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Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Thursday, May 30, 2013

Hearing the song of grace!


As Jack Kornfield recounts in the book “How, Then, Shall We Live?” it is the custom in one African tribe that when a woman decides to have a child, she goes and sits alone under a tree, and she listens. She listens until she hears the song of the child who wants to come.  Once she hears the song, she returns to the man who will be the child's father and teaches the song to him. When they make love to conceive the child, they sing the song to call the child to them.


When the woman is pregnant, she teaches the child's song to the midwives and old women of the village so that when the birth time arrives, the people surrounding the mother sing the song to welcome the child among them.


Then as the child grows up, the other villagers learn the song. If the child falls or hurts his knee someone picks him up and sings the song. When the child does something wonderful, the people of the village sing this song. When the child goes through the rites of puberty and becomes an adult, the villagers sing the song.


It goes this way through life. At a wedding, the songs of husband and wife are sung together. Finally, when this child grows old, and lies in bed ready to die, all the villagers know the song, and they sing it for the last time.


Sometimes I think I forget my song
I know it should be a song of love
A song of grace


I know it should be a song that has woven into its melody and harmonies
peace, and joy


And yet I allow the noise of the world to drown out this song
I hear the traffic
The pain
I hear the fear and the anger


and I no longer hear "the song"
unlike that horrible song from the 80's
it does not play through my head remorsefully


it is lost
no wonder, at times, I no longer feel like dancing!


Lord, this day
restore my song
may it play through my head
haunting me
until I cannot help but hum along
and do a little dance!

2 comments:

  1. laurarobinsonmorrisMay 30, 2013 at 6:36 AM

    And in that time when you can't hear your song, some others who know your song sing it to you and then with you as it is refreshed in your spirit...and then y'all dance...all y'all!

    ReplyDelete
  2. so true, this is why we need to be part of community
    and see faith in terms of community, rather than simple in terms of the individual

    ReplyDelete