God Speaks

By Rainer Maria Rilke 

God speaks to each of us as we are made,

then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are words, the numinous words, we hear

before we begin:

You, called forth by your senses,

reach to the edge of your longing.

Become my body.

Grow like a fire behind things

So their shadows spread and cover me completely.

Let everything into you: beauty and terror.

Keep going. Remember, no feeling is forever.

Don’t lose touch with me.

Nearby is the land they call life.

You will know it by its intensity.

Give me your hand.