Cardinal Counseling 

                       and Spiritual Direction

The Green

They follow the green and

all that it will do.

Into the shops full of trinkets

into the arenas to be entertained

All looking for the allusive Elixir

promised in the commercials

that will turn all into gold.

I has been sought for generations

high and low and now it surely it’s bottled

on a shelf somewhere, some how, just waiting to be purchased.

After all everything is for sale

since the green has become the goal

and many indoctrinate our young with its promises

Want a good time.. purchase an exotic trip

want a friend … you can hire an escort for the night

want an out of this world experience, buy some powered rock

and put it up your nose

Want a community… buy a ticket to an event

and you can belong for a few hours

Yet the purchase never lasts

there is alway more next week, next month.

People are hooked like addicts hoping to find the elusive stone

that will cure all ills all loneliness all worries

its out there somewhere,

in a store, in the arena, in a purchase

in the idealism of the culture.

But the stone goes unfound, elusive as a snake in the cold.

Yet there are those who told us where to find it

They found it years ago

they pointed to its place in stories, riddles, and poetry

find it in places

where we could wet our appetites

in Cathedrals, and temples and mosques

in the expanse of nature and the bottom of the sea.

But its search has been corrupted by

simplicity, easy words and lack of experience.

The elders told us that it wasn’t far

yet the journey was long

they spoke of the price

that needs to be paid in full,

just not with the green backs

They told us it would take more than

a week, a month, years

to find it but the time would be

worth more than gold in the end.

And many said can’t I just

give you some green

Can’t I get the crash course and be done

Can you give me a pill with all the information?

The stone remained silent

saddened

alone

unknown

People will chase the easy way

fall into despair

become destructive

hurt those they love

trust more in green

Without the stones,

ethic

perspective

wisdom,

There is no meaning

no extasy

no depth

the mysteries will remain unknown

untouched

unexplored

And the people with the green in the end

will find the value of the green worthless

and the next realm frightening,

uninterested in the number of green an

individual accumulated

green will not protect them from the stones

crushing presence

For the stone is within,

deep inside

the way to it is narrow

and difficult to find

it is the truth we excuse as

false and

uninteresting

Yet it still awaits those who desire more

than the superficial

to know their creator

who continually offer more than green

willing to offer all to find the soul.

Drdanahouck@gmail.com Phone 507.339.0045

Jungian Psychotherapy

Spiritual Direction