THE MAN WHO HAD TO DISAPPEAR

Inspired by RABASH — The Work of the Ten

I came with a heart that was battered and torn,

Dragging an ego I'd carried since born.

I thought I was righteous, I thought I could see,

Till nine other souls showed the monster in me.

I spoke about love with a mouth full of pride,

While judging the friends who were standing beside.

I prayed for the Creator to answer my call,

While building my ego a ten-foot-high wall.

I wanted the Light, but refused to bend low,

I wanted His love, but had none left to show.

I searched through the books for a heavenly sign,

While stepping on hearts that were standing by mine.

Then came the descent, and it stripped me down bare,

No strength in my body, no answer to prayer.

I screamed at the heavens, "What more can I give?"

He showed me nine brothers I hadn't let live.

One came with his anger, another with fear,

One carried a sorrow too heavy to hear.

I wanted to fix them, to tell them my way,

But love simply asked me to listen that day.

So I swallowed my pride till it burned like a coal,

And made room for their pain in the depths of my soul.

Their tears became mine, and their hunger my own,

And suddenly none of us stood there alone.

I learned that annulment was not being weak,

But holding my tongue when my ego would speak.

That faith above reason meant choosing to stay,

When everything in me was screaming, "Walk away!"

I learned that the guarantee wasn't a word,

But lifting the friend whose prayer went unheard.

And joy wasn't smiling while hiding the pain,

But thanking the Creator for bringing the rain.

I stopped asking heaven to fill up my plate,

And prayed for my brothers outside of the gate.

"Give them the strength that I cannot provide,

And bury the hatred I'm holding inside."

No longer ten strangers, each guarding his throne,

But ten broken hearts with a longing for One.

And there in the cracks where our selfishness died,

The Light found a vessel with room deep inside.

I came to the Ten thinking I would be seen,

But learned what the words "love of others" could mean.

The man who demanded that heaven appear,

Had to lose his own crown to discover Him here.

So let my name vanish, my arguments cease,

Let my brothers find strength where I once sought my peace.

For I didn't disappear when I gave them my heart,

I became part of the One I was seeking from the start.