The good road, and the
road of difficulties cross;
that place is holy
Holy is the place
we begin again in the
broken heart of now
Now stepping on an
unknown path, seeking only
to be whole again
Do you sometimes encounter ideas that hit you with such force that they immediately penetrate your psyche and become part of the fabric of how you see the world? Perhaps even become a kind of spiritual talisman that you return to again and again? This week's prompt brought to mind two such ideas for me. The first was revealed to me in a prayer spoken by the Ogala Sioux medicine man, Black Elk, in Black Elk Speaks, by John Neihardt (paraphrased in the first stanza.) The idea that when we come to a place in our lives where we are faced with this kind of soul-compelling choice -- that it is a holy place --has stayed with me all my life. The second talismanic idea attached itself to this one, and came when I learned that the words 'whole', 'healing', and 'holy' all share a common Sanscrit root.
8 comments:
wow, that is powerful stuff! it speaks to my faith on a very deep level...thank you
Beautifully written and annotated. I think sometimes we fail to recognize the holy as a fish might fail to recognize the ocean.
Been there! Thanks for so beautifully putting words on this experience.
Beautifully said - thank you for the bit of narrative that delved into another layer. Wonderful!
Healing begin inside holiness ... but one must first embrace the unknown of holiness to get to the healing .. interesting and thought provoking.
Marti, I used to be a scholar of Black Elk's history and wisdom being the student of Joseph Brown at the U of M who spent a period of time with Black Elk before he died. These all three are just amazing in their depth and simplicity. I am still pondering them. As was said; this is a powerful post and thank you.
Thank you to each of you for your thoughtful comments. And Christine, I'd love to visit with you sometime. I've been listening to some podcasts from 'Speaking of Faith', and you come to mind sometimes in my listening. Time to sit down over a cup of coffee!
marde--
This is very profound--the crossing of those roads--sometimes they become indistinguishable. Only in walking both paths do we become whole!
Thanks for this sweet piece--
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