Take a drink of love!

I know the way you can get
when you have not had a drink of love.

Your face hardens.
Your sweet muscles cramp.
Children become concerned
about a strange look that appears in your eyes
which even begins to worry your own mirror….

Squirrels and birds sense your sadness
and call an important conference in a tall tree.
They decide which secret code to chant
to help your mind and soul.

Oh, I know the way you can get if you
have not been drinking of love.

You might rip apart
every sentence your friends and teachers say,
looking for hidden clauses.

You might weigh every word on a scale
like a dead fish.

You might pull out a ruler to measure from
every angle in your darkness
the beautiful dimensions of a heart you once
trusted.

I know the way you can get
if you have not had a drink
from love’s hands.

That is why all the great ones speak
of the vital need
to keep remembering God,
so you will come to know and see him
as being so playful and just wanting–just wanting–to help.

That is why Hafiz says:
Bring your cup near me.
For all I care about is

quenching  your thirst for freedom!
All a sane man or woman can ever care about
is giving love!
–Hafiz (14th c.), translated by Daniel Ladinsky

All of us become shadows of our true selves when we have not had enough love. Looking in the mirror, we seen limitation, inadequacy, mistake after mistake. Looking at those we love, we see lack of empathy, bad intentions, and failure to live up to our expectations. Strangers become heartless and faceless, intent on taking our parking place or running us down on the freeway.

When our state concerns the children and animals around us, it can be hard to ask for and receive the love we need. “You don’t love me enough!” rarely evokes what would meet our heart’s longing.

Psychotherapists like myself get frequent and priceless opportunities to learn that giving love away can be the shortest route to letting love flow. We give it simply by attentive listening and an open heart that really cares about what we hear from the person in the client’s chair.

Parents of children small enough to welcome loving overtures have their own gold mine of opportunity to give love selflessly today, right now, by exercising that last modicum of patience and attention you have to give.

All of us have the next person we meet. Look deeply into the eyes of the person who a moment ago seemed only a clerk whose job was to total our purchases. A playful or kind comment can make buying carrots a precious experience.

Thank you, Daniel, for bringing us the priceless Hafiz!

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Blessings, dear visitor. You may post a reply here or email me at drvlee1234@aol.com.