|
A disciple asked his Teacher, “Teacher, why do you speak so much about passion for the Divine and so little about what we think about God.” The Teacher asked, “Friend, did a man ever enflame the heart of a woman by falling in love with an idea of her?”
On another occasion and after the Teacher observed how afraid some of the disciples were of passion for Christ, he spoke, “Friends, some persons like to admire each other’s clothes, others make mad love.”
Burnt Kabob
Last year, I admired wines. This,
I'm wandering inside the red world.
Last year, I gazed at the fire.
This year I'm burnt kabob.
Thirst drove me down to the water
where I drank the moon's reflection.
Now I am a lion staring up totally
lost in love with the thing itself.
Don't ask questions about longing.
Look in my face.
Soul drunk, body ruined, these two
sit helpless in a wrecked wagon.
Neither knows how to fix it.
And my heart, I'd say it was more
like a donkey sunk in a mud hole,
struggling and miring deeper.
But listen to me: for one moment,
quit being sad. Hear blessings
dropping their blossoms
around you. God.
(Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi, Rumi: The Book of Love, trans. Coleman Barks)
Rumi, the Sufi, speaks of the fortunate devastation Love brings to the separate-self sense. The separate-self sense is content relating to the Wonderful Presence at a distance. This false self will use religion and spirituality to speak about and admire, while staying just far enough away from the Living Flame of Love not to get blissfully enflamed with passion.
Both the distanced admiration of the Sacred or the intellectualism of ideology about the Sacred protects the false self from being “lost in love.” Indeed, when immersed in the Sacred, a person might no longer be fixed to any ideas about It. Theories might no longer appeal much to an enraptured captive of Love. The Reality Itself enraptures such a person.
A Bubble Rising
Be pulled, even if kicking and screaming, beyond infatuation,
Admiration, theory; plunged into the Well of Forgetfulness,
Come out lost in Love. Not knowing, beyond need to know,
Be drenched in this Grace. Christ.
Press the skins, then, drink the Wine.
Become a bubble rising to the surface of
A dark red world.
Does this poem make sense?
I hope not!
Brian K. Wilcox
Question: What would it mean to you to leave thought behind for a time and become lost in the Divine? Have you ever had an experience of having a sense of losing yourself in the Sacred? What was that like? How might you enjoy that experience more often?
OneLife Ministries is a pastoral outreach and nurture ministry of the First United Methodist Church, Fort Meade, FL. For Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Counseling, spiritual formation workshops, Christian meditation retreats, or more information about OneLife, write Rev. Dr. Brian K. Wilcox at briankwilcox@comcast.net.
Brian's book of mystical love poetry, An Ache for Union, can be ordered through major bookdealers.
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
|
