Some Fill With Each Good Rain, by Hafiz
There are different wells within your heart.
Some fill with each good rain,
Others are far too deep for that.
In one well
You have just a few precious cups of water,
That "love" is literally something of yourself,
It can grow as slow as a diamond
If it is lost.
Your love
Should never be offered to the mouth of a
Stranger,
Only to someone
Who has the valor and daring
To cut pieces of their soul off with a knife
Then weave them into a blanket
To protect you.
There are different wells within us.
Some fill with each good rain,
Others are far, far too deep
For that.
(translated by Ladinsky)
For some, Jesus was a trickster. Here's a little something in that vein:
The Ballad of Japing Jesus
by Oliver St. John Gogarty
"The Song of the Cheerful (but slightly sarcastic) Jesus"
I'm the queerest young fellow that ever was heard.
My mother's a Jew; my father's a Bird
With Joseph the Joiner I cannot agree
So 'Here's to Disciples and Calvary.'
If anyone thinks that I amn't divine,
He gets no free drinks when I'm making the wine
But have to drink water and wish it were plain
That I make when the wine becomes water again.
My methods are new and are causing surprise:
To make the blind see I throw dust in their eyes
To signify merely there must be a cod
If the Commons will enter the Kingdom of Good
Now you know I don't swim and you know I don't skate
I came down to the ferry one day and was late.
So I walked on the water and all cried, in faith!
For a Jewman it's better than having to bathe.
Whenever I enter in triumph and pass
You will find that my triumph is due to an ass
(And public support is a grand sinecure
When you once get the public to pity the poor.)
Then give up your cabin and ask them for bread
And they'll give you a stone habitation instead
With fine grounds to walk in and raincoat to wear
And the Sheep will be naked before you'll go bare.
The more men are wretched the more you will rule
But thunder out 'Sinner' to each bloody fool;
For the Kingdom of God (that's within you) begins
When you once make a fellow acknowledge he sins.
Rebellion anticipates timely by 'Hope,'
And stories of Judas and Peter the Pope
And you'll find that you'll never be left in the lurch
By children of Sorrows and Mother the Church
Goodbye, now, goodbye, you are sure to be fed
You will come on My Grave when I rise from the Dead
What's bred in the bone cannot fail me to fly
And Olivet's breezy-- Goodbye now Goodbye.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_Japing_Jesus"
No tengo lugar
Y no tengo paisaje
Yo menos tengo patria
Con mis dedos hago el fuego
Con mi corazon te canto
Las cuerdas de mi corazon lloran
Naci en al amor
Naci en al amor
No tengo lugar
Y no tengo paisaje
Yo menos tengo patria
Ay cuando cantan, con tus dolores
nuestras mujeres te hechizan
_________________________
I came from nowhere
I have no landscapes
I have no homeland
With my fingers, I can start a fire
With my heart, I sing to you
And my heartstrings throb
I was born of love
I was born of love
I have no place
I have no landscapes
I have no homeland
When they sing, with your sorrow,
our women enchant you
—Naci en Alamo (Naci en al amor)
From the film Vengo by Tony Gatlif
Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable; but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why faith is such a necessary virtue; unless you teach your moods "where they get off," you can never be a sound Chrsitian or even a sound atheist....
CS Lewis
Therefore that whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way upon any such account aforesaid, every person so offending shall pay for every offense five shillings a a fine to the county.
Statute enacted by the General Court of Massachusetts, May 1659, repealed 1681
Originally posted by ivanhoeYou just reminded me, Ivanhoe:
'
"My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials."
Sirach 2:1
From the Book of Sirach 25:12-25 (NAB translation).
Worst of all wounds is that of the heart, worst of all evils is that of a woman.
Worst of all sufferings is that from one's foes, worst of all vengeance is that of one's enemies:
No poison worse than that of a serpent, no venom greater than that of a woman.
Wickedness changes a woman's looks, and makes her sullen as a female bear.
When her husband sits among his neighbors, a bitter sigh escapes him unawares.
There is scarce any evil like that in a woman; may she fall to the lot of the sinner!
Like a sandy hill to aged feet is a railing wife to a quiet man.
Stumble not through woman's beauty, nor be greedy for her wealth;
The man is a slave, in disgrace and shame, when a wife supports her husband.
Depressed mind, saddened face, broken heart -- this from an evil wife.
Feeble hands and quaking knees -- from a wife who brings no happiness to her husband.
In woman was sin's beginning, and because of her we all die.
Allow water no outlet, and be not indulgent to an erring wife.
If she walks not by your side, cut her away from you.
Originally posted by NemesioNow it all makes sense. Genesis 2:18 -
You just reminded me, Ivanhoe:
From the Book of Sirach 25:12-25 (NAB translation).
Worst of all wounds is that of the heart, worst of all evils is that of a woman.
Worst of all sufferings is that from one's foes, worst of all vengeance is that of one's enemies:
No poison worse than that of a serpent, no venom greater than that of a woman.
Wickedness ...[text shortened]... be not indulgent to an erring wife.
If she walks not by your side, cut her away from you.
"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him'. So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and birds....but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him. 21. Then the lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep ..... He formed a woman out of him and brought her to him."
The woman was a last resort, even after the animals. God knew she would spell trouble, hence his reluctance to create her!
'
"Above all," he added, "we can offer a credible response to the question which emerges clearly from today's society, ... the question about the meaning and purpose of life, for each individual and for humanity as a whole. We are called to work together, so as to help society to open itself to the transcendent, giving Almighty God His rightful place. The best way forward is via authentic dialogue between Christians and Muslims, based on truth and inspired by a sincere wish to know one another better, respecting differences and recognizing what we have in common."
Benedict XVI, in a speech directed to Muslims during his visit to Turkey.