Where you heart is, there will your treasure be also.

Matthew 6:21

Seeker,

Where is your heart these days? Who or what in the world has captivated you?

 

If thy heart were right then every creature would be a mirror of life

and a book of holy doctrine.

There is no creature so small and abject,

but it reflects the goodness of God.

Thomas à Kempis

 

For much of our grown up lives

we live in our heads,

but the seat of wisdom is much further down.

 

And we should not confuse aging with “sage-ing”.

For it is the mileage, the paths you have trod,

that season your soul.

 

Wisdom germinates in the dark deep.

Her scope is defined by how deeply you have lived,

not how long you have been around.

 

Sages appear in every shape,

to make things clear,

and cut you to the quick.

 

Enticing you with wonder,

they cure raw perceptions,

with mystery to encompass, and questions to confound you.

 

Through youthful passions, earthy insights

and the edgy perspectives of fringe dwellers,

sages bid you to listen, to learn, to live without pretense.

 

Such wisdom is grace you cannot win.

It is an invitation

you need only grow down to.

 

Are you thirsty or weary enough,

to bend and stoop

to drink from wisdom’s up-welling?

 

Come to me,

all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest.

 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls. 

                                        For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.         

Matthew 11: 28-30

Understanding meets you

beneath the weight of struggles

too big too hold.

 

The smaller and simpler

you let your life become,

the easier it is to shoulder the burden of caring.

 

But beware, wisdom dwells in the unreasonableness

of a love that short-circuits

your normal operating system.

 

Offering no definitive answers,

she presents only an ever-wider angle on life,

and honors every struggle with a good listening to

 

And, choosing to listen

makes all the difference in the world,

for how you listen changes what you hear.

 

But you need to be out of your mind

to embrace a wisdom that delights in breaking you open,

to uncover grace and light in the life’s darkest corners.

 

Such wisdom is critically needed

for the your rehabilitation,

to redress hubris with humility and slow you down.

 

Unbridled greed and violence have deeply damaged life.

Exploitation and domination

have desecrated the gift of life entrusted to us.

 

So where are the sages

who counter the industries of death

with compassion?

 

Who will tender the hearts

of the leaders

and call us all back to lowliness?

 

Without wisdom as the tiller of our times,

how can we walk, paced by frailty,

toward a different future, worthy of God’s children’s children?.

 

God within you, God without,

How could you ever be in doubt.

You are God’s vision and God’s ears;

And through the passing of the years,

You are the sower and the sown;

God self unfolding

And God’s own.

(Adapted from a Celtic gravestone)

 

Perhaps, dear seeker, that sage is you.

Could it be your voice, your eyes, your heart

that the world has been waiting for all these troubled years ?

 

May you be a soul caught

by the wisdom of Christ who lives in you,

whose gaze is mercy, whose touch is healing.

joe