"It doesn't interest me if there is one God
Or many gods.
I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned...

if you know despair or can see it in others.
I want to know if you are prepared to live in the world
with its harsh need to change you;
if you can look back with firm eyes
saying "this is where I stand."
I want to know if you know how to melt
into that fierce heat of living
falling toward the center of your longing.
I want to know if you are willing
to live day by day with the consequence of love
and the bitter unwanted passion of your sure defeat.
I have been told in that fierce embrace
even the gods speak of God."
David Whyte