"The Farmer's Three Wishes" - An ancient Jewish parable
One night, an angel of the Lord awakened a poor farmer. The angel said, “God has found favor with you, so he would like to reward you as he did for your ancestor Abraham. As a reward, God will grant you three wishes. There is only one condition: your neighbor will get a double portion of everything that is given to you.”
The farmer was, of course, amazed by this news, so he woke up his wife and told her all about it. The farmer’s wife insisted that they test this promise to see if it was actually real and not just a dream. So, they prayed that God would give them a herd of 1,000 cattle so that they would no longer be poor.
Hafiz, Poet and Sufi master
Hafiz came along a hundred years later (1320 to 1389). He lived most of his life in Shiraz. He is considered the most beloved poet of Persia, and one of the finest lyricists in the Persian language. He was a devout Sufi. He lived about the same time as Chaucer in England.
He became a famous Sufi master, a philosopher
"The Bud" by Keith Basar
As Winter gives it's final fro,
As luminous frost disappears into daylight’s song
A single bud beckons to discover its life amongst the coming Spring.
Tightly and securely bound - waiting, hoping for it's awakened state.
It finally yields to a perfect hue of tender green…
“When I Was the Forest” by Meister Eckhart (1260 – 1328)
When I was the stream,
when I was the forest,
when I was still the field,
when I was every hoof, foot, fin and wing,
when I was the sky itself,
no one ever asked me did I have a purpose,
no one ever wondered
was there anything I might need,
for there was nothing I could not love.
“Prayer for Alignment” — by Fr. Sean O’Laoire
Here we pause to reflect silently on the ways in which we are unaligned as individuals and as communities.
A: I acknowledge to you, my sisters and my brothers
that I have been unaware of the God-in-all-beings.
“Maddie” by Keith Basar
When I thought I’d never again share space with your kind
Miraculously, there you were.
You made pleasing your pack (our family) a selfless mission.
And my God, that glowing, feminine, molasses pie face of yours
could light up the darkest of days
The Story Of Mirabai And Her Devotion For Lord Krishna
When Mirabai was just four years old, while watching a marriage procession she asked her mother, “Dear mother, who will be my bridegroom?” Mirabai’s mother smiled and pointed towards the image of Lord Krishna and said, “My dear Mirabai, Lord Krishna is going to be your bridegroom”. Since then, she manifested a deep devotion to Lord Krishna. Meera lost her mother early.
"A Good Conversation" by Keith Basar
A good conversation can be quite rare.
Its beauty is its own nature — thoroughly organic.
It springs forth from the deepest soils of our being,
aiding us in peering intricately and panoramically into the secrets of self and the Unknown.
“All True Vows” by David Whyte
All the True Vows
are secret vows,
the ones we speak out loud
are the ones we break.
There is only one life
you can call your own
and a thousand others
you can call by any name you want.