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Mystery and Mysticism:
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SAINTS, PROPHETS, and SPIRITUAL GUIDES:
Rumi

Do Eastern spiritual practices have a place in the lives of Christians?

Sufi wisdom tells us that lying deep inside our hearts, completely outside the bounds of time, days are waiting to be lived. We sense that these days hold promise that cannot be experienced in normal 24-hour periods. Ask yourself, “What is the day inside me waiting to be lived, and how will my soul be nourished by it?”

When the Day came—
The Day I had lived and died for—
The Day that is not in any calendar—
Clouds heavy with love
Showered me with wild abundance.
Inside me, my soul was drenched.
Around me, even the desert grew green.

—Kabir
Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations from Sufi Wisdom, p. 155
Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut
© 1999 Quest Books p. 155

Some periods and events in life come and go with time, while others are far beyond the scope of time’s power. Think about the different pieces that make up your life and ask, “When do I appreciate the stability of things moving in and out of time, and when do I appreciate the freshness of flow and continuity?”

They asked a philosopher, “What secret is there in this, that while God Most High has created so many famous trees, and made them fruitful, people do not term any one of them ‘free’ except the cypress?”

He replied, “Every other tree has fruit at an appointed time: at one time, during the right season, it is fresh and green, at another, it is withered; but the cypress is always blooming and fresh, and such is the state of the free.”

 

—Sadi
Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations from Sufi Wisdom, p. 155
Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut
© 1999 Quest Books p. 155

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