Friday, December 16, 2011
Poem by Rumi
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
By Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi
(1207 - 1273)
English version by Coleman Barks
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down the dulcimer.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
As Christmas approaches, many of us feel more or less like the opening line in Rumi's poem.
Somehow the holiday season, with its emphasis on merriment and joy, brings on inner feelings
of loss and things that are lacking in our lives. We too "wake up empty and frightened," even though
we might not be able to say exactly what we are frightened of. Times are uncertain. 2012 is rapidly
coming nearer, with all its dire predictions for the future. We wonder "what we have done wrong" in our
lives to be so far from our goals. We may feel that family or good friends are wavering in
their support.
I think Rumi offers valuable suggestions as to what to do in such moods. Music itself can often be of
great comfort. We can immerse ourselves in those projects that we love and that reassure us that we are
connected to something meaningful in our lives. We can turn to our spiritual practices, which we may have
neglected in the recent past.
All of these are helpful, and may help to heal the "primal wound," caused by the separation from source
that occurred when we were born and came into an unfamiliar world.
These periods of grief are part of a recurring cycle in all our lives. We can't wear a smiley face all the
time, but we can also know that the good times of love and joy will return, as they too are part of
the constant cycle.
