It seems today is one of those philosophical days for me, where I like reading or listening to books that have something to glean that I might ponder. I offer Joyce Hifler again. “It is very quiet here among the stars_____except for their singing I hear only the beat of my own heart___and I know from this heights____from this level of seeing and feeling___how foolish I have been to allow myself to hear anything but the music of the heart and soul___for in my lifetime of living on a lower level___where one has to take evil into account___I heard the voice of the dark and morbid___I listen and I contributed to the voice of woe___I was bent on telling my trouble____and determined that others should know of my worst conditions____that I added to the world’s peacelessness and loveless conditions____and gave off the aura that would attract no more than madness____but in rising above those voices I can hear something different____and I can look down on my emotions and down on the paths I have been following____beleiveing that I can drag to me love in its greatest and most holy sense____for no matter what I say, or how beautifully____if I have not love___I am only talking loudly. Though I know all the mysteries of life and I am exalted for my knowlwedge____and have not love___I am nothing. If I give everything I have to someone else____even if I give my very being to be martyred____and I not love___then I am nothing. I have come to know that love can suffer a long time____and it can still be kind and gentle___it can only give itself, never thinking of being envious or resentful____for there is sufficient love for everyone. Love is not a proud thing given only to me___so that I can point to it as if it were my private accojmplishment___but it is the highest, the kindest, most gentle, respectful, and giving emotion___ever to be expereinced___it has no need to shout, for its presence is like a garden of flowers I cannot see___but their beneficial influence diffuses itself throughout my soul. I must enjoy again and gain the knowledge that love has no need to seek its own.
I will stop here with this and do a second blog with the rest. This is a lot to think about right here. I like Hifler because she does make me think! So I re-read, and ponder on her words. I rephrase them in my mind that I reason them out. I need to because I am flowing along and then the thought becomes bumpy with “What did she just write? How is this so? How do I apply it to me? Then, I know I need to continue with her train of thought so I can understand the intent of her words. Sometimes I want to deny them, “No___that is not me!” But if you think about them, you find a comparable reality. Not every line fits your experience, although it can and does, and it very well might. Life is like this. There is a lot of commonality in being human. Always tailored to who we are.
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