Certain passages seized my being each time I heard them in Leonard Bernstein's Mass. Scattered throughout the libretto, I highlighted the excerpts below in red. Laying on the floor in the relaxation posture while the music washed over me, these lyrics seized me as if I were possessed by something beyond my comprehension. Each phrase suggested an insight into the mystery of being. My reflections on the excerpts are enclosed in a box: (Note 68)

Celebrant: For God is the simplest of all. . .
No matter how complicated I made my spiritual search, the truth at the center of my quest was simplicity - nothing more than the Tao.
Soprano Solo: A lover whose eyes
Could mirror my cries of Gloria. . .
Will there ever be a "soul mate" with whom I can sing the songs of God in divine harmony? I don't know the answer to this question.
Celebrant: But there is no imprisoning
The Word of God. . .
Of course not except through the fears and desires I have taken upon myself during my life journey. Any prison is of my own choosing.
A Young Man: They who do not love,
Abide in death. . .
What I thought was love was often a longing for the other to fill some need in my wounded selves. The unconditional acceptance of another human was much harder than lusting for her devotion.
Celebrant: You can lock up the bold men
Go and lock up your bold men
And hold men in tow,
You can stifle all adventure
For a century or so.
Smother hope before it's risen,
Watch it wizen like a gourd,
But you cannot imprison
The Word of the Lord. . .
The Word - The Intuitive Self - will have its out sooner or later. No matter how hard the rational mind tries to hold direct knowing at bay, eventually it will escape into consciousness.
A Young Girl: We sat and talked about our marriage
And how we would grow through this. . .
Sitting face to face with one's beloved to feel and think through to the other side of misunderstanding is the ultimate act of devotion. I have not experienced that with a companion - we have been too stuck in our dysfunctional selves.
Celebrant: All you big men of merit,
All you big men of merit
Who ferret out the flaws,
You rely on our compliance
With your science and laws. . .
Compliance with science and laws to the exclusion of my deepest knowing deprived most of my life of its meaning and passion.
Fourth Solo: Is there someone out there?
If there is, then who? . . .
Yes - where are you? Who are you? Will we find each other so that we can embrace and celebrate the divine union?
Fourth Solo: I'll believe in you and you and you
And who. . .
Who'll believe in me? . . .
Who? There is only one that I can count on to believe in me - myself. Without self belief, what someone else believes is irrelevant.
Celebrant: . . . Oh. . .
. . . How easily things get broken. . .
  (Two slow chains of embraces begin to form . . .
The chains of embraces continue . . .)
The spiritual essence of life evaporates as I lose myself in the daily business of doing. To protect this precious gift, I must shelter it from diversion into the acquisitive material byways of life.
All Voices: Bless us and all those who have gathered here. . .
  (bringing the touch of peace to the audience, saying with each touch,
"Pass it on". . .)
May I pass what blessings come my way on to others so that all may share in the blessings that are all of ours in the first place.

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