'The garden of love is green without limit

and yields many fruits other than sorrow or joy.

Love is beyond either condition:

without spring, without autumn, it is always fresh.'

- Rumi

My Dear Ones,

I would like you to know how grateful I am for the multitude of ways in which so many of you have, sometimes even unbeknownst to you, shown me much kindness and have given me great strength, which during these last few days, has delivered me from pain and confusion to clarity and peace. I must now reassure you that, as a result, I am not sad or grieving; I do not mourn any loss, as I have seen something larger that has been gained, for which I am only thankful. Know that I am as joyful and peaceful as I can possibly be.

I am however, also mindful of a beautiful facet of this adage (that a friend has repeated many many times over to me, and that I only recently realized) 'Make hay while the sun shines.' It is not very often that circumstances, which provide the space to question and understand what it truly means to accept peace and let go of mortal attachment, present themselves. Even less often have I found myself receptive to such opportunities to delve deep into my inner- most fears and attachments. Now that I have chosen peace, I would like to harvest it to its fullest potential. And so if it seems that I have, over the course of this last week, chosen silence over speech, seclusion over company, calm over excitement, it has only been to dig deeper into the wellspring of true joy. It shall soon brim over in ways familiar to many. But in the meantime, know that I am well. And I trust that you are too, as you are in my prayers.

With much love and thanks,

Yours, sincerely.

A gem from Rumi...

quite literally :)
In this the month of sacrifice, of putting others above ourselves, in letting dharma win over pettiness, in elevating our spirits from its lower self to the higher, in suffering for good, in enduring for wisdom and understanding....this poem teaches a most beautiful lesson on what it means to be selfless and detached.
In light of tonight's Ruhi section on kindness, on achieveing unity, in understanding what it means to let one's heart burn with loving-kindness for everyone that might pass one's way, I share this Ruby with you, so you may drink in its beauty as I do and savor the full potence of its meaning as it sinks in word by word....

--

The Ruby

At breakfast tea a beloved asked her lover,

"Who do you love more, yourself or me?"

"From my head to my foot I have become you.

Nothing remains of me but my name.

You have your wish. Only you exist.

I've disappeared like a drop of vinegar in the ocean of honey."

A stone has become a ruby,

is filled with the qualities of the sun.

No stoniness remains in it.

If it loves itself, it is loving the sun.

And if it loves the sun, it loves itself.

There is no difference between these two loves.

Before the stone becomes the ruby it is its own enemy.

Not one but two exist.

The stone is dark and blind to daylight.

If it loves itself, it is unfaithful: it intensely resists the sun.

If it says "I," it is all darkness.

A pharaoh claims divinity and is brought down.

Hallaj says the same and is saved.

One I is cursed, another I is blessed.

One I is a stone, another a crystal.

One an enemy of the light, the other a reflector of it.

In its inmost consciousness, not through a doctrine,

it is one with the light.

Work on your stony qualities

and become resplendent like the ruby.

Practice self-denial and accept difficulty.

Always see infinite life in letting the self die.

Your stoniness will decrease; your ruby nature will grow.

The signs of self-existence will leave your body,

and ecstasy will take you over.

Become all hearing like an ear and gain a ruby earring.

Dig a well in the earth of this body,

or even before the well is dug,

let God draw the water up.

Be always at work scraping the dirt from the well.

To everyone who suffers,

perseverance brings good fortune.

The Prophet has said that each prostration of prayer

is a knock on heaven's door.

When anyone continues to knock,

felicity shows its smiling face.

The light which shines in the eye

is really the light of the heart.

The light which fills the heart

is the light of God, which is pure

and separate from the light of intellect and sense.

- Rumi

(translated by Kabir Helminski)

--

Beannacht
("Blessing")

On the day when

the weight deadens

on your shoulders

and you stumble,

may the clay dance

to balance you.

And when your eyes

freeze behindthe grey window

and the ghost of loss

gets in to you,

may a flock of colours,

indigo, red, green,

and azure blue

come to awaken in you

a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays

in the currach of thought

and a stain of ocean

blackens beneath you,

may there come across the waters

a path of yellow moonlight

to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,

may the clarity of light be yours,

may the fluency of the ocean be yours,

may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow

wind work these words

of love around you,

an invisible cloak

to mind your life.

-John O'Donohue

It is also the month of love. And while I'm at it, let me share another special hymn with you. This was also the hymn my class and I sang together on our last day in high school, in our chapel, holding a candle in one hand, the hand of a friend in the other, tears in our eyes, and hope in our hearts. Stepping out 'into the world' as our teachers put it, this hymn helped me center in the knowledge that one will never be too far from the loving care of God; our lives are, after all, in His hands.

My Life is in Your Hands

Life can be so good
Life can be so hard
Never knowing what each day
Will bring to where you are
Sometimes I forget
And sometimes I can’t see
That whatever comes my way
You’ll be with me

My life is in your hands
My heart is in your keeping
I’m never without hope
Not when my future is with you

My life is in your hands
And though I may not see clearly
I will lift my voice and sing
Cause your love does amazing things
Lord, I know, my life is in your hands

Nothing is for sure
Nothing is for keeps
All I know is that your love
Will live eternally
So I will find my rest,
And I will find my peace
Knowing that you’ll meet my every need

My life is in your hands
My heart is in your keeping
I’m never without hope
Not when my future is with you

My life is in your hands
And though I may not see clearly
I will lift my voice and sing
Cause your love does amazing things
Lord, I know, my life is in your hands

When I’m at my weakest Lord
You carry me
Then I become my strongest Lord
In your hands

My life is in your hands
And though I may not see clearly
I will lift my voice and sing
Cause your love does amazing things
Lord, I know, my life is in your hands
I trust you Lord
My life is in your hands

For A and A

"...
God gives His people hope.
When sorrow fills us to the brim,
And courage grows dim,
He lays to rest our restlessness in Him.
God gives His people hope.

God gives His people love.
If we but open wide our hearts,
He's sure to do His part,
He's always the first to make a start.
God gives His people love.
..."

May the peace of God be with them and ease their fevered brows.