Sabbath is here. Hafiz, the Sufi poet, wrote this wonderful poem which helps me understand Sabbath more fully. The third stanza speaks to the need to be present in the world. It is each Now that we can testify to the truth. Yet, this truth is always transient, because I recall it later incompletely.
I do not want to step so quickly
over the beautiful line on God’s palm
As I move through earth’s
Marketplace
Today
I do not want to touch any object in this world
Without my eyes testifying to the truth
That everything is
My Beloved
Something has happened
to my understanding of existence
That now always makes my heart full of wonder
and Kindness.
I do not
Want
To step so quickly
Over the sacred place on God’s body
That is right beneath
your own foot
As I dance with
Precious life
Today.
Teacher as Transformer 