There Is An Immensity In Me

There is an immensity in me
It is huge, wide, deep and full
It is so grand, awesome
That when it seizes me
My spine shakes and trembles.

It is a wonder, it is full of bliss, has
    endless beauty
It lights the way.
It makes me rich, silly with joy
Spontaneous, giddy
The immensity in me.

It was there at my birth
There when I started school,
It was there on the ball fields of my youth
Winning or losing at some game
There in classrooms, learning catechisms, even in conflicts
In the warmest summers and rain-filled winters, 
In the grace of springs and the golden light of falls
There even in my darkest desperate moments,
    filled with shame and doubt.
That immensity in me
Would not fail me,
Would not release me,
Held tight its grip.

The immensity is the gift of poesy, gift of vision
Gift of caring and compassion
It knows no beginning,
Will have no end.

There is immensity in you
It is an overwhelming fountain
    gushing joy
That cleanses and transforms
And connects to the Holy People,
    the Great Ones
Whether you are Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian or
    of a religion so close and compelling it needs no
    books or titles.
This immensity was with you when you were born.
It cannot be other
No matter how you were born, where you were born,
     to whom or why
The immensity is you.

Ah, we have great gaps in the world, filled with hatreds
    and misunderstandings,  terrible woundings, horrible slaughters.
But the immensity is not shaken, does not shrink away
It claims us, drives us back into to life
To try again.

There is immensity in me – 
It is greater and deeper and more wonderful
Than I can say.
That immensity in you is the same
Though different of race, speech, nation, sex, age, color, character, talent
WE ARE NOT – WE ARE NOT
Not to the immensity in me
Not to the immensity in you
Not to the immensity.
Oh, the immensity!