I rise in the chill of winter,

know that this degree of cool

in my own house

is due to my own frugal choosing.

Apart from that

and the fact that I did not get up

when the alarm first sounded,

I could stand here in the shower,

lost in an hour of leisure,

feeling the hot water

pounding against my neck and back,

letting go of the tension,

feeling the water’s soothing

running through me

like some greater warmth.

I have been lost in better moments,

standing in deliberate surrender,

surrounded by sharing,

hands lifted toward heaven,

feeling the filling of a Greater Presence,

sensing the power of submission,

letting that soothing work through me and in me,

healed and held

by the wonder of worship.

H. Arnett

2/23/12