Context Matters

"As thousands of commuters rushed through a metro station in Washington, D.C. on a cold January morning, a musician stood next to a wall playing his violin, the case at his feet open for tips. He played six Bach pieces for 45 minutes. A few people stopped and listened for a moment, then hurried on their way. A few threw some change or a dollar into the case.
The most attentive listener was a three-year-old boy holding his mother's hand. He wanted to stay and listen, but his mother tugged him along. A few other kids tried to stop, but their parents, too, hustled them.
After 45 minutes, only half a dozen people stopped, and the violinist collected $32. He put his violin away, closed the case, and disappeared into the crowd. No one applauded or thanked him.
Neither did anyone realize the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the world's greatest violin virtuosos. The piece he played was incredibly demanding, and his violin was worth 3.5 million dollars. Days earlier Bell had played to a sold-out crowd in Boston for tickets at $100.
The unlikely concert was sponsored by the Washington Post as a social experiment. Would listeners recognize and appreciate talent and beauty in an unexpected setting? Would they stop from their busyness to feed their spirit? Would their expectations of meager talent override their grasp of greatness?
Blessed are those who have their antennae up for quality and greatness. There is talent, beauty, wonder, and inspiration in your midst right now. To pass it by is to miss the gift. To stop and breathe it in is to be the recipient of a miracle."
- Alan Cohen, http://www.alancohen.com

Thirst For Freedom

I Know The Way You Can Get

I know the way you can get

When you have not had a drink of Love:

Your face hardens,

Your sweet muscles cramp.

Children become concerned

About a strange look that appears in your eyes

Which even begins to worry your own mirror

And nose.

Squirrels and birds sense your sadness

And call an important conference in a tall tree.

They decide which secret code to chant

To help your mind and soul.

Even angels fear that brand of madness

That arrays itself against the world

And throws sharp stones and spears into

The innocent

And into one's self.

O I know the way you can get

If you have not been drinking Love:

You might rip apart

Every sentence your friends and teachers say,

Looking for hidden clauses.

You might weigh every word on a scale

Like a dead fish.

You might pull out a ruler to measure

From every angle in your darkness

The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once

Trusted.

I know the way you can get

If you have not had a drink from Love's

Hands.

That is why all the Great Ones speak of

The vital need

To keep remembering God,

So you will come to know and see Him

As being so Playful

And Wanting,

Just Wanting to help.

That is why Hafiz says:

Bring your cup near me.

For all I care about

Is quenching your thirst for freedom!

All a Sane man can ever care about

Is giving Love!

From: 'I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz'

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Gently Pressing

We Might Have To

Medicate You

Resist your temptation to lie

By speaking of separation from God,

Otherwise,

We might have to medicate

You.

In the ocean

A lot goes on beneath your eyes.

Listen,

They have clinics there too

For the insane

Who persist in saying things like:

"I am independent from the

Sea,

God is not always around

Gently

Pressing against

My body."

From: 'The Gift'

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Growing the Will to Be Here

I commit to letting myself know what I will, and what I will not, independent of connection with others.

If You Have the Courage

Tired of Speaking Sweetly

Love wants to reach out and manhandle us,

Break all our teacup talk of God.

If you had the courage and

Could give the Beloved His choice, some nights,

He would just drag you around the room

By your hair,

Ripping from your grip all those toys in the world

That bring you no joy.

Love sometimes gets tired of speaking sweetly

And wants to rip to shreds

All your erroneous notions of truth

That make you fight within yourself, dear one,

And with others,

Causing the world to weep

On too many fine days.

God wants to manhandle us,

Lock us inside of a tiny room with Himself

And practice His dropkick.

The Beloved sometimes wants

To do us a great favor:

Hold us upside down

And shake all the nonsense out.

But when we hear

He is in such a "playful drunken mood"

Most everyone I know

Quickly packs their bags and hightails it

Out of town.

From: 'The Gift'

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky