountains

Kathryn Mulderink

by Kathryn Mulderink

Amor proximi

I sought His love in kneeling throngs of prayer
In liturgies sublime, incensed, communal,
Gathering for myself the perfumed air
And richly vested full confessed tribunal.
I listened for His voice in chant and hymn,
From page and word I strained to visualize;
In solitude and quiet rest pursued Him,
But caught my first true glimpse in Samaritan eyes.
So I sacrificed to serve Him in my neighbor -
Gave past my wants to lessen others’ needs.
I’d thought I would find God upon Mount Tabor,
But heart-proof of love is not what glows but bleeds.

The sanguinary road to Calvary we must trod
If we would listen to the heartbeat of God.