Saturday, June 7, 2014

The Shield You Hold

The Shield You Hold

There is a shield you may still hold
because of some many battles. 

I guess another conflict could begin any moment;
so maybe lugging it about could be of some use;
or is it just an undermining habit? 

Does not it get heavy, so much so that you
sometimes struggle by noontime? 

And then do wonder, with your insecurities so intact
about casting darkness as fears can 
shadows even if the sun is out.

But God is really all around 
in the middle of beautiful day or night 

Yet, how amazing that a small illusion 
when clung to
can hide
the stupendous fact of omniscient Light. 

         Haven't we all felt the desire to see the person we love? Just see them? Be with them? Take in their light? In their presence we can let down the shield we hold, we can put down our sword. We all carry a burden through this world, unique to the one who bears its weight. Yet, it is through loving another that we have our load lessened, or even, how we willingly (and sometimes, dare I say, longingly) carry another's.
         I used to see my boyfriend every Thursday, I no longer do for various reasons, but I felt so escatic when I learned that Gibran and Mary had a similar tradition/schedule in the early years of their relationship. She would come down from Boston on Thursday nights and stay in New York through Sunday morning. He wrote to her on November 26, 1911, "And Thursday will come like all the things we really desire. O I have a million things to say to you. But Thursday is coming and the joy of Thursday is here even now."As I sit writing this, I know that the words of Whitman, Rumi, Rilke, Hafiz, and Gibran...the words along the lines of "I'll be reading this with you", "I'll be whispering into your ear", "look up, and I'll be there" were true...because over 100 years later, I can say with certainty that I've felt the "joy of Thursday".
        Listen to this wonderful song by singer-songwriter, Jake Bugg. He sings of love, the thing "as simple as this" that brings so much light into our world.

Simple As This (2013), Jake Bugg

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