As I read your last post I was struck by the portion about your marriage ending. You did the best you could, under the circumstances…
you really did.
I want to propose to you an alternative point of view…
your marriage ended…
your relationship with you ex-husband continues.
Your relationship morphed into something different…
not dependent upon the other…
but you see each other, work together, generally get along, disagree in a respectful manner…
it's still a relationship.
I don't know…
Yesterday at Meeting I provided opening exercises. I shared a poem, The Invitation…
it is a powerful self-reflection. I shared it below. I sat in Meeting thinking I am trying to accept others by these ideas…
feeling good about myself…
that's usually a sign that I have a lesson to learn.
Gradually it shifted for me…
I started to read it through the eyes of the young men we're visiting with.
the section… It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.
I started to cry. I suddenly felt the terror of taking responsibility for others' lives and wellbeing. I questioned myself…
Do I have enough to raise these young men?
I do believe that I have enough…
logically and intellectually I believe…
but what about standing in the pain, grief, and joy with them?
I do feel led to take this path. I asked for the support of the Meeting as we consider this path. Many people offered help and support.
It's all about relationship…
and vulnerability…
tough stuff.
I will do the best I can, under the circumstances.
And I do truly believe you are doing the best you can…
it makes for a kinder, gentler world.
Love and Light beautiful sister,
Maggie
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 'Yes.'
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
No comments:
Post a Comment