Journal of Sacred Work

[Today’s meditation was written by Cathy Self, Senior Vice President for the Baptist Healing Trust.]

Everything that grows holds in perfection but for a moment. – Shakespeare

     For years I kept this Shakespearean quote on the wall next to my desk. Accompanying the quote was a picture of a tree with great and grand asymmetries. I found great comfort in both the picture and the quote. They were gentle reminders that in this journey called life, I have two choices – I can create a picture of perfect symmetry and freeze it there for all to behold and admire, or I can be courageous enough to grow in many ways, knowing that such growth means that, at times, my "beauty" may be less obvious or even defined differently. I am grateful to have chosen the latter despite some of the funny warts that have appeared…

     Yet, in that choosing, I sometimes look less polished – perhaps in trying out new vocabulary I misuse a word, or when learning a new dance I turn the wrong way. And certainly I’ve looked less polished after I’ve courageously said to my hairdresser "you can’t cut it too short!" Even in seeking to love, I have taken wrong turns, misstepped with my words, worried too much. The weight of worry is heavy.
     Meister Eckhart, a 13th century mystic, seemed not to revel in worry, but rather seemed to love the life of this world and the wonders of the human heart. In a sweet poem titled Love Does That, Eckhart peeks into the heart of those who labor under heavy weight:

All day long a little burro labors, sometimes/ with heavy loads on her back and sometimes just with worries/ about things that bother only burros.

And worries, as we know, can be more exhausting/ than physical labor.

Once in a while a kind monk comes/ to her stable and brings/ a pear, but more/ than that,

he looks into the burro’s eyes and touches her ears

and for a few seconds the burro is free/ and even seems to laugh,

because love does/ that.

Love frees.

 Perhaps today, when I encounter you and maybe even myself, we can share love’s laughter, and celebrate each other, warts and all.