Listen

Quiet friend who has come so far,

feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,

what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.

In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.

And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.

~Rilke

it’s time for your sweet reckoning….

inquiry for today~ why can’t we hover right here?

buffered from sorrow

Our constant challenge is to accept how life wears away what doesn’t matter until the miracle of life is revealed in everything. Once living this barely in the open, our work is to let the light of Spirit come through, never thinking that we own it but letting it use us to brighten and warm the hearts of others. This is the purpose of the human journey: to live openly and honestly until we become a source of uncovered light. Then life pours forth to renew us and all we meet.
Like a comet reduced to its center by the time it reaches Earth, the gravity of our journey leaves us bare and unadorned as we reach the simple, enduring center where all souls meet. To live so fully, we have to summon the courage to take off our armor and let things in. Then the soul has a chance to show itself. Through our immersion in being here and our devotion to do so kindly, we begin to enliven our compassion. This helps us endure our walk in the world. 

~Mark Nepo