Friday, March 6

"No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations... As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name." Genesis 17:5, 15


"The Guest-House" is a poem that my physician introduced me to during a meditation and mindfulness class he taught some years ago. Since then I've used it as a personal mantra that is especially useful when unexpected events surface and throw me off course.

The Guest-House
from "Say I Am You" poems of Rumi
translated by John Moyne and Coleman Barks

This being human is a guest-house
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Elder Jean Coco