a materialist marvels at the spiritual bloom

Hope rises up
Like a brave new flower in the semi-desert
Determined to grow up in full bloom
In the surrounding desolation
Possibilities open up
Like the inscrutable, impenetrable gates
Of a maximum security penitentiary
Unleashing a long held prisoner from captivity
Possibilities open up
New doors to hopeful futures

For years the sun never shone in your world
They gave up on you
Making it easier for you to give up on yourself
For years a thick blanket of dour despondency
Stifled you, almost choking you
Back seat drivers without a license
Told you where not to go
While strangers guided you to a dead end rubbish dump

One day you woke up and washed your face
And was surprised that you could still see
And had not gone blind as you had feared
One day you woke up to the sound of beautiful music
Years after being resigned to an apparent deafness
One day you woke up with a giggle in your throat
Surprising the daily moan from the pit of your stomach
And expelling it forever from your being

You told me the other day
That all this came to pass
Through your spiritual renewal
As you found sustenance through a new relationship
With the one you call Lord, Son of Man, King of Kings
The only begotten Son

As you know
I march to the beat of a different drummer
My stubborn optimism comes from more mundane, prosaic and earthly sources
Unlike your ethereal, poetic and otherworldly inspirations
So I would be lying if I said
That I know exactly what is causing that wonderful tremulous upheaval within you

I may not exactly embrace
The spiritual underpinning of your recent renaissance
But I can certainly feel its unmistakable vibes
Every time we converse
I may not share the faith that drives your rededication to life
But I can certainly hear its positive side effects in the pealing laughter
At the other end of the telephone line
I am very glad for what has happened to you spiritually
Because I am one of its main beneficiaries, materially…