What tears were cried Sunday. I cried missed God tears. I was with a Holy Man, and he told 
a Sufi story. Tell me, the man in the story asked of the Master, how to find God. The Master took the man to the ocean, walked in with him, held him under water until he was fighting, crazy to be up in the air. Are you insane? shouted the man when the Master let him go. Why did you do that?
When you desire God the way you desired your next breath of air, you’ll find him, replied the Master.
Well, ain’t that a kick in the pants. When I heard that I went outside and cried for the girl who once sought God but turned away because he/she/it seemed all bound up in hellfire and damnation and original sin and nailed to a cross–no thanks–only when her husband went crazy, God saved her, and now she knows she has to find her path with this God, that this has to come before job, children, men, only she’s afraid to go full blast…..too many born again Christians in her memory….oh bless me, thank you, Jesus….gag me with a spoon….only she does need, does seek, so I cried Sunday because I was with this Holy Man who never lost God even when he was in the pits of suicide, of complete despair, and I’m so far from Mecca…so far…………..
Karleen Koen — writing life 
We stumble, we search, we despair. But there are others along the way to remind us that no human is perfect.
They say that, in growth, pain is optional, but that has never been true for me. I can say though, that always, within the deepest pain is the brightest jewel.
K.