The Theater of Freedom

The Theater of Freedom

In my divine studio
I have been working on this: 

Painting the Truth,
Revealing a picture of God,

Tearing down cruel walls
so you can enter 
the marvelous theater 
of Freedom.

       Hafiz told his followers many things, but two that recently stood out to me where: 1) "We all have liquid ruby-light that we can lift in a cup." 2) "Where do you think you will be when God reveals Himself inside of you?"
       So my question would be, what frees you in life? Is it Truth? Is it your own understanding of Truth? It it Love? God? Hope? Promise?
       Tomorrow I turn 22! To close from another wonderful poem (She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron): "She walks in beauty, like the night/of cloudless climes and starry skies..." 

The Night Is Still Young (1985), Billy Joel

What We Have Felt

What We Have Felt

They touch us, don't they? 
So many things in different ways. 
And then those feelings can last for years
in varying degrees. 

Are not our days and hours 
our response to what we have felt? 
To what move us? 

We circle inside what we love,
what we fear, what we hate,
what we hope. 

                          Wow, this is such an amazing poem. Aren't we an amalgam of every thought, every feeling, every action, every hardship, every desire, every joy, and every triumph that we have ever faced, fought, conquered, won, endured, experienced? Indeed, these things make up the ingredients of life -  in various portions and amounts - and our response to these things encompasses (and ultimately, defines) our days and hours on this Earth. This is a deeply powerful poem.

Digital Art, Nebula Night Sky 

I Have Come Into This World To See

I Have Come Into This World To See

I have come into this world to see:

the sword drop from men's hands
even at the height of their arc of anger

all creatures holding hands 
as we pass through this miraculous existence
we share 

every song the Earth has sung 
since it was conceived in His womb 
and began spinning from His wish 

every song of hill and tree
and woman and child
and stream and rock 
and tool and lyre 
and flute and fire 
and gold and emerald,

every song of every heart.

I have come into this world to see: 
women and men so true to love 
they would rather die before 
speaking an unkind word,

women and men so true to love
their lives are His covenant -
the promise of hope. 

              It's so beautiful that Hafiz would think to define Love as "never speaking an unkind word" and holding on to the "promise of hope". What wondrous echoes we would hear in this world, if those Truths were the "song of every heart".

Turn Around, Matt Maher

Because Of Our Wisdom

Because Of Our Wisdom

Because of our wisdom 
we will travel far for love. 

All movement is a sign of thirst,

Most speaking really says, 
"I am hungry to know you."

Every desire of your body is holy;
every desire of your body is holy. 

Dear one, why wait until you are dying
to discover that divine truth? 

                I think in this poem Hafiz is trying to say any passion of your body, any thing that makes you stir, that puts your spirit into seeking mode is worth purusing. All action in our life is chasing what we love, and that's a good thing, as Hafiz puts it, because it is a "divine truth". 

Let it Be Love, Family Force 5

The Prayer Upon My Lips

The Prayer Upon My Lips

It is the Beloved who is revealed
in every face,
sought in every sign,

gazed upon by every eye,
worshipped in every object
that is adored,
pursued in the visibe
and in the unseen.

Every single one of His creatures
will someday find the divine
the primordial and glorious,
the forever and the Infinite.

To be united with that
is the prayer upon my lips. 


          I love how Hafiz always speaks of being united with the Ultimate Truth, how he seeks to understand that we are all one, that we are all interconnected, that we are all divinely and perfectly made! And it's so cool to think about what happens if you go beyond your own little world, if you're willing to pursue the invisible. The song "My Own Little World" by Matthew West challenges us to think about the question, "What if there's a bigger picture?"

My Own Little World, Matthew West

Is Each Creature

A holy infant, taken from God's womb, is each creature.

            There you have it, in God's eyes, everyone is worthy. Everyone is a King or Queen.

Kings and Queens, Audio Adrenaline

Contemplate For A Lifetime

There's enough here to contemplate for a lifetime. 

         Maybe you should repeat these words to yourself if you are ever feeling bored. In fact, can you think of a question you may spend your entire life contemplating?

Listen to the song lyrics of "Overwhelmed" by Big Daddy Weave.

I see the work of Your Hands

Galaxies spin in a Heavenly dance oh God...

Captivated by Your beauty

I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

Overwhelmed, Big Daddy Weave

The Sight of Choice

The mind is like a falcon, ever ready with its sight on its choice prey - beauty. 

