Mandala of a Latter-Day Saint <br />By Reid Baer <br /><br />I left in sufficient time <br />to make a sacrament meeting <br />in a strange community <br />with a scratch piece of paper, <br />an address, and simple directions. <br />I’m driving with a head full <br />of internecine dreams <br />and a bottle of cool water <br />in my lap along with scriptures <br />and Carl Jung’s words <br />accompanying me in the passenger seat <br />working me relentlessly <br />stirring ideas and images <br />about archetypes and undercurrents <br />and the solemnities of the eternities <br />moving toward their own destinations <br />with a will sometimes beyond myself <br />yet within myself – but through it all <br />I went much too far one way <br />and ended up in Winston-Salem <br />then back East again to Greensboro <br />and North along Freeman Mill Road. <br />I was sure this was the right place <br />if the signs serve me correctly - <br />right down the road - <br />it’s just not here! <br />I must admit I’m lost and late, <br />bemused, befuddled, alone, <br />trying … reminding myself to breathe <br />and breathe again … breathe! <br />So, I’m heading South now <br />doing my deep personal work <br />sitting in distress sweating <br />down my neck and back <br />ready for a colossal panic attack <br />if I want one today <br />or maybe I’ll pass - <br />let a little peace run through me - <br />and choose to roam through the Carolinas <br />without a definitive agenda <br />perfectly okay with spending gas <br />and time … there’s plenty of time … <br />patiently creating my time … <br />to ride around in circles <br />making a mandala <br />inexorably making a mandala <br />before returning to God - <br />my welcome home. <br />-
