RE:Found this to be food for thought OT

[Guest guest]

The Invitation

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 hearts 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 be with joy, mine or

your own; if you can

dance with wildness and let ecstasy fill you to

the tips of your fingers

and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be

realistic, or 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.

I want to know if you can be faithful and

therefore be trustworthy. I

want to know if you can see beauty even if its

not pretty every day, and

if you can source your life from God's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure,

yours and mine, and still

stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the

sliver 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 the

night of grief and

despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do

what needs to be done for the

children.

It doesn't interest me who you are and 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.

Lord knows if truly do we live on earth? Not

forever on earth, only a

little while here.

Although it be jade, it will be broken, although

it be gold, it is

crushed, although it be quetzal feather, it is

torn asunder. Not forever on

earth, only a little while here.

Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder May 1994

posted by Kathi in OK