~Fear~

Everyone can see how they have polished the mirror

of the self, which is done with the longings

we’re given.

Not everyone wants to be king!

There are different roles and many choices

within each.

Troubles come. One person packs up

and leaves. Another stays and deepens in a love

for being human.

In battle, one runs fearing

for his life. Another, just as scared, turns

and fights more fiercely.

~Rumi

Question: Which individual would you classify yourself as, one fleeing at the first sign of trial and tribulation, or one whom decides to stay and embrace the turmoil as beautiful in and of itself?

I recently declared myself a Baha’i, and as a devout believer in the message of the present day Revelation brought to us by the Prophet Baha’u'llah, I recognize that we are each called to be warriors, warriors of peace, justice, truth, and beauty. One might ask how can turmoil be embraced, how can hardship and suffering be recognized as essentially beautiful?

Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow. And he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit the very wood that was hollowed with knives? When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, ‘Joy is greater than sorrow,’ and others say, ‘Nay, sorrow is greater,’ But I say unto you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy. Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced. When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

~The Prophet

by: Kahlil Gibran

…and thus we embrace turmoil so that we might learn from it, and we appreciate hardship and suffering for the clarity of sight and spiritual capacity it permits us.