          What does the phrase "sight of choice" mean to you? If you could feast your eyes upon one thing, what would it be? Family, children, lover, friends, mountaintops, sunsets, puppies, decadent meals, fancy cars, etc.? Hafiz goes with "beauty", which is really anything that, according to the Google definition means: "a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the sight". There's no talk of perfect figures, perfect qualities, perfect weights...but "a combination of qualities" and in this definition, we can only conclude that every single person, being a multitude of many things, is beautiful.

Really Hear

When she began to sing, there was no one who really heard her who was not then glad to be alive. 

        Does the "really" Hafiz wrote in matter? As in, those who "really" heard her, being those who took the time to listen? Those who paused? As in when we "really" hear people, we usually see goodness, quality traits, and talent? But if we don't "really" hear someone, it is all too easy to discard their words, and even worse, their lives.
       In our community, another life was lost too soon to teenage suicide. More awareness needs to be raised about depression, bullying, and most of all, hope and a place to reach out to. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 for "hope".

Kahlil Gibran On Self-Knowledge (from the Prophet)

Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge.

You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.

You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.

The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;

And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;

And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."

Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself like a lotus of countless petals.

People Loving People (2014), Garth Brooks

Heart Has Held

My heart has held that which can never be touched. 


       Today I became a Christian, and though it took prayerful meditation and some reading of all the religions of the world (just to be sure), I would attribute the catalyst of my conversion to music. The Christian music I hear is so uplifting and so encouraging, it makes me want to go to the mountaintop. Below is a song I find near to my heart now, "Come Let's Go Up The Mountain/Fly Me Like The Wind" by MorningStar Ministries.
       I read on Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry something that changed my heart as well. It was more of the logical convincing that I needed. After reading it, I realized I often appealed my worth based on my own "goodness": "You must trust in what Jesus did on the cross to forgive you of your sins and not trust anything else, not even your own sincerity. That's right, sincerity isn't good enough. Why? Because sincerity is an appeal to God based on the goodness of your own heart. If you're appealing to God based on the goodness of your own heart, then you're being prideful. Sorry, salvation is either based on Christ alone, or it is not."

Link To "Come Let's Go Up The Mountain/Fly Me Like The Wind"

A Royal Event: Existence

We all help to host a royal event: Existence. 

            Today I took a liking to the song, "Testimony of Grace", it's a song about the stories of those who have come to know God. Since it's Sunday, take a listen.

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A Mime

A Mime

A mime stands upon a gallows 
for a crime he did not do.
When give a last chance to speak
he remains true to his art.

A crowd of hundreds has gathered 
to see his final performance,
knowing he will not talk. 

The mime takes from the sky 
many bright spheres,
lays them on a table,
expressing deep love for the companionship
and guidance they have given him 
for so many years. 

He brings the sea before our eyes.
Somehow, an emerald fin appears, splashes. 
Look, there is turquoise rain.

He removes his heart from his body 
and seems to arouse all life 
on this splendid earth.

He mounts his soul upon the body of Freedom.
The great breeze comes by.
The sun and the moon join hands. 

For a moment, an extraordinary moment,
everyone knows that God is real. 


         This poem reads more like a story and I would encourage you to read it that way, to let it speak to you as its intended, to impart someone's life story, their final moments lived in trueness to their own self. In Letters To A Young Poet, Rilke penned: "Most experiences are unsayable; they come to fullness in a realm that words do not inhabit. And most unsayable of all are works of art, which —alongside our transient lives— mysteriously endure.
        And so as the sun set, the mime gestured on, mysteriously enduring.

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the Blank

Sometimes I become my own pulse … entering
that world inside. There I have stayed a night
marveling at the firmament. Yes, inside any
living thing are stars.

All that the eye sees is just practice for
perfecting … the inner vision.

I can’t speak anymore of poverty of heart or
purse. For wherever I now stand a gold mine
appears.

How did things change for me, so much for
the better? I held God to His word when He
said, Seek and you will…

You say that last word for me. You must
know that famous phrase. Now believe it, dear, 

for it is so very true.

          On the back of my car there is a bumper sticker with the Rumi quote: “What you seek is seeking you.” Every time I drive with my dad he comments about how much he loves that quote, we both do. Conversely, yesterday I replied, “I hope it’s true.” Without missing a beat, he said, “It is the truth.” Now a day later, in the serendipitous folds of life, I came across this Hafiz poem.

         Hafiz is telling his readers that it is true. Moreover, that there is a universe inside each of us. How comforting! He asks us to say that famous final word (of Matthew 7:7) so we’ll believe it. Seek and you will…Find. Find. Find.

Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; 

knock, and it will be opened to you."