03 Monday Feb 2020
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Who are we for the world? I just opened Daniel Ladinsky’s book, Love Poems from God, for a quick word for the day. Here is what I saw – just this brief message from the mystic, Hafiz. Put yourself into its picture, let yourself go and see if you are willing to act on it today.
I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through — listen to this music.
(And if you are brave and sing it, you might want to add a dance…)
12 Saturday Oct 2019
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chores, Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, Rabia, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
Today is Saturday and I sit here in my chair with images of bygone days in the convent where household chores were the order of the day on most Saturdays. If we weren’t on our knees in the long, shining floors of the front hall corridor rubbing off the black marks made by our sturdy “nun shoes,” we were in the laundry or peeling vegetables in the huge kitchen, spacious enough to accommodate preparation work to serve upwards of 300 Sister residents. Those days are gone but served us well, I think, to teach us lessons of discipline and humble work that still holds sway on mornings like this.
I was led to my reverie by an entry in the book, Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, translated by Daniel Ladinsky. I had opened to a short entry by Rabia of Bastia (c. 717-801) considered “the most popular and influential of female Islamic saints and a central figure in the Sufi tradition.” Some of her thoughts/poems are very brief but all are quite thought-provoking and meaningful. Here is what I read this morning.
It helps
putting my hands on a pot, on a broom,
in a wash
pail.
I
tried painting,
but it was easier to fly slicing
potatoes.
14 Friday Dec 2018
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Daniel Ladinsky, light, love, Love Poems From God; Twelve Voices from the East and West, pray, quiet, soul, St. John of the Cross, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
On this feast of John of the Cross, great 16th century mystic and Doctor of the Church I offer two short poetic “words,” translated by Daniel Ladinsky in his book, Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West. Savor them as you will…
“My soul is a candle that burned away the veil; only the glorious duties of light I now have.”
“You might quiet the whole world for a second if you pray. And if you love, if you really love, our guns will wilt.”
03 Thursday May 2018
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Daniel Ladinsky, glory of God, kneel, pray, presence, psalm 19, sanctuary, St. Catherine of Siena, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
Psalm 19 proclaims today that the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork! Even just the daffodils in our yard – very prolific this year – are a lovely sign of this as they turn each day toward the sun and dance so freely in the breeze. Here’s a random quote from Catherine of Siena, translated by the poet Daniel Ladinsky, that gives me pause in the same manner as I prepare for the day.
It could be said that God’s foot is so vast that this entire earth is but a field on his toe, and all the forests in this world came from the same root of just a single hair of His. What then is not a sanctuary? Where then can I not kneel and pray at a shrine made holy by His presence? (Love Poems from God, p. 205)
09 Friday Feb 2018
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Daniel Ladinsky, love, Love Poems from God, pray, quiet, sacred voices, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, world
Yesterday as I was trying to put together a prayer for an upcoming meeting, I came across a stunning entry in the book Love Poems from God by Daniel Ladinsky who has translated the work of “twelve sacred voices from East and West.” This short poem fairly shouted a message for today’s world, especially in light of the military display yesterday that preceded today’s opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Korea. Try to imagine what the resulting visual would be if we really took these words of John of the Cross to heart.
IF YOU LOVE
You might quiet the whole world for a second if you pray.
And if you love, if you really love,
our guns will
wilt.
05 Friday Jan 2018
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Daniel Ladinsky, God, harmony, hearts, love, Love Poems from God, sacred voices, St. Thomas Aquinas, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
This morning I am feeling a desire to take life one moment at a time, conscious as I go through the day of all the people near and far who do not have the luxury of heated houses and blanketed beds in which they may choose to hunker down to wait out winter’s extreme behavior. This dangerous moment is deceptive in my neighborhood because the sun is streaming in and the sky is blue, whereas in many places the wind has caused storm surges from the beaches and lake effect snow measured in feet rather than inches to warn of possible catastrophe. My only warning of frostbite is looking out my bedroom window to see the wild dancing of the trees. Somehow this moment seems akin to the world situation where on some days there seems to be danger everywhere.
