Discernment (Sun Tzu 4:5) (Hebrews 4:12-13; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Joshua 5:16-6:27; Matthew 26:36-46; 21:22; 17: 19-21)

A fluff of down shed in the autumn days,
Does not take strength for it quite high to raise;
Distinguishing between the moon and sun,
Does not require keen eyesight to be done.

A thunderclap quite easily is heard;
To think it shows good hearing is absurd;
When form is there, our senses work quite well;
Perceptions gained in formlessness will tell –

Of one who hears the nuanced things of life;
Of one who takes the subtle in the light
Of the larger scene – some weakness to exploit,
And to that factor raises up his voice.

Seven times around the walls of Jericho,
They walked each day and watched that they might know
The enemy, then when the time was right,
They silence broke, walls fell within their sight.

In times of prayer we move beyond the form
Of worldly things, which most define as norm;
Within that space life changes ’fore our eyes,
And we perceive what ’neath the surface lies.

“In prayer, if you see what you have received –
Some gift from God, and that you now believe,
Ask for that aspect of your life ahead,
It will be years – right now – ’fore you are dead”.

“Prayer brings us close to God”, Christ said one day
(Disciples had not healed the boy who lay
There at their feet requesting to be healed),
“And fasting frees us from this world revealed”.

“Sometimes success can only come when we
Detach ourselves this way, so we can see
What God reveals to us – life’s more than form –
To enter formlessness in prayer is the norm.

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