The Invitation
Reading at the Waimea practice 4/10/2010
viben-at-sunset-in-the-rain by linaji
The Invitation
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 hearts 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 dreams, 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 center of your sorrow,
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or
have become shriveled 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 ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to 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.
I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from God’s presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout at the silver moon, “Yes!”
I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you are and how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand at the center 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.
-Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder
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This time 'round Paul is posing as Yogi, Illustrator, wacked-out Cartoon Wizard, Writer, Poet, Author, overseer of the "Living the Question" Blog, father, lover, prisoner of the wild Divine Crazy, and more stuff he hasn't even dreamed up yet.....
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This reminds me strongly of the poem by David Whyte, “Self-Portrait” …….
It doesn’t interest me if there is one God or many gods.
I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned.
If you know despair or can see it in others.
I want to know if you are prepared to live in the world with its harsh need to change you. If you can look back with firm eyes saying this is where I stand.
I want to know if you know how to melt into that fierce heat of living falling toward the center of your longing.
I want to know if you are willing to live, day by day, with the consequence of love and the bitter unwanted passion of sure defeat.
I have been told, in that fierce embrace, even the gods speak of God.
thanks T- yep it definitely has that flavor and texture – and again one of my fave DW reads Seems like our being ‘human’/going through the human experience is the answer before the question (I want to know) is asked- what an incredible choice we have made to experience “all this and more” – thanks again T
Aloha Paul. Loved reading your thoughts, your blog. I always heard how brilliant and talented you were from Michelle, and now I can experience this for myself. thank you for sharing this with the world. its quite satisfying to read and internalize. If you would like to be on my twittergoddess network which is a blog for invited guests, let me know.
mahalo,
Aren