02.19.2024. Through the Brokenness the Light Gets In.
Through the brokenness the light gets in. Oh we know this. Leonard Cohen sings it,
“Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.”
and the 13th-century poet and Sufi mystic Rumi recites this,
“Let a teacher wave away the flies and put a plaster on the wound.
Don’t turn your head. Keep looking at the bandaged place.
That’s where the light enters you.”
But living in the brokenness, and the sadness of our soul is not so easy. It can feel as though we are being swallowed whole. Lost. Tossed about in the belly of the whale for days, months, in the dark. Resting up against its dry rib cage bones. This place of holy-despair is not exclusive to some, at some point life lands us there. Softens our skins with our own tender holy-tears. This is when all I know is prayer.
“Her secret was simple.
On her worst days, she prays.
And on her best days, she prays.”
This is when my teacher said, “When we hang up the phone. I want you to get down on your hands and knees. Bow your head to the ground. Thank God that you are alive. Fall backwards. Rest in the arms of the Beloved. Feel her warmth and care. Feel her holding you dear. And weep. Weep your prayers.”
Today is Metta Monday
When: 2pm
Where: 1765 Glenview Road, Glenview in the Patio Shops
Cost: No Fee. Donations and poems appreciated
Where two or more are gathered something beautiful grows.
Love, Wini
PS. Below. 9 Heart Offerings: 2 Poems. 2 Quotes. 1 Heart Advice. 1 Instagram + 1 Book. 1 Podcast. 1 Event Not-to-Miss!
Two Poems… balm for the heart!
LOVE DOES THAT | Meister Eckhart
All day long a little burro labors,
sometimes with heavy loads on her back
and sometimes just with worries
about things that bother only burros.
And worries, as we know,
can be more exhausting
than physical labor.
Once in a while a kind monk
comes to her stable
and brings a pear.
But more than that,
he looks into the burros’ eyes
and touches her ears
and for a few seconds the burro is free
and even seems to laugh,
because love does that.
Love frees.
When I Am Among the Trees | Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
Mary Oliver reading here, opening me, softening me. reminding me. we have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.”
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Two Quotes | Thomas Merton. Nick Cave
“Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality. The person that each one is in the eyes of the Divine. If only they could see themselves as they really are. If only, we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more need for war, for hatred, for greed, for cruelty. I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other.” – Thomas Merton
“These are perilous and urgent times. This is not the hour to sit around moaning about the condition of the world — leave that to the posturing inhabitants of that most morbidly neurotic of spaces, social media — and nor is it the moment to fruitlessly wait for inspiration to find us. It’s time to get to work, to reach up and tear the divine idea from its heavenly cradle and proffer it to the world. Create! Create! Create like your life depends on it, because, of course, of course, it does!” – Nick Cave from The Red Hand Files, Issue #274
A great listen on On Being with Krista Tippett with Nick Cave–Loss, Yearning, Transcendence.
“Here are some experiences to which Nick Cave gives voice and song as exquisitely as anyone with whom I’ve ever spoken: the universal human conditions of yearning, and of loss; a spirituality of rigor; and the transcendent and moral dimensions of what music is trying to say…
…Since the accidental death of his 15-year-old son, Arthur, in 2015, and a few years later the death of his eldest child, Jethro, he has entered yet another transfigured era. He’s co-created a gorgeous book called Faith, Hope and Carnage, and become a frank and eloquent interlocutor on grief to the many who write to him on his blog called The Red Hand Files.” -Krista Tippett
And another powerful insightful, good read on The Marginalian by Maria Popova, Nick Cave on The Two Pillars of a Meaningful Life.
His two pillars of a fulfilling life — orientations of the soul that “have a softening effect on our sometimes inflexible and isolating value systems”: The first is humility and the other quality is curiosity. Read Here.
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Heart Advice | Rivvy Neshama
This Being Winter, This Being Human:
But what does it mean to be human, only human? To accept the winter of our soul along with its spring-like moments and ecstatic summer? I think Rumi, the Persian poet and Sufi mystic, answered that well in his poem This Guest House.
“This being human is a guesthouse,” Rumi wrote, and every morning, a new guest arrives—”a joy, a depression, a meanness.”
“Welcome them all” Rumi said, even “a crowd of sorrows,” for each one teaches us, clears our house, and makes us ready for whatever comes next.
–Excerpt from her book RECIPES FOR A SACRED LIFE, true stories and a few miracles
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One Instagram + One Book | Lisa Nigro + Jillian Pransky. Love this.
My dear friend Lisa Nigro, a heart rebel for God, has been posting on her instagram page, caregivingnaturally, Brain Injury Chronicles, about Heart Healthy Awareness month, February.
Lisa shares a powerful heart self-soothing hand placement technique, easy to-do. Kind to-do. from Jillian Pransky's book. Click here, give it a try. Make sure volume is on. PS. Lisa is a light. pours goodness onto the earth. An inspiration to follow.
Jillian Pransky’s book that Lisa refers to is Deep Listening: A Healing Practice to Calm Your Body, Clear Your Mind, and Open Your Heart
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One Podcast | Rich Roll interview with Harvard’s Mother of Mindfulness—Dr. Ellen Langer.(1:55:42) so worth a listen!
Many of you know I am a Rich Roll fan. great interviews. a good one to subscribe to when you have the time for a deep listen. Interviews are long, but so worth it. This one really caught my attention, inviting me to look at my belief systems. Challenging me to look at where and what I put my mind energy around, negatively and positively. what I am or not enlivening.
Ellen Langer discusses her research and new book, The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health, in which she explores the transformative leverage of mindfulness in improving health.
Episode #813– THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION, THE POWER OF MINDFULNESS, & WHY AGE IS NOTHING BUT A MINDSET
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An Event - I got my ticket!
Come join me at ALTAR Community on April 6th for Herstory Retold!
Are you ready to come together with women who are rewriting the future?
I'm so excited to share that my dear friend Kathy Bresler founder of Chicago’s ALTAR Community is hosting an incredible evening event on April 6th featuring award-winning author of Cassandra Speaks and member of Oprah's SuperSoul 100, Elizabeth Lesser, amid a pop-up art exhibit curated by Katie Hoffner entitled "God.As.Herself" featuring artist Lydia Ruyle's Goddess Banners.
With Herstory Retold, ALTAR is celebrating the power of women's stories, bringing together women who are championing change in our collective future. The evening will weave together lively conversation, empowering images, and aligned community, culminating in a program that you won’t want to miss!
Tickets for this program are extremely limited. Get your ticket here, hope you will come join me!
PS. Sometimes I am shy about attending events, not knowing who is there, or will I know anyone there–if this is you too, good to know, come we will hangout together.
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸 Have a blessed day 💖 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
