Welcome

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



Monday, February 1, 2016

wounded healers

" I will soothe you and heal you,
I will bring you roses.
I too have been covered with thorns. "
- RUMI
___________________________________

it is difficult
if not impossible
to be a healer
unless one in some way has been wounded themselves

those who have not yet tasted
pain
and failure
who have not yet felt the pangs of despair
or gazed hopelessly into the future

those born too rich, too beautiful,

so often find it impossible
to find the ability to be truly present
truly compassionate

instead there is an impatience
driven by success
and a belief
that the answer is held
within one’s hand
and needs merely be dispensed

to those who were simply too weak
too flawed
to have grasped it before

I remember when I was a young pastor
and had all the answers
O, how liberally I bestowed my “solutions”

and then my life fell apart
success turned into failure
prominence turned into banishment and exclusion

then and only then
(and even then with difficulty, for I was still
 all too wise in my own regard)
was I able to let go of answers
and grab hold of empathy and compassion

only then could I let go of being “above”,
 and find the power of being with

only then did I stop speaking
stop propounding
and start listening
and start being present

with love and compassion

healing happens
when in our hearts the words echo

me too

No comments:

Post a Comment