THE INVITATION


   It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
   I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of
   meeting your heart's longing.

   It doesn't interest me how old you are.
   I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your
   dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

   It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
   I want to know if you have touched the center of your own
   sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals, or have become
   shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.
   I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
   without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

   I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if
   you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips
   of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be
   realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

   It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
   I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself,
   if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray
   your own soul.

   I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore, trustworthy.

   I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it is not pretty
   everyday, and if you can source your life from its presence.

   I want to know if you can live with failure, yours or mine, and
   still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the
   full moon, "Yes!"

   It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money
   you have.   I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief
   and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what
   needs to be done for the children.

   It doesn't interest me who you are, or how you came to be here.
   I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with
   me and not shrink back.

   It doesn't interest me where, or what, or with whom you have
   studied.  I want to know what sustains you from the inside
   when all else falls away.

   I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like
   the company you keep in the empty moments.


                                      -- Bran Oriah (MountainDreamer)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+