I have spoken to a few of the wise ones
who journey after God.
They speak often of the length of the journey;
of its perils and subtle trials;
of their longing, and deep ardor.
So many, it seems, are on their way;
so few, it seems, are arriving.
Perhaps the problem here
is that they sought what they sought;
for what man can discover God?
Perhaps the answer lies, instead,
in seeking what He seeks...
If a child wants truly to learn of
the world of his father,
he must put away childhood
and become a parent.
But in doing so,
though he learn the lessons of fatherhood
it is no longer the child who knows it.
There is no way for one world, so apart,
to become another.
So too, a man who would find God
must leave himself to begin that journey.
Yet it would no longer be him, when he arrives.
Does a parent long for the child
to leave his own state
and join him in his?
Or would he rather be a parent
spending time with his young ones...
In truth, he wants what all fathers
wish for their children:
that which best suits the child.
One world, looking over the other,
fulfilling itself
by wishing the fulfillment of the other.
I think all this journeying of the wise
is to a place with no reality:
like a seed wanting to know the Tree
who ceases to be in that knowledge.
Such a thing *is* a long, impossible journey
for the seed.
Perhaps it were better
if we sought what seeds should know:
and in this Way,
learn the mysteries of growth...
