Spiritual Things Matter

_{^{Photograph by: K. Alan Lewis}}

Quietly life burns like a gentle sparkling fire
Mundane with tasks we know all too well.
Politely greeting and meeting
Attending to duties as citizen and friend.

All at once an arrow pierces our heart
It kindles alive this fire in our bellies.
Strange it seems – the energy that bursts forth
Vast powers from within rising to the surface.

Passion heightens the mind and our senses
Nothing at all becomes impossible to reach.
The heart courageously beats the rhythm of this fire
Going forth, hoping that reason is not forgotten.

Oh, the passions that consume our lives
In beauty that bursts forth in deep satisfaction.
Creativity is passion’s gift, bringing untold dreams to fruition
During rare and exquisite moments of raptured awareness.

~Viola M. Jaynes

_{Photograph by: K. Alan Lewis}

In youth we stand strong in our convictions
With passions and beliefs we hold so dear.
We stand solid firm in a warrior-like fashion
Declaring with strength the path that seems clear.

One day, though, we awaken
To notice a change has taken place:
We have grown a little older, and life
And all its passions are not so clear.

~Viola Jaynes

Let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. ~ Khalil Gibran

My mother-in-law shared with me about a friendship she has been blessed with for 57 years. She loves her friend and feels her pain as she seems to have endured many difficult challenges in her life. Our prayer and thoughts are with her this week as she is facing a tedious surgery and a lengthy recovery period. I thought about their long friendship and all the changes that they have seen in each other’s lives since their schoolgirl days.

Friendships leave us with imprints on our hearts as we realize that somehow we have been changed for the better. Some friends were only meant to come and go as a fleeting impression; much like the morning dew that graces the leaves with its many tiny droplets and yet, by mid-day each of those droplets has dissipated – never to return again.

There are those friendships that seem to be more numerous as we go through our daily tasks and interact with those with whom we come in contact. Those are friendships that will be in our lives for a time and there seems to be a connection as we share like experiences in our work or parenting endeavours. These friendships are also important for they seem to keep things in perspective for us and keep us in touch with each other. They help us to grow and change as we observe more from a distance the humanness that each of us expresses.

The most rare friendship is one that has endured many phases of life together. These are friendships founded in innocent youth filled with dreams and hopes. These are friendships filled with so much energy and strength that together it was thought that even the highest and most difficult mountains could be conquered. These friendships are mystical in nature. In these types of friendships, there seems to be a recognition of the other – a knowingness that is comfortable, but can’t seem to be explained. There is an inward binding together, and no matter the distance between these two souls, they will always feel the need to stay connected.

It is in such a friendship that one dares to share their deepest thoughts. It is such a friendship that will never judge the other for the stumbling and the failings that each will experience in this life. This kind of friendship only opens wider the door for full authenticity, and thus an even greater treasure is found. In such a friendship, one can feel and grow in complete acceptance. Hope and strength is birthed from this deep well of love, and one begins to accept that all is well in this world.

It is in such a friendship that an inkling of God’s love can somehow be realized, for it is an extension of His mystical reality of which we seem to know so little.

Oh, beloved friend, I greet thee.
Let us embrace each other -
never to walk alone in our joys and our pain.
Our hearts are chambers of protection -
hiding each other in prayer -
for all that life wills in our journey.
Oh, beloved friend, I greet thee
as the Holy One within thee – smiles at me.

~Viola Jaynes