Richard Rohr points out that all of the worlds religions say we must die before we die- which is to say we must be willing on some level to let go of a way of seeing/living that does not allow us to know who & what we are at the deepest level of being. The soul seeks the death that leads to new life, to life lived in a new way- for me, that is what Goethe points to in naming the longing to enter the fire. I memorized this poem when I was a young woman & am still learning how to let this longing guide me to the flame. ~Oriah The Holy Longing by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Tell a wise person, or else keep silent, because the mass man will mock it right away. I praise what is truly alive, what longs to be burned to death. In the calm water of the love-nights, where you were begotten, where you have begotten, a strange feeling comes over you, when you see the silent candle burning. Now you are no longer caught in the obsession with darkness, and a desire for higher love-making sweeps you upward. Distance does not make you falter. Now, arriving in magic, flying, and finally, insane for the light, you are the butterfly and you are gone. And so long as you haven’t experienced this: to die and so to grow, you are only a troubled guest on the dark earth. (Translated by Robert Bly)
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 13:00:00 +0000
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