Forgiveness and the Way We Get

Tonight I am pondering some things I ponder quite often.

Things such as seeing all relationships as mirrors of oneself…

gratefulness for all of life — everything, without exception…

forgiveness of myself as a participant in all the pain that has ever existed in this realm…

returning to love again and again — and the way we get when we are disconnected from that love…

the great need we have for one another, and so on.

As I pondered, I stumbled into reading some Hafiz poetry which lifted my heart and called me to see from heaven’s viewpoint.  Here are a few that I found myself reading again and again.

~ Kathleen

 

Forgiveness

 

Forgiveness is the cash you need.
All the other kinds of silver really buy just strange things.
Everything has its music.
Everything has genes of God inside.
But learn from those courageous addicted lovers
of glands and opium and gold —
Look, they cannot jump high or laugh long
when they are whirling.
And the moon and the stars become sad
when their tender light is used for night wars.
Forgiveness is part of the treasure you need
to craft your falcon wings
And return to your true realm
of Divine freedom.

~Hafiz, in The Subject Tonight is Love, translated by Daniel Ladinsky

 

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I Know The Way You Can Get

 

I know the way you can get
When you have not had a drink of Love:

Your face hardens,
Your sweet muscles cramp.
Children become concerned
About a strange look that appears in your eyes
Which even begins to worry your own mirror
And nose.

Squirrels and birds sense your sadness
And call an important conference in a tall tree.
They decide which secret code to chant
To help your mind and soul.

Even angels fear that brand of madness
That arrays itself against the world
And throws sharp stones and spears into
The innocent
And into one’s self.

O I know the way you can get
If you have not been drinking Love:

You might rip apart
Every sentence your friends and teachers say,
Looking for hidden clauses.

You might weigh every word on a scale
Like a dead fish.

You might pull out a ruler to measure
From every angle in your darkness
The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once
Trusted.

I know the way you can get
If you have not had a drink from Love’s
Hands.

That is why all the Great Ones speak of
The vital need
To keep remembering God,
So you will come to know and see Him
As being so Playful
And Wanting,
Just Wanting to help.

That is why Hafiz says:
Bring your cup near me.
For all I care about
Is quenching your thirst for freedom!

All a Sane man can ever care about
Is giving Love!

~Hafiz, in I Heard God Laughing – Renderings of Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky

 

A Great Need

 

Out
Of a great need
We are all holding hands
And climbing.
Not loving is a letting go.

Listen,
The terrain around here
Is
Far too
Dangerous
For
That.

~Hafiz, in The Subject Tonight is Love, translated by Daniel Ladinsky