Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer

Letting Grace Come Through

Sheba’s Hesitation

Lovers of God, sometimes a door opens,
and a human being becomes a way
for grace to come through.

I see various herbs in the kitchen garden,
each with its own bed, garlic, capers, saffron,
and basil, each watered differently to help it mature.

We keep the delicate ones separate from the turnips,
but there’s room for all in this unseen world, so vast
that the Arabian desert gets lost in it like a single hair

in the ocean.  Imagine that you are Sheba
trying to decide whether to go to Solomon!
You’re haggling about how much to pay

for shoeing a donkey, when you could be seated
with one who is always in union with God,
who carries a beautiful garden inside himself.

You could be moving in a circuit without wing,
nourished without eating, sovereign without a throne.
No longer subject to fortune, you could be luck itself,

if you would rise from sleep, leave
the market arguing, and learn that
your own essence is your wealth.

~Rumi (as translated by Coleman Barks with John Moyne)

courtesy of dynamosquito

 

Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer

Music Trumps the Alphabet

I spend all of my writing time this morning hunting high and low for the song.

After a fun-filled dose of Music as Medicine yesterday, I’m short on words and high on music.  Lots of fresh sounds in my ears bringing inspiration and the realization that sometimes letters of the alphabet just don’t cut it.

For instance, that song.  Sun Kil Moon‘s (aka Mark Kozelek) “Blue Orchid” has haunted me for years.  I recall one afternoon I just put it on repeat and probably listened to it ten times in a row.  Is it the chord progression?  The timbre of his voice?  The words of love, angels and a Paris hotel?  I really don’t know what it is about this song that moves me so deeply.  I do know that it seems impossible to put words to the essence of how it feels to hear those notes fill my ears.

So this morning I continued my search to be able to find some version to upload here.  Let the music play for itself.  No words, just a song.

But in all of my internet searches, I only found a handheld video bootleg of a live rendition in Portugal – terrible sound quality – and a woman’s You Tube photo collage with the song as the soundtrack.  Both seemed to detract from the song, itself.

What to do?

Write a post about the elusive tune that you can’t hear?

Then as the sun rose and my writing window slowly closed, I stumbled across something that will have to do.  A You Tube video featuring a still, black and white photo of a woman in shadows and scarves, accompanied by “Blue Orchids”.  I don’t know the origins of the photograph, but I’m feeling thankful for a means by which I can share the song (thanks FerventSylph).  One day maybe I’ll get the WordPress Space Upgrade and stream my own media.  For now, it’s You Tube City and Sun Kil Moon.

Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer · 1 Comment

Signposts on the Treasure Trail

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”
~Frank A. Clark

It was a sixth grader yesterday that introduced me to this quote.  He chose these words to reflect his sentiments as he gave his graduation speech, marking the passage from elementary school to junior high.

He understands the depth of their meaning more than my 38-year-old self.  Having spent his youngest years in hospitals with leukemia, he is a living example of perseverance.  He describes times during his illness when he would lie in bed and repeat over and over in his small head “I have the will to live.  I have the will to live.”

Now, completely cured, he stood before the crowd of parents, telling us that he still loves a good challenge.  That he embraces the difficult, inspired to find his way through adversity.  He welcomes this, knowing the treasure to which this path leads.

He has traveled terrains I cannot fathom.  He knows depths I do not understand.

Yesterday, I heard this twelve-year-old state with simple clarity:  “I love life.”

I’m following his lead.