Goodness

John 21

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

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Acts of Helplessness

Here are the miracle-signs you want: that
you cry through the night and get up at dawn, asking,
that in the absence of what you ask for your day gets dark,
your neck thin as a spindle, that what you give away
is all you own, that you sacrifice belongings,
sleep, health, your head, that you often
sit down in a fire like aloes wood, and often go out
to meet a blade like a battered helmet.

When acts of helplessness become habitual,
those are the signs.

But you run back and forth listening for unusual events,
peering into the faces of travelers.
“Why are you looking at me like a madman?”
I have lost a friend. Please forgive me.

Searching like that does not fail.
There will come a rider who holds you close.
You faint and gibber. The uninitiated say, “He’s faking.”

How could they know?
Water washes over a beached fish, the water
of those signs I just mentioned.

Excuse my wandering.
How can one be orderly with this?
It’s like counting leaves in a garden,
along with the song-notes of partridges,
and crows.

Sometimes organization
and computation become absurd.

— The Essential Rumi, Jalal Al-Din Rumi; Coleman Barks

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The Work, Cont.

But are you ready for joy, really?

Are you ready to be the person who does not suffer from this compulsion? Who does not obsess about _______?

Who does not act against your own self-interest in such a pernicious way?

Are you ready to let go of not only the behavior of _______, but also the very consciousness of the person who _______?

Are you ready for _______ to no longer even be a big deal in your life?

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Thou Shall Not

What is dread? It is a feeling that you will experience some unknown and unnamed doom if you proceed.

But why would a person feel dread about saving some money, or securing private documents, or gathering information about a possible life change? The answer can be found in what these women all had in common. They were all acting, or about to act, on their own behalf without permission from a man …

An unwritten taboo that is still built into most cultures is about the subjugation of women.

The evil taboo: “You may not act without permission from a man.”

The fear: “Acting on your own behalf will bring you harm.”

— Victory Over Verbal Abuse, Patricia Evans

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Static

Ah! Mama! I can’t pray anymore and I weep more and more rarely.

But my soul thinks of you, of my thoughts, and my thoughts are consumed in grief.

I don’t ask you to pray for me. You know yourself what sorrows I may have. Tell me, dear mother, from the other world, from Paradise, from the clouds, from wherever you are, does my love console you?

Can my words distill for you a little sweetness, tender and caressing?

— My Life, Marc Chagall

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