In A Holy Book I Have

In A Holy Book I Have

In a holy book I have there are pages

from the Bible and the Koran.

And pages from the sutras and from the

Upanishads, the Torah, and the Gita.

And pages of things that unknown saints

wrote in collaboration with the heavens

that people have never seen.

And pages of the wisdom of animals

and young singing while they played

and pages of plants and pages of sounds

and pages of earths.

Yes, it is all there in my soul

anything ink has ever persevered

anything that stone ever begged

to have carved on it

anything any instrument gifted from its mind

anything a brush left for us to see

any space sanctified by dance

I know it all.

And anything that will ever be

written in your heart. You –

the eyes or ears or cells

that now hear this.

In a holy book I have, in a sacred text I always carry,

is the face of everyone who will ever be.

            There is something sacred about this poem. Hafiz is saying that anything beautiful - religious words, animals, children playing, art, music – is holy. Isn’t this true? Beauty is anything that brings us joy (a sunrise), comfort (resonating music), hope (kind words from those we love). Is anything more sacred?

            Close your eyes. The color you are seeing is called eigengrau, German for “intrinsic gray” or “own gray”. Now hink of what is sacred to you. Who or what did you see? Sacredness, holiness, beauty, they all serve to unite us closer with our soul.  Whatever you feel blessed for, whatever washes you with compassion, whatever cleanses your soul, and ignites your heart, keep that in your pocket in a sacred text you carry.

                                                          Enjoy this Christmas tune!

Josh Groban, Believe