The Astonishing Light of your Being by Hafiz

I wish I could show you,
when you are lonely or in darkness,
the Astonishing Light of your own Being.

Even
After
All this time
The Sun never says to the Earth,
“You owe me.”

One regret dear world, that I am determined not to have
when I am lying on my deathbed is that I did not kiss you enough.

Look
What happens
With a love like that
It lights the whole sky
This place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you.

Don’t surrender your loneliness so quickly
Let it cut more deep
Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can

Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft
My voice
So tender
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.

Reflection: The Origin of Love

I want to tell you a story.

A story before stories were told and before words existed.

A story of you and me.

Of how we met.

In fact, it’s probably not a story you’ve ever heard before.

But to understand the story, I’ll need you to close your eyes.

Now imagine a small light. A pinprick of light in the center of the inky blackness of a vast universe of nothingness.

The blackness, it goes on and on and the light, while small, is steady and unchanging.

And the light, it feels lonely here. The only light and a light so small, completely surrounded by dark. But it shines nonetheless. It can, in fact, do nothing else but shine.

And in your mind’s eye, as you watch this small and steady light, you notice it slowly begins to expand. So slowly at first that it is barely perceptible. But the flicker of the light as it grows catches your awareness and you can see that bit by bit the light expands, growing a bit larger and more confident in it’s illumination.

And this is how we met.

You see I am the dark but I am not darkness. I am the vast universe of possibility and you? You are the light of pure potential.

I have always existed and so have you.

But we never really met until you began to push the edges of your boundary and began to push out your light and started to actually believe you could cast your glow a bit further. And as I watch you become more confident in the glorious luminescence of your being, I can feel you expand and begin to pour out a universe of light and begin to brighten up the entire galaxy and beyond.

For without the dark, there is no light and without the light there is no love.

You are the spark and I am the tinder.

You are the flame and I am the shadows you cast.

Together we began love and forever we shall be love.

So this is the story of us. A story of how we began and how we shall go on forever.

I, as infinite possibility, and you, as infinite potential.

And while I feel I have always known you, it has been so nice to finally witness your becoming.

This reflection is excerpted from a bi-weekly interspiritual service, called “Sermon on the Couch.” It was delivered through the House of Belonging—a free kindness community—on February 13, 2022 by Rev. Jessica Steward.