More Than Words 11-2-08

Reciting prayers for two thousand years
won't make them anymore truthful -
and reading, planning all day long,
won't make us anymore fruitful.

And where is the prayer when it is spoke
if no one understands it?
Where are the prayers when acts don't match,
with words and acts so split?

A cake might be the perfect one and hungry eyes may lurk -
but the oven must be hot enough for everything to work.
And cakes are more than recipes and more than ingredients.
Prayers cannot exist alone - but take obedience.

While birth is more than birth pangs and a baby we're proud of.
Love is more than marriage and, God is more than love.
Life is more than a beating heart - one sparrow, more than birds.
And life is more - once it's lived - as a prayer is more than words.

©2008 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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