Reflections

Winter, 2010-11

 

You are the Future
   
 By Ranier Maria Rilke
        Translated from German by Anita Barrows & Joanna Macy
                From Rilke’s Book of Hours, Love Poems to God

You are the future
the red sky before sunrise
over the fields of time.

You are the cock’s crow when night is done,
you are the dew and the bells of matins,
maiden, stranger, mother, death.

You create yourself in ever-changing shapes
that rise from the stuff of our days - -
unsung, unmourned, undescribed,
like a forest we never knew.

You are the deep innerness of all things,
the last word that can never be spoken.
To each of us you reveal yourself differently,
to the ship as coastline, to the shore as ship.
                                                              II, 22

Quote from Introduction to above book
……..the presence that I became aware of, around and within me, is apprehended through an act of rapt, silent attention, both passive and probing, like snow.  And what the presence seems to be is the web itself, the thrumming relationality of all things.

The Invitation
Oriah (House) Mountain Dreamer
Canadian Teacher and Author

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 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 own 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 the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
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.
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 on 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 a 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 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.
 

---

[ ASRenewal Home ] - [ Emmaus Inn ] - [ Institute for Adult Spiritual Renewal ]
[ Internship in Spiritual Direction ] - [ Reflections ] - [ Sacred Resources ]
[ Available Programs ] - [Retreat Center List ] - [ Speakers Bureau ]
[ Recommended Readings ]

---

Contact us at:
E-mail: asrenewal@asrenewal.org
Phone: (574) 855-3125
18947 Burke Road
South Bend, IN 46637

URL: www.asrenewal.org