With these thoughts – feelings, really – I turned to Daniel Ladinsky’s book, Love Poems from God, that I sensed might stabilize me. The book has poems that are translations of what Ladinsky calls “twelve sacred voices from East and West.” I opened to the section on St. Thomas Aquinas whom I have always thought a brilliant mind. Ladinsky has opened to me a new appreciation for the soul of this great theologian and this morning I am challenged and comforted at the same time with the poem that follows here. May we all know the truth of it someday.
WE ARE FIELDS BEFORE EACH OTHER
How is it that they live for eons in such harmony –
the billions of stars –
when most men can barely go a minute
without declaring war in their mind against someone they know.
There are wars where no one marches with a flag,
though that does not keep casualties
from mounting.
Our hearts irrigate this earth.
We are fields before
each other.
How can we live in harmony?
First we need to
know
we are madly in love
with the same
God.
21 Tuesday Nov 2017
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content, Daniel Ladinsky, looks, physical features, St. Catherine of Siena, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
Here’s a word from St. Catherine of Siena, in translation by Daniel Ladinsky. It would be wonderful if those of us who are disappointed in any physical features that we have inherited are not of our liking. Hooray for all those content with their looks!
What is it you want to change? Your hair, your face, your body?
Why?
For God is in love with all those things and He might weep when they are gone.
17 Friday Nov 2017
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Daniel Ladinsky, gift, kindness, Love Poems from God, Meister Eckhart, see, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wind
Last night as I was getting into bed the wind came up with a suddenness and ferocity that made me wonder if there was a storm to follow. It seemed to abate quickly though and did not disturb my sleep as sometimes happens. All seemed very quiet this morning as I woke saying, “not yet please,” grateful for the luxury of a slow start to the day with no perceptible weather event outside. I was mistaken, however, about the wind. While not singing, it seems eager to dance in the tall, straight maple tree just across the yard.
Sometimes when I’m sitting, just preparing mentally for a task, my eyes take in the books on the shelves to my left. It’s a comfort, really, to know that these friends sit waiting for me with so much to say! Yesterday the muted red cover of a book I did not recognize urged me to pull it out from its place on the bottom shelf. As I did, I realized the treasure I hadn’t opened lately. It’s a wonderful “gift that keeps on giving” and provided me with a lovely tidbit to share this morning. See what you think:
THE WIND WILL SHOW ITS KINDNESS
A man born blind can easily deny the magnificence of a vast landscape. He can easily deny all the wonders he cannot touch, smell, taste or hear. But one day the wind will show its kindness and remove the tiny patches that cover your eyes, and you will see God more clearly than you have ever seen yourself. (Meister Eckhart)
Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West by Daniel Ladinsky
05 Tuesday Jul 2016
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Daniel Ladinsky, freedom, Hafiz, heart, joy, light, love, play, rejuvenate, spirits, Sufi, surrender, The Gift, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, vacation, wings
The fireworks have stopped booming in the nearby locations – and probably everywhere for now – after yesterday’s celebration of Independence Day. Today most of us will be heading back to work or at least to responsibilities that were suspended in many cases for the long holiday weekend. But school is out and the atmosphere is warmer and slower, portending vacation for many during these next two months – an ocean beach, a mountain lake or a pool, at least, for the lucky ones. For all of us – especially those of us who have trouble taking time to rejuvenate because there is always so much to accomplish – I just found some advice from Hafiz, a 14th century Sufi poet, in a book called The Gift by Daniel Ladinsky. I hope to follow it, at least for today.
WE HAVE NOT COME TO TAKE PRISONERS
We have not come here to take prisoners, but to surrender ever more deeply to freedom and joy.
We have not come into this exquisite world to hold ourselves hostage from love.
Run my dear, from anything that may not strengthen your precious budding wings. Run like hell my dear, from anyone likely to put a sharp knife into the sacred, tender vision of your beautiful heart.
We have a duty to befriend those aspects of obedience that stand outside of our house and shout to our reason “O please, O please, come out and play.”
For we have not come here to take prisoners or to confine our wonderful spirits, but to experience ever and ever more deeply our divine courage, freedom and Light!
The Sophia Center for Spirituality 