When I was the Forest

Words by Meister Eckhart,

freely translated by Daniel Ladinsky.

When I Was The Forest


When I was the stream, when I was the
forest, when I was still the field,
when I was every hoof, foot,
fin and wing, when I
was the sky
itself,

no one ever asked me did I have a purpose, no one ever
wondered was there anything I might need,
for there was nothing
I could not
love.
It was when I left all we once were that
the agony began, the fear and questions came,
and I wept, I wept. And tears
I had never known
before.

So I returned to the river, I returned to
the mountains. I asked for their hand in marriage again,
I begged—I begged to wed every object
and creature,

and when they accepted,
God was ever present in my arms.
And He did not say,
“Where have you
been?”

For then I knew my soul—every soul—
has always held
Him.





From: Daniel Ladinsky’s Love Poems from God.

Resolutions

It's more difficult to choose a New Year's Resolution this time around. I usually pledge to give up smoking, but since I actually achieved that one some months ago, I'm forced into new territory for this revolution of the sun.



This year I will:




Get fitter. It took me three hours to walk around White Rock Lake this morning, and afterwards I felt as though my legs had been replaced with stumps. Note to self: next year, don't do it in open-toed sandals. It was CHILLY out there.

Learn to juggle. At least, I will progress from being able to throw all three beanbags in the air to catching one or two as well. A fellow teacher gave an excellent presentation on "juggling for life" to my students last semester. I don't remember much about what he said, but I got the definite impression my whole life would be revolutionized if I could just keep those things in the air a while. Not that I particularly need more revolution in my life right now...

Go back to my meditation class. As my favorite fridge magnet puts it: "Meditation: It's not what you think." 'Nuff said.

So... What will you do?