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

Be Not Grieved

Be Not Grieved

Although you have not 
received Love's true guerdon
one day your dessert will become a garden,
so be not grieved.

Do not turn your heart away,
nor speak against your Beloved,
but bear your present state,
and be not grieved. 

Let your tender body 
and troubled mind be stilled,
one day desire will be fulfilled,
so be not grieved. 

Behind the curtain, 
a secret wonder is happening,
a plan that you do not know of,
is unfolding,
so be not grieved. 

Suffer gladly 
Love's paradox, rules, 
trials and conditions.
You will reach 
a safe harbor,
so be not grieved.  

       I love learning new words through poetry. If you look at the second line, you will see the word "guerdon", which means "a reward or recompense".
       The last stanza of this poem is so powerful, "Suffer gladly Love's paradox, rules, trials, and conditions. You will reach a safe harbor, so be not grieved." Do you think there is any truth in believing that you have to endure pain or disappointment on the road to finding your safe harbor, aka your forever love? Sometimes I think it is necessary that we let Love do something to us, whatever that something is. It should cause us to have a "before and after picture", it should cause us to see the world differently - not because we have been asked to change, but because our outlook is that much better, that much brighter, that much more optimistically hopeful and radiant.
       A wonderful example of Love's paradox if the book (and now movie), If I Stay by Gayle Forman.  Take a listen to the amazing song featured in the film.

I Never Wanted to Go, Willamette Stone

The Passing Of A Body

The Passing Of A Body

What will the burial of my body be? 
The pouring of a sacred cup of wine 
into the Earth's tender mouth

and making my dear sweet lover
laugh one more time. 

What is the passing of a body? 
The glorious lifting of the spirit 
into the sacred arms of the Sky,
and making Existence smile,
one more, one more time. 

           Have you ever contemplated what the passing of a body would be like? Would it actually be a glorious unfolding or do we simply strive to romanticize what we do not understand? Do we try to make an unknown (and scary) event appeal to us? I'm not sure, but I like the idea of making people laugh one last time. If your life was filled with joy, with fun, with enthusiasm for the little things, I would think, when the time became appropriate, people would say "Remember when..." and giggle.

Glorious Unfolding, Steven Curtis Chapman

There Is A Wonderful Game

There Is A Wonderful Game

There is a wonderful game we should play,
and it goes like this: 

We hold hands and look into each other's eyes
and scan each other's face. 

Then I say, "Tell me a difference 
you see between us. "

And you might respond, "Hafiz, your nose 
is ten times bigger than mine!"

Then I would say, "Yes, my dear, almost 
ten times!" 

But let's keep playing.
Let's go deeper, go deeper. 

For if we do, our spirits will embrace
and interweave,

our union will be so glorious 
that even God will not be able to tell us apart. 

This would be a wonderful game to play. 

        Wow, what a wonderful poem, with such depth. It really speaks to the spirit and the union that we can have with others if we pursue it. 

        1 Peter 4:10 (NIV): "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms." 

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 

The Shape of Color

The Shape of Color

The shape of the night,
the shape of the day,
the shape of color, 
the shape os us.
What holds all this? 

Who made this miraculous mold
and then too, cast everything? 

Imagine the form that poured all forms,
that whittles from a single thought 
that took over the Inconceivable. 

What can entwine all this in his arms? 
The one some call God. 

          I love the song "Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin so much! It's just an incredibly energizing song about how great God is, but also how we should really marvel at creation, and that includes ourselves. As Rumi said, “Study me as much as you like, you will never know me, for I differ a hundred ways from what you see me to be. Put yourself behind my eyes, and see me as I see myself, for I have chosen to dwell in a place you cannot see.”
         The song is below, but some of my favorite lyrics are:

"From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea

Creation's revealing Your majesty

From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring

Every creature unique in the song that it sings..,

Indescribable, uncontainable,

You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name...

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go

Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow

Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light..."

Indescribable, Chris Tomlin

Pure Divine Love

Pure Divine Love

What does pure divine love do?

It keeps you from the mud

frees you from living behind tormentors

lifts your heart on a rising,

making your soul hunger to reach

the roof of creation.

It offers what the whole world wants:

real knowledge and power. 

It offers what the wise crave: 

the priceless treasure of freedom. 

It will allow you to befriend Life 

and Light,

reveal the excitement of the present 

offer clarity and beauty

and finally all the heart can do 

is burst open and greet love back. 

       Gibran wrote on September 20, 1920: "The Prophet will come out early in October. It is a good month for books. I always feel that October is the beginning of something." Three years ago, today, October marked the beginning of my relationship with the guy I love and my best friend. We do not have a clear starting point (that's a long story), but we have a point at which we said, hey let's do something we're unlikely to do with anyone else. Ever. I had come home from college that weekend, being a bit disappointed that I had missed NYU's Naked Street run, because com'on, how many times do you have the opportunity to run a race naked?! Anyway, he told me his dad owned a Christmas tree farm and I could feel free to run naked through that instead. It was definitely a weird offer, but since I was very intent on having this experience (and because I LOVE Christmas...and anything to do with it) I said yes. So we ran naked through a Christmas tree farm with a German shepherd chasing us, and it was pure freedom and abandonment. The purpose? Literally to have a "once in a lifetime experience" together. And that's why the day serves as our celebration. And you know what? There probably aren't any other couples celebrating quite this way. We call it "our holiday" and named it 48 (the temperature out). We might be the only ones in the world celebrating this way and that makes it crazy cool. And now he describes our relationship as that once in a lifetime experience, so it all makes perfect sense. Mary Haskell (Gibran's love interest for over twenty years) wrote of him  in her journal entry of April 10, 1915: "We rode the bus to the museum. Every moment was joy." Three years later, every moment is joy.