Spiritual Things Matter

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

Men walk proudly upon this earth
Some appear like gods to smaller men.
Confidence cloaks something deeper still
Not seen at all upon their faces of pretense.

In the quiet of each solitary house
A dimly burning candle guides one deep within.
There one finds a wound so deep
All men cry out, though few admit.

Wounded mortality is the gift to all -
Therein one must find a lonely path:
A path that leads to many roads
The choice is not a gamble, but…a thought.

~Viola M. Jaynes

This is my mother and father.  I was with them for the first 1 or 1 1/2 years of my life, until I was placed in an orphanage in Germany.  I lived in an orphanage until I was 14 years old when my father found me and brought me to the United States.  Years later, I was able to find my mother in Nürnberg, Germany, but I was never able to visit her.  Each time I would fly to Germany, she would disappear and return only after she knew I was back in the States.  I was able to speak with her one time before she passed away from lung cancer.  Her voice was a pleasant surprise to me.  I told her that all was well and that I wished her peace of heart and an abundance of love.  I then sent flowers to her hospital, and six months later she died.  I have felt intense sadness for this woman because, even though she brought four children into this world, she  was unable to mother her own babies – for whatever reasons.  May she rest in peace always!

Mother

Through you I came, oh precious soul,
Yet my mother you could never be.
No ill will I hold within my heart for you,
For you did, perhaps, the best you could.

You wandered and searched your entire life
Longing for something you would never find.
We were there, you see, right by your side
Laughter and warmth would have filled your life.

Oh, my beloved Mother,
May you now fold up those heavy, drooping wings
And may your weary heart find rest at last.
All is well!  All is well!  No more tears need be shed.
May your tired soul rest peacefully now,
And may you awaken…with lessons learned,
To the beauty and warmth of Love.

~Viola Jaynes
4/1/09

_{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

I am a great admirer of Kahlil Gibran’s work. The wisdom and the depth in his writing is profound, beautiful, and moving. One of my all time favorite is out of his book, “The Prophet.” Today, I would like to share it with my dear readers. May it speak to you as tenderly as it always speaks to me. May love awaken us and teach us life’s most valuable secrets.

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say,
“God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it find you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

~Kahlil Gibran