daily_rumi does it again

Yay for Daily Rumi!
I love the imagery of kissing as embracing life/spirit:



There is some kiss we want
with our whole lives,
the touch of Spirit on the body.

Seawater begs the pearl
to break its shell.

And the lily, how passionately
it needs some wild Darling!

At night, I open the window
and ask the moon to come
and press its face against mine.
Breathe into me.

Close the language-door,
and open the love-window

The moon won't use the door,
only the window.

- translation by Coleman Barks

Happy Easter!

I went to services at Inner Light for Easter morning, and it was lovely. My pagan-y bits rejoiced as Rev. Deborah spent much of the sermon talking about the easter story in terms of seasons and the flowering and bearing fruit of the apple orchard.

For her, the message of transcendence and eternal life is not about some thing that you get after you die, it's about an essence within us all at all times. The big metaphor is that an apple orchard is still an orchard even if you can't see the tree yet, so long as the seeds have been planted, i.e. it is not fair to say that an apple tree is only an apple tree while it is bearing fruits (even though we do this constantly in our own lives, denying things that we have within us just because they aren't out in full at the moment).

Even if there is no fruit on the vine, the essence of "apple tree" remains. She was encouraging us all to plant seeds in our own lives and to acknowledge that life is cyclic. No life will be in full blossom, bearing fruit at all times - we need fallow moments, times to sink inward, and cycles of barrenness to bring forth the fruit later. Was a very fun sermon.



The highlights as I noted them in my order of service were:

"What is an expectation? A resentment waiting to happen!" (She was contrasting expectation, which is closed--to expectancy, which is open to possibility.)

"Attachment shuts off our possibility consciousness...it sets the ceiling on the future."

"Unless you forgive, you're not seeking justice, you're seeking retribution"

"Resurrection requires that we have deep spiritual roots"



And the affirmation for the day cut me to the quick as well. It's available on www.innerlightministries.com, but I thought I'd type it in here as well, for posterity:

Resurrection is a continuous process.

I am constantly dying to ways that do not glorify my spiritual magnificence.

Remaining steadfast in my convictions, I resurrect time and time again.

I am a true testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.

No matter how dire things may appear to be, there is always something to be grateful for.

Refraining from complaining, I count my blessings.

The Goodness of life is ever available; I don't miss it, judging by the appearances.

As I release and let go, I experience ever-lasting life today.

This day I have life and life more abundantly.