Songs for Our Journey 7

The lyrics of this song are based on the words of a poem by Stephen Levine. Stephen and his partner Ondrea have spent much of their lives discovering the miracles that arise when we face illness and death directly and accompany ourselves and others through the losses and gifts that come with that essential territory.  I've put Stephen's poem below the song.  If you listen as you read you'll notice that I've left a few words of the poem out, and repeated or rearranged a few more words to make it work as the song evolved.  And I've added one line at the end.   Stephen wrote, "That is what we sing about", and I added, "That is all we ever sing."  I've sent the song to Stephen and Ondrea and they loved it.  It's with deep gratitude to them for the tremendous gift of their work that I post it here. 

Millennium Blessing
By Stephen Levine

There is a grace approaching
that we shun as much as death,
it is the completion of our birth.

It does not come in time,
          but in timelessness
when the mind sinks into the heart
and we remember.

It is an insistent grace that draws us
to the edge and beckons us to surrender
safe territory and enter our enormity.

We know we must pass
          beyond knowing
and fear the shedding.

But we are pulled upward
          none-the-less
through forgotten ghosts
          and unexpected angels,
luminous.

And there is nothing left to say
but we are That.

And that is what we sing about.