Christmas Eve Friday Poetry

The other day I was listening to NPR in the kitchen while cooking. I love doing that. Krista Tippet was on with her show "Being". She was talking about Rumi and discussing his poetry. Rumi was a 13th poet and mystic born in present day Afghanistan who lived most of his life in Turkey. He is known for his Sufi brand of Islam and the poetry made known in the West by Coleman Barks. (Hear Barks read Rumi on YouTube.) Rumi is one of my favorite poets. You can read all about him and his view of the world at Krista's site. She has a really wonderful show complete with music, poetry, background history and commentary.

A segment from a poem Krista quoted on the show with lines that really grabbed me:

There is one
righteousness: Water the fruit trees,
and don't water the thorns. Be generous 

And another line that resounds with meaning this Christmas, a famous saying of Rumi's:

"all humanity is pregnant with God."

I am contemplating that today, thinking of the birth of Jesus and Mary and Joseph's first night in Bethlehem. What do you think about being pregnant with God? Does that fill you with hope? The Quakers say there is "that of God" in every person. Think about that when you are scurrying around the mall in the next week or so. Look for God's spirit and be surprised.

I am also going to be concentrating on watering the fruit trees. It's a good season in my life to focus on that.



To start with, this weekend read poetry from all around the kidlitopshere over at A Year of Reading.

Peace & Joy is ours this day!