Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

orchard

Dear you and you and you and you and you…and yes, you:

For some time I’ve been trying to find a way to communicate what I see and feel and think of you. I’m still not confident that I can articulate something so powerful yet ethereal this way. But I’m going to chance putting an explanation into words, simply because I’d like to try to help you understand the view through my eyes.

A poem from the 1300s showed me the way toward what I want to express. And God generously directed me toward the poem. So, here goes:

I can see you in your fullness–the you that is expressed in the beauty I can see now, illuminated and amplified by the you that you long to become. And while I might not have a detailed picture of what that “becoming you” will look like, I know that she will be incredibly gifted. And free. And needed by the world. 

So…what likely seems at times to be an unnatural interest in you and your life and your well-being, is actually my soul’s longing for you to attain every one of your heart’s desires.

I see you standing in a new place, bathed in light, with doors and windows flung open to the world. Your arms are spread wide and welcoming, because you are unafraid. I see you enveloped in joy and filled with a sense of purpose. I see you ready to use your unique, God-given gifts to create and transform. For this is what has always been intended for you and you are fully ready to embrace it.

I am aware that my longings for you to have what I hear your soul singing for may be misunderstood. And so at times I struggle to contain my enthusiasm about your life. After all, it is your life and I do know that.

But it’s simply no use. I see what I see, and I feel what I feel, and I know what I know, and I cannot hold it in. So I cannot stop myself from celebrating you: You in your “now” beauty–which is already breathtaking, by the way–and you down the road, standing in your “even more glorious” beauty.

If I am needed and called upon, I want to do all that I can to help you remove stones from your path and clear brush that is in your way. I am so excited to watch your orchard grow! And If I am not needed or called upon, I will still be on the sidelines, watching with amazement as you get taller and stronger and more stunning each day. And I will rejoice for you. Because it will be as it should be.

A poem by Hafiz paints the picture more clearly than I can hope to.

Gratefully,

Rachelxo

 

 
So you can plant more wheat
I would like to remove some rocks from your
field so that you can plant more wheat.
And those hills I see that are part of you, I
have some trees in mind for them
and flowering grasses, so that you won’t erode
when the elements pour.
Are we not lovers? Cannot I speak to you like this?
Do I need to ask your permission to hitch up
my ox and sing to him as I improve your vast terrain?
The title to your heart came to my office. In
looking at it a great interest in your soul
developed. The care of your soul became mine.
So I would like to remove some stones from
your meadows; then an orchard you could grow,
and the world, and the world then, will come
to taste your riches.
– Hafiz