This is a poem from Courage Vol 3, No 1, Fall 1972
Oh tell me, Shakers and Christian Scientists,
Can there really be a woman prophet?
One who walks with me and talks with me,
One who leads me, bears my sorrows,
Heals my infirmities and opens the heavens
For new visions of celestial kingdoms?
Oh tell me you ecstatic Shakers
Whirling in the spirit,
Can the Godhead take a feminine form?
Can She need me every hour?
Can She chastise the wicked,
Put down the mighty from their seats,
And raise up the humble and the meek?
Is the real God an androgyny?
A confluence of both beings,
A strong femininity
Under the male appearance?
A clear masculinity
Beneath the feminine exterior
Uniting what was and is but One?
Oh Holy Spirit, She and He,
Paragon, Paraclete of mystery,
Who both seeds and births,
We kneel in awe
Before the totality
Encompassing all that
We yet may be.
Francis H. Touchet