The Return

Although we walk together down a road

We are like raindrops falling to the sea.

The world is never what it seems to be;

The only story that does not deceive

Is telling how the soul returns to God.

Some pilgrims travel to the holy land,

While others close their eyes and sit quite still.

The reason is not hard to understand:

All of creation tends toward the Real –

Even a speck of sand becomes a pearl.

Year after year the restless soul may search –

A plain and simple flower shows the way.

Blooming out of the darkness of the earth,

It turns its face toward the light to pray.

—Barry McDonald