Hazelnuts and Fat People

I was going to wait to show you this until I got this framed, but I'm too excited.

My friend, Erika, asked if I would like a painting done. And, immediately I knew what I wanted. Not only did Erika do an awesome job with the painting, she did an incredible job of taking my 3 separate ideas and combining them into one thought and painting. 

Here they are: 

Two Giant Fat People

God and I

have become like

two giant fat people

living on a tiny boat.

We keep bumping

into each other

and laughing  

                                         - Hafiz

The Seed Cracked Open

It used to be

that when I would wake in the morning

I could with confidence say, 

"What am 'I' going to do?"

That was before the seed

Cracked open

Now Hafiz is certain:

There are two of us housed

In this body,

Doing the shopping together in the market and 

tickling each other 

while fixing the evening's food.

Now when I awake

All the internal instruments play the same music.

"God, what love-mischief can 'We' do

for the world today?" 

                                                 - Hafiz


The Hazelnut
And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed.And it was as round as any ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding, and thought, 'What may this be?'
And it was answered generally thus, 'It is all that is made.' I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God.
In this little thing I saw three properties.
The first is that God made it.
The second that God loves it.
And the third, that God keeps it.
                                                                   - Julian of Norwich

So, in response to what I am learning of, about, with God, or what is on my heart, I would go ahead and show you this painting. 

Those Grand Glories

Those Grand Glories
Yes, of course I want them

Those Grand Glories

Admiration
Adulation
Affirmation

Or were you referring to the other
lesser known glories

Friend’s laughter
patio sitting
a simple, quiet life

Those would do too

I’m more and more convinced that there is no such thing as the right way to live a life. Sure, there are wrong ways, and there are better ways, and some dogmatically inclined folks might say that there is God’s way. But, I just can’t be sure that there is one perfect way.

Maybe I am saying this because I am at a crossroads. And maybe I’m trying to pad the possible fall – limit the potential damage – soften the proverbial blow that would smack me in the face.

Or maybe, after all this time, I'm actually getting there.