Sep 21 2016
A Vote for Sacred Poetry
Let us bless
The imagination of the Earth,
That knew early the patience
To harness the mind of time,
Waited for the seas to warm,
Ready to welcome the emergence
Of things dreaming of voyaging
Among the stillness of land.
And how light knew to nurse
The growth until the face of the Earth
Brightened beneath a vision of color.
– John O’Donohue
from “In Praise of the Earth”
Hi [First Name]-
As many of you know, I have dealt with chronic fatigue/ME issues for years. Actually, I have been doing pretty well with stable health and energy since last year. But just over a week ago I had an unexpectedly serious crash in energy that has left me reeling while struggling to maintain minimal hours with my day job. I have been using all of my strategies to try to rebound, but so far only with partial success.
Even when I go for several days without sending out a poem email, however, I want you to know that all of you in the Poetry Chaikhana community are very much in my thoughts.
I know from your emails that I am not alone in dealing with serious health challenges. I am always humbled by the quiet courage and strength so many people exercise daily without fanfare or outer drama. Even in the most quiet life, stories of surprising beauty and struggle unfold.
Last year I shared some of my thoughts on Health, Suffering & Meaning that I hope inspires some new perspectives on the subject. (“Sometimes, though, dis-ease is an annoyingly persistent teacher…”)
Poetry is what in a poem makes you laugh, cry, prickle, be silent, makes your toe nails twinkle, makes you want to do this or that or nothing, makes you know that you are alone in the unknown world, that your bliss and suffering is forever shared and forever all your own.
~ Dylan Thomas
Please Support for the Poetry Chaikhana
It has been many months since I last requested donations for the Poetry Chaikhana, but your support especially means a lot right now. I am very aware of everyone who sends in a donation, either singly or as a regular monthly contribution, and I am so grateful for all of your support! But, naturally, some people’s attention moves elsewhere over time, and donations fluctuate, so I regularly need to reach out for new support.
Now is a time when I need to ask more of you to join in and support the Poetry Chaikhana.
Nearly 10,000 people are receiving this email. We are a large community with creativity, vision, and resources that I hope can draw on.
Do you think, as a group, we cover the Poetry Chaikhana’s modest expenses each day?
(For those curious about the sort of work I do each day with the Poetry Chaikhana, I invite you to take a look at Behind the Scenes with the Poetry Chaikhana.)
If you feel a connection to the Poetry Chaikhana, please consider making a donation.
Ways you can contribute:
- You can send a check or money order in US funds made out to “Poetry Chaikhana”, addressed to:
Poetry Chaikhana
PO Box 2320
Boulder, CO 80306 - You can make a secure online donation in any amount through PayPal by clicking the “Donate” button below or on the Poetry Chaikhana home page www.poetry-chaikhana.com
- You can sign up for a voluntary subscription of $2/month or $10/month by clicking either the “Subscribe” or “Support” PayPal button, also below or at www.poetry-chaikhana.com. (A regular monthly amount is often easier on your pocketbook and allows the Poetry Chaikhana to plan finances over the long term.)
I am also grateful for your supportive thoughts and prayers. Every contribution, financial and energetic, is sincerely appreciated.
/ Photo by AlicePopkorn /
I regularly receive emails telling me how much the Poetry Chaikhana means to you. The daily poem brings a moment of calm to the morning, inspires creativity at work, offers comfort in a period of crisis, carries hope when assaulted by the headlines, suggests a focus for meditation or prayer before bed. These notes from you continuously remind me why the Poetry Chaikhana is so important. And I am so grateful to be able to share my love of this poetry with such an engaged community.
Sacred poetry is transformative on both a personal and a global level, something I believe we need more than ever today. As I have written elsewhere:
“Sacred poetry has the unique benefit of being a deeply personal expression of spiritual truth while, at the same time, being largely free from dogma… Sacred poetry is the natural goodwill ambassador for the world’s religions. Poetry can reach across cultural divides, soften prejudices, and shed light on misunderstandings. I hope the Poetry Chaikhana can help to facilitate that process.”
Or, as Rumi said–
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
~ Rumi
It is coming up on election season here in the U.S. As you are contemplating your vote, remember also to vote for the sanity and beauty of sacred poetry!
Poetry is like a bird, it ignores all frontiers.
~ Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Thank you, and sending my love!
Ivan
Dear Ivan
Though I have not written to you for a long time I am regularly moved deeply by the poetry you share with us and your(just as beautiful) commentaries. I feel for you as you battle with chronic fatigue – yet in spite of this you continue to throw out beauty, peace, unity and adoration and the bliss of union with the Divine – into our thirsting world so in need of peace and harmony.
I cannot send you money but I send you my love and payer and above all my deep thanks giving.
your friend Gemma (The New Zealand nun)
today is international peace day – Sept 21st
in honor of this and the peace we need everyday
i offer you my peace poem to share
thank you
and healing wishes for you Ivan
***************************************
be a peace maker
any which way you can
hate is boiling over in this world
be a lover of life
be a kind being
work for dignity
humanity for all
give compassion
understanding
arise into the
joyful fun
of life on earth
work the good in all
the sweetness in me
honors the sweetness
in you
we are joy lovers
we are peace lovers
let’s celebrate life
~ janice barden- wilson