In mythos and fairy tales, deities test hearts,
appearing in forms that hide divinity.
They come as beggars, as animals, as rain,
a wandering musician, eyes cloaked in rags.
And we, unaware, fail to lift our heads,
distracted by morning coffee rituals,
a thousand screens vying for our gaze,
while beauty, disguised, stands at our door.
What if the grocer is Hermes in jeans,
the mail carrier Artemis on patrol,
or the grumpy neighbor with his old dog
Zeus himself, deep in suburban camo?
What markers do we miss, the sacred cues
of benevolence hiding in plain sight,
small acts of grace, like crumbs leading us
back home, to recognition, to the truth?
Each encounter then is a whispered hint,
urging us to look beyond the simple,
to see the godhead in the commonplace,
to bow finally to the ordinary.