For the spiritual nourishment of all, the poetry and prose shared in Sacred Space are posted here:
INVICTUS
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
April 25, 2010
Teaching
THEN said a teacher, Speak to us of Teaching.
And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which
already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the
temple, among his followers, gives not of his
wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter
the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to
the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding
of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which
is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which
arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers
can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but
he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to
another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in
God’s knowledge, so must each one of you be alone
in his knowledge of God and his understanding of the earth.
~ Khalil Gibran
March 21, 2010
Every morning a new arrival.
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
February 28, 2010
Honor this incarnation. Live on the active side of infinity.
Desiderata by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
February 21, 2010
We have placed in you a substance, a seeking, a yearning, and We are watching over it and won’t let it be lost, but will bring it to it’s destined place.
~Rumi
This love is the fruit of knowledge. When did folly sit on a throne like this?
The faith of love is separated from all religion. For lovers the faith and the religion is God.
O Spirit, in striving and seeing become like running water. O reason, at all times be ready to give up mortality for the sake of immortality.
Remember God always, the self may be forgotten, so theat your self may be effaced in the One to Whom you pray, without care for who is praying or the prayer.
~ More from Rumi 
February 14, 2010
The Dash by Linda Ellis
I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all was the Dash between those years.
For that Dash represents all the time that she spent alive on Earth,
And now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own, the cars, the house, the cash,
What matter is how we live and love and how we spend our Dash.
So think about this long and hard; Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough to consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger and show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives like we’ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.
So when your eulogy is being read with your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your Dash?
This is a beautiful story that came to us from darling Hayley, a wonder-filled child of 12 years old who is already taking sacred action seriously. Check out her project “Every-1″ where, this year, 100% of funds raised will go to the Triple Gem Society to build a village of peace : www.every-1.org. Isn’t she an AWESOME soul?!
Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the Father said, ‘I love you, and I wish you enough.’
The daughter replied, ‘Dad, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Dad.’
They kissed and the daughter left. The Father walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, ‘Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?’
‘Yes, I have,’ I replied. ‘Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?’.
‘I am old, and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is – the next trip back will be for my funeral,’ he said.
‘When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?’
He began to smile. ‘That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone..’ He paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and he smiled even more. ‘When we said, ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them…’ Then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good- bye
Break all our teacup talk of God.
Could give the Beloved His choice, some nights,
He would just drag you around the room
By your hair,
Ripping from your grip all those toys in the world
That bring you no joy.
And wants to rip to shreds
All your erroneous notions of truth
And with others,
On too many fine days.
Lock us inside of a tiny room with Himself
And practice His dropkick.
To do us a great favor:
And shake all the nonsense out.
He is in such a “playful drunken mood”
Most everyone I know
Quickly packs their bags and hightails it
Out of town.
“Prayer in its truest sense is not a petition, not a supplication, not a
wail of despair; it is rather an alignment, a unifying process which takes
place in the mind as it reaches to its Divine Self and to that Power which
is greater than human understanding.”
–Ernest Holmes
in Living the Science of Mind
Sufi poem by Hafiz
I have learned so much from God
That I can no longer call myself a
Christian, a Hindu, a Buddhist a Jew.
The truth has shared so much of itself with me
That I can no longer call myself a
Man a woman an angel or even pure soul.
Love has befriended Hafiz
So completely it has turned to ash
And freed me of every concept
And image my mind has ever known.
