Journal of Sacred Work

Days 317-318 A Necessary Autumn

 

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A Necessary Autumn Inside Each

 

You and I have spoken all these words, but as for the way
we have to go, words

are no preparation. There is no getting ready, other than
grace. My faults

have stayed hidden. One might call that a preparation!
I have one small drop

of knowing in my soul. Let it dissolve in your ocean.
There are so many threats to it.

Inside each of us, there’s continual autumn. Our leaves
fall and are blown out

over the water. A crow sits in the blackened limbs and talks
about what’s gone. Then

your generosity returns: spring, moisture, intelligence, the
scent of hyacinth and rose

and cypress. Joseph is back! And if you don’t feel in
yourself the freshness of

Joseph, be Jacob! Weep and then smile. Don’t pretend to know
something you haven’t experienced.

There’s a necessary dying, and then Jesus is breathing again.
Very little grows on jagged

rock. Be ground. Be crumbled, so wildflowers will come up
where you are. You’ve been

stony for too many years. Try something different. Surrender.

 -Rumi

 

Translated by Coleman Barks, The Soul of Rumi

Offered by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Photo: Autumn in New York, Nov 2015 by ~liz 

 

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4 responses to “Days 317-318 A Necessary Autumn”

  1. Jolyon Avatar
    Jolyon

    It is hard not to surrender to hate when confronted with the day’s headlines. But we must turn the other cheek and love. We must surrender to the purity of Truth. Go to your place of worship and say a few extra prayers. Stay a bit longer and give your strength to the wave of prayers wanting this world to be a safe place for mothers. Surrender in Love.

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  2. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Well said, Jolyon and I appreciate the sincerity of your prayer. My words seem inadequate today so I especially appreciate yours.

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  3. Erie Chapman Foundation Avatar
    Erie Chapman Foundation

    Thank you for posting one of Rumi’s most powerful expressions, Liz. “There is no getting ready other than/ grace.” What a profoundly difficult concept to live. I agree with Jolyon. It is so difficult to surrender – especially as as someone who is activist oriented.
    “Be ground. Be crumbled, so wildflowers will come up/ where you are.” Can we allow ourselves to “be crumbled” to let the wildflowers grow through us? This is what happens for anyone who yields to grace It comes to the artist who periodically let’s go of his or her struggle, gets out of the way, and lets God create through. “You’ve been/ stony for too many years. Try something different. Surrender.” There is nothing more challenging – or more powerful.”
    I hope you had a chance to “let the flowers come up” amid the falling leaves of New York, Liz. You are so good at letting love through you.

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  4. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Thanks for these great insights, Erie, especially what you related in your second paragraph. When all is said and done, all that is left, all that we are; is Love.
    Isn’t she a magnificent tree?

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