By: Patrick Ngugi
There I lay, sickly and dying
Yearning for riches
But the more I got
The more I craved
And anxiety heaped
Jealously guarding vanity
Envy nibbling my soul
Serving my covetous appetite
With plates of ulcers,
Headaches, insomnia, hypertension
Doctors, drugs dancing with my dough
Until I halted my ego
… Let go …
… Sat still…
And I discovered God
Then I heard the Spirit
Speaking to me
“Give freely and become
A channel of My Grace
It is in giving that you are freed
From vain wandering of the soul
Unconditional benevolence
Unites the giver and the given
The giver and the given become one
In giving you surrender a part of you
And part of God to the given
Richly blessed are the generous
For they always have a clear soul
But the miser and the mean
Will never have enough
For they are not even sure
That what they have is theirs
Hoarding invites ill health
Of the mind, body and soul
Since you close the channel
Of My river of blessings
And abundance…”
After the Spirit departed
I began to see God in everyone
Everything was in God
And God was in everything
I discovered the joy of giving,
And sharing
There was a tonic in letting go
For when I gave, I gave to God
And God gave me bliss and Joy
I became rich beyond measure
Miseries dried like mist in the morning sun
I felt rejuvenated
Each time a beggar’s grateful smile
Turned into a flowery fragrance
Whenever I shared with them
His smile became my smile
And I discovered that
You can never have enough
And you can’t give enough
And you will never be broke
Because you have given
The only love that you keep
Is the love that you have given
©️ Patrick Ngugi 130716