We are the guardians of His Beauty.
We are the protectors
Of the Sun.
There is only one reason
We have followed God into this world:
To encourage laughter, freedom, dance
And love.
Let a noble cry inside of you speak to me
Saying,
“Hafiz,
Don’t just sit there on the moon tonight
Doing nothing –
Help unfurl my heart into the Friend’s Mind,
Help, Old Man, to heal my wounded wings!”
We are the companions of His Beauty
We are the guardians
Of Truth.
Every man, plant and creature in Existence,
Every woman, child, vein and note
Is a servant of our Beloved –
A harbinger of joy,
The harbinger of
Light.
-Hafiz
It’s been one of those weeks — I am overtired from traveling last weekend, our main computer died from a virus and we had to buy a new one but the week is so busy I haven’t had time to set it up, so I have to do my online work on a very slow laptop, plus too many meetings and things to do. Thankfully on Monday begins a slower pace again and I will truly be able to breathe deeply.
Last Tuesday was a glorious day here in Seattle, a true moment of spring, and in between all of my errands I kept stopping to take photos of cherry trees in bloom and other wonders. I am not able to download those photos and share them here yet, but above are some from last week that helped to remind me, in the midst of everything else, of Hafiz’s call to be a guardian of beauty. Everything in life is temporary, even the hard weeks. We are called to witness to the beauty that is so present at every turn. This is the line that spoke to me: “There is only one reason / We have followed God into this world: / To encourage laughter, freedom, dance / And love.” May your days ahead be overflowing with laughter, freedom, dance, love and signs of spring.
-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts
7 Responses
Thanks Bette, I am delighted you like that one. It was fun to try and capture the brilliance of that day and I would be honored to have a print made for you, let’s chat by email after the weekend!
May you have a wonderful, light-filled weekend!
Christine
Harbinger of Light! We ARE!
That second photo explains it all. You’ve captured LIGHT. I think this might be my favorite photo of yours. I’d love to purchase a large print of it if its possible, or at least on note cards, which btw reminds me I need to get an order :)
Hope you are feeling more of a harbinger of light again. May your busy weekend go well.
Warm wishes,
Bette.
Wendy, I remember you mentioning her name before and it is so very enchanting! Dew is quite magical, especially in the morning sunlight.
Me, I am so sorry to hear you are still buried under snow with no signs of spring around. You garden sounds wonderful and I hope you can return to it soon!
Blessings to you Cathleen, I am so sorry you are having a hard week as well. We’ll get through it together.
You are welcome lucy, and thank you for the prayers.
Blessings, Christine
thanks for the beautiful poem and photos. it sounds like it was “one of those weeks” for many. glad to have you back and i pray for good rest and restoration. blessings!
Thanks for the reminder that everything is temporary, even the hard weeks, as I’ve had one of those weeks as well. May we both have the rest and slower pace we need, and may we find beauty in even this. Blessings, Cathleen
We are so far from spring it isn’t even funny there is more than two feet of snow on the ground. I have at least twenty packets of seeds stashed. I have plastic yogurt lids I am going to cut to make labels so I know what I planted (last year I had something that looked like dill, smelled like anise, and should have been fennel) all I know is the black swallow tail caterpillars loved it and I want them back). I have gallon jugs to make cloches and to use as buried water reservoirs for the tomatoes. Now I wait for signs of spring. Perhaps that is why I banished all snow images from my gallery show – I wanted spring!
I really love that Christine, being a guardian or witness to beauty : )
I also love that bottom image. A Native American ancestor of mine was named “She Who Sweeps the Dew From the Flowers” and dew has always held a very core place in my heart
A Blessed–and Peaceful Somehow—Week