Along the pathways of living in in the present moment we can utilize many metaphors to describe the Journey we are on. Rumi, the great Persian poet, liked to talk about our existence being only a drop of water falling into a high mountain stream which then takes us on to our destiny. Being carried from stream to river, and eventually river to the the ocean, which was for Rumi metaphor for God as Ocean. The trip is one that can take our entire life, or can happen in a short time if God intervenes and carries us directly to union with Our Beloved. Usually though we have a longer road to go on where we will have many stops as we regroup and find our way back to the streams center, where the water of life flows freely.
However the journey the important thing for me to remember. That the steps taken all along the way are what the traveling is about. There is no longer any goal, no milestones to reach, there are these days, just the movement forward each day. I am content to allow life to unfold the same way a bolt of cloth is opened on the cutting table of the seamstress. When life is at an end and I am to be called Home, God will cut the fabric, and the unknown will be known. I am not looking to make that final step just yet, but I have lost most fears of the unknown ahead and I am at peace with this day - with this hour and minute. Still there are dark days as I am entirely human and life offers what life offers.
Here is a image of how a wonderful, slow stream carries me on a warm summer day through a passageway here in Bangor, Maine. Next stop is the Penobscot river and the thirty of so miles to the ocean.
At the Metropolitan Museum Of Art on our trip last December the new Islamic wing had just opened. One particular surprise was the Moroccan Courtyard which was created in place in the room it now is in. The Met brought Moroccans over who were among a dying breed of skilled craftsmen who could do the most incredible detailed work with plaster and tile. They stayed for months and left an exhibit that was jaw dropping. Here is the link of a short video showing something of how this project was worked. The video is down at the bottom of the page.
http://www.metmuseum.org/about%20the%20museum/now%20at%20the%20met/from%20the%20director/2011/building%20history%20the%20making%20of%20the%20mets%20new%20moroccan%20court
A fine two part article from the NY Times on this project -
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/arts/design/metropolitan-museums-moroccan-courtyard-takes-shape.html?_r=1
And some pictures from the Times -
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/03/20/arts/design/03202011_MOROCCANSlide.html
And last some Middle Eastern Music to listen to what another part of the world enjoys. It is called "A Drop Of Water" by Ustad Sultan Kahn. Check it out.
http://www.box.com/s/7l9147tcovkmr2jd2oxy
Until next week, Peace, Bill Lagerstrom
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