For Regan, now I truly understand.

Unchanged Yet Changed Forever                                             

There is a part of me that will always stay the same.

I can lose my legs, My lips can permanently shut,
My sights turn black forever,
I can watch you burn,
Stand by and see all I love go up in flames,
Or win a million dollars,
And be idolized as I live out a life of fortune and fame,
Both the worst and the best things can happen,
Yet that part of me will still remain unchanged.
And if there is an internal part of me that cannot be moved by external forces,
Then there is no greater proof of the profound truth that through my blood god flows,
Through my veins god courses
God is not merely a he or a she,
Nor is God an invisible force in the sky which one cannot see.
God is you and I,
Both the ocean and the sea,
Consciousness caresses all that is god,
In the here and now is the only place where the divine can ever be.

Author unknown, possibly Shelly M. White