Wayne Courtois was one who came to the "Introduction to A Course in Miracles sessions I gave in Kansas City. We both later attended a Course group hosted by Marilyn Kurz Price. Wayne wrote this poem in 1989 and it was published in a newsletter from Vermont called The Spirit's Voice. I asked Wayne about publishing his poem on From Out of the Blue and I am happy to present it here for all to read:
What Have I Done With the Gifts of God?
What have I done with the Gifts of God?
Did I store them in some forgotten corner
With all the umbrellas I needed when it rained?
Did I hide them in a treasure chest, locked as tightly
As that portion of my heart I thought was mine, and mine alone?
Did I give them to the poor, and then think I had none left,
As though giving were losing, diminishing my strength?
What have I done with the Gifts of God?
Weren't they here just yesterday, when I felt a breath of peace
Infuse a body that had only known anxiety and pain?
Didn't I feel, when I awoke and saw the sunlight on the rooftops,
That God and His Abundance were part of me forever,
As I was part of Him?
But then a shadow seemed to fall
Across the sun, I felt the chill of death and loss
And bid them enter, welcoming illusions
Into a void that was illusory as well
And yet familiar, having been my home
As long as loneliness had been my only friend.
But I always had the answer to my question,
Had the objects of my search before the search began.
I couldn't see the Gifts of God as long as I refused to see
Beyond the body's vision; couldn't find the Peace and Love
I longed for till I learned I did not search alone.
The Gifts of God are you, my friends, with me
As I am with you, in this room or when we seem to be apart,
In this life or in our lives to come, one undivided spirit
Sharing in the Gifts of God, extending thankfulness and praise
That what we thought we'd lost will never seem misplaced again.
