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Pure desires are within reach

Every good motive is “Spirit-impelled, God-given to us,” and therefore right here for us to put in action, as this poem expresses.

  • By Elizabeth Mata

Christian Science Perspective audio edition
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Maybe you’ve been in one,
a small town hardware store;
to me, a sort of disorderly
order; to some, an utter
treasure trove to plumb.

Once in one, I stood nestled
in shovels and screws, oblivious
of the sacred moment waiting in
the midst of the unremarkable; a
lone watering can, top-shelved
and out of service for who knows
how long – maybe forgotten in
plain sight – caught my eye.

Then – no warning given – it
was as though pure desires to
serve God more, to love more,
came up for breath, for freer
expression, urging honest
questions: were they boxed up
in mortal limits, out of use in
cluttered thought; shelved on
reluctance, fear, apathy – just
too hard to reach?

There is no place to stash divine
yearnings, unable to resist springing
open sweetly from somewhere
deep inside us; to serve and love
are Spirit-impelled, God-given to
us – His amply blessed children,
wholly spiritual – for glorifying
God, divine Love itself.

Such stirred desires can leap into
life in the most ordinary everyday,
wherever God places us, moves
us; there He cares infinitely to
put them to perfect use, erasing
hurt with grace, paving a way
to forgive, furnishing good for
the hopeless moment.

Right where we are, wherever we
are, pure desires are reachable,
provable, opening out in sheer
purpose to bless.

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