The Eye of the Storm

Earlier today a tornado set down nearby, and right now it's early evening and another warning siren just went off, and soft thunder is rumbling in the dark sky, and the wind is coming up.

I am reminded of a poem I wrote some time ago, and I am posting it now.

THE EYE OF THE STORM
AND THE PEACE OF GOD

Flying research missions into the eye
of the hurricane, intrepid pilots
report of bravely hurtling through the eye
wall, the outer layer, a maelstrom, a
grinding stream, battered by torrential rains
and terrifying, one-hundred mile winds.

Suddenly, they break through, dazzled by blue
sky and sunlight, the calm at the center
of the storm, a clear space, sometimes forty
miles in diameter, where the winds are
light, the sky is sunny, stillness at last.

In wonder, they gaze up at the sides, the
blue-white clouds of the eye wall, towering
thousands of feet, gradually sloping
away, the walls of a great stadium.

This place at the center can be likened
unto the place in our center, God's peace.

There is a place in you where this whole world
has been forgotten; where no memory
of sin and of illusion lingers still.
There is a place in you which time has left,
and echoes of eternity are heard.
There is a resting place so still no sound
except a hymn to Heaven rises up
to gladden God the Father and the Son.
Where Both abide are They remembered, Both.
And where They are is Heaven and is peace.

Think not that you can change Their dwelling place.
For your Identity abides in Them,
and where They are, forever must you be.
The changelessness of Heaven is in you,
so deep within that nothing in this world
but passes by, unnoticed and unseen.
The still infinity of endless peace
surrounds you gently in its soft embrace,
so strong and quiet, tranquil in the might
of its Creator, nothing can intrude
upon the sacred Son of God within.
T-29.V:1,2

This poem was born from the seed of this
one revelatory Thought: Each moment in
time presents an opportunity for
conversion to eternity. The world
of time and illusion, like the eye wall,
just false perception, can be broken through.

The world is false perception. It is born
of error, and it has not left its source.
It will remain no longer than the thought
that gave it birth is cherished. When the thought
of separation has been changed to one
of true forgiveness, will the world be seen
in quite another light; and one which leads
to truth, where all the world must disappear
and all its errors vanish. Now its source
has gone, and its effects are gone as well.

The world was made as an attack on God.
It symbolizes fear. And what is fear
except love's absence? Thus the world was meant
to be a place where God could enter not,
and where His Son could be apart from Him.
Here was perception born, for knowledge could
not cause such insane thoughts. But eyes deceive,
and ears hear falsely. Now mistakes become
quite possible, for certainty has gone.

The mechanisms of illusion have
been born instead. And now they go to find
what has been given them to seek. Their aim
is to fulfill the purpose which the world
was made to witness and make real. They see
in its illusions but a solid base
where truth exists, upheld apart from lies.
Yet everything that they report is but
illusion which is kept apart from truth.
W-p11.3 “What is the World?” 1-3

The wind and rain and terrifying sounds
of the eye wall can be likened unto
the false world, made from sourceless thoughts, unreal,
simply mechanisms of illusion.

As sight was made to lead away from truth,
it can be redirected. Sounds become
the call of God, and all perception can
be given a new purpose by the One
Whom God appointed Savior to the world.
Follow His Light, and see the world as He
beholds it. Hear His Voice alone in all
that speaks to you. And let Him give you peace
and certainty, which you have thrown away,
but Heaven has preserved for you in Him.

Let us not rest content until the world
has joined our changed perception. Let us not
be satisfied until forgiveness has
been made complete. And let us not attempt
to change our function. We must save the world.
For we who made it must behold it through
the eyes of Christ, that what was made to die
can be restored to everlasting life.
W-p11.3 "What is the World?" 4,5

Just as pilots know now that the eye wall
will give way to the eye, we now know that
false perception will give way to God’s peace
when we ask the Holy Spirit for help,
certain that we are headed towards peace
no matter the terror of our storm thoughts,
trusting that “This is not so,” knowing we
will break through to the eye of the storm, now,
seeing with the eyes of Christ, proclaiming,
I AM THAT, I am the eye of the storm,
the stillness and the peace of God at last.