We Have Come to be Danced

We have come to be danced
not the pretty dance
not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
but the claw our way back into the belly
of the sacred, sensual animal dance
the unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
the holding the precious moment in the palms
of our hands and feet dance

We have come to be danced
not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
but the wring the sadness from our skin dance
the blow the chip off our shoulder dance
the slap the apology from our posture dance

We have come to be danced
not the monkey see, monkey do dance
one, two dance like you
one two three, dance like me dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
tearing scabs & scars open dance
the rub the rhythm raw against our souls dance

We have come to be danced
not the nice invisible, self conscious shuffle
but the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance
the strip us from our casings, return our wings
sharpen our claws & tongues dance
the shed dead cells and slip into
the luminous skin of love dance

We have come to be danced
not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
but the meeting of the trinity: the body, breath & beat dance
the shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
the mother may I?
yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance
the Olly Olly Oxen Free Free Free dance
the everyone can come to our heaven dance

We have come to be danced
where the kingdom’s collide
in the cathedral of flesh
to burn back into the light
to unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
to root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be danced
WE HAVE COME

 

- Jewel Mathieson

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

And I wake in the night at the least sound

In fear of what my life and my children's lives may be

I go and lie down where the wood drake rests

In his beauty in the water, and the great heron feeds

I come into the peace of wild things

Who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.

I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above the the day-blind stars waiting with their light.

For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free

 

 - Wendell Berry

A Guest House

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

Some momentary awareness comes

As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and attend them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,

Who violently sweep your house

Empty of its furniture.

Still, treat each guest honourably.

He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

 

- Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

A Prayer of Forgiveness

If I have harmed anyone in any way

either knowingly or unknowingly

through my own confusions

I ask their forgiveness.

If anyone has harmed me in any way

either knowingly or unknowingly

through their own confusions 

I forgive them.

And if there is a situation 

I am not yet ready to forgive

I forgive myself for that.

For all the ways that I harm myself,

negate, doubt, belittle myself,

judge or be unkind to myself

through my own confusions

I forgive myself.

 

- Buddhist Prayer of Forgiveness

Holy Track

Tracking You,

with growing curiosity and wonder

through brilliant trails l’d never imagined,

l am surprised 

to discover that l am the one being tracked, 

being hunted and,

in the end,

choosing to surrender

wholeheartedly.

 

How can l not, my love,

being taken to the place

only You can 

dream for me,

dream through me

to serve You

in this hungry world.

 

 - Wendy Robertson Fyfe

Your Light, My Light

Your light, my light, world-filling light,

the dancing centre of my life, 

the sky breaks forth,

the wind runs wild,

and laughter passes over the earth.

The butterflies have spread their sails to glide up on the seas of light,

the lilies and the jasmine flowers surge on the crest of waves of light.

Now heaven's river drowns its banks,

and floods of joy have run abroad,

now mirth has spread from leaf to leaf,

and gladness without measure comes.

 

- Rabindranath Tagore

Questions for Self-Examination - part 2

6. Do you consider yourself strong or weak? Are you afraid of taking care of yourself?

7. Have you ever allowed yourself to be in a relationship with a person you didn't really love, but it seemed better than being alone?

8. Do you respect yourself? Can you decide to make changes in your lifestyle and then stick to your commitment?

9. Are you afraid of responsibility? Or do you feel responsible for everything and everyone?

10. Are you continually wishing your life were different? If so, are you doing anything to change it or have you resigned yourself to your situation? 

 

- from Anatomy of the Spirit

Questions for Self-Examination - part 1

1. Do you like yourself? If not, what don't you like about yourself, and why? Are you actively working to change the things about yourself that you don't like?

2. Are you honest? Do you sometimes misrepresent the truth? If so, why?

3. Are you critical of others? Do you need to blame others as a way of protecting yourself?

4. Are you able to admit it when you are wrong? Are you open to feedback from other people about yourself.

5. Do you need the approval of others? If so why?

 

- from Anatomy of the Spirit

Landscape

Isn't it plain the sheets of moss, except that

they have no tongues, could lecture

all day if they wanted about

spiritual patience?  Isn't it clear

the black oaks along the path are standing

as though they were the most fragile of flowers?

Every morning I walk like this around

the pond, thinking: if the doors of my heart 

ever close, I am as good as dead.

Every morning, so far, I'm alive.  And now

the crows break off from the rest of the darkness

and burst up into the sky - as though

all night they had thought of what they would like

their lives to be, and imagined

their strong, thick wings.

 

- Mary Oliver

Finding Direction

I used to spend so much time reacting and responding

to everyone else that my life had no direction. Other

people's lives, problems, and wants set the course for my life.

Once I realised it was okay for me to think about and identify

what I wanted, remarkable things began to take place in my life.

Today, I will pay attention to setting a course of action for my life,

rather than letting others control my life and affairs.

 

- Anonymous and Melody Beattie

My Song

In my songs, I have voiced Your spring flowers

and given rhythm to Your rustling leaves.

I have sung into the hush of Your night

and the peace of your morning.

The thrill of the first summer rains has passed into

my tunes and the waving of the autumn harvest.

Let not my song cease.

 

- Rabindranath Tagore

On Love - Happy Valentines Days

When love beckons to you follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.

Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.

He threshes you to make you naked.

He sifts you to free you from your husks.

He grinds you to whiteness.

He kneads you until you are pliant,

And then he assigns you to his sacred fire,

That you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart,

And in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of laughter,

And weep, but not all of your tears.

Loves gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possess not nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, 'God is in my heart', but rather,

'I am in the heart of God'.

And think not you can direct the course of love, for love,

If it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love, and to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy.

To return home at eventide with gratitude, and then to sleep

With a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

 

- Kahlil Gibran

More than Comfort

When I am feeling depressed, I repeat to myself statements such as these:

"Pain is the touchstone of progress"

"Fear no evil"

"This too shall pass"

"This experience can be turned to benefit"

These fragments of prayer bring far more than mere comfort.

They keep me on track of right acceptance. 

They break up my compulsive themes of guilt, depression,

rebellion and pride and sometimes they endow me with

the courage to change the things I can,  

and the wisdom to know the difference.

 

- Bill W

A Human Being

A human being is part of the whole.

He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something

separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of consciousness.

This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires

and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.

 

- Albert Einstein

12 Signs of a Spiritual Awakening

An increased tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

Frequent attacks of smiling.

Feelings of being connected with others and nature.

Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based on past experience.

An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

A loss of ability to worry.

A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

A loss of interest in judging others.

A loss of interest in judging self.

Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything in return.

 

- Anon