[These are my 'last words' which, God willing, will be read at my funeral, though if time permits, they might change a bit. In Japan, it's a tradition that a person should have what is called a 'death poem' ready to say as one departs this world, condensing what the author understands the most important aspects of the meaning of life to be. It doesn't have to be self-consciously profound, since genuine depth in daily life is discovered in the living, not in congitating. Just write what you feel is true in your heart. The ordinary is extraordinary, and vice versa. It's sort of like the truth that spending real 'quality time' with people isn't about going to Disneyland or Hawaii on vacation, but rather hanging out at home with your family and friends. What's most important is generally right there in front of you, not someplace else. I'll be posting a couplet by couplet commentary on the following....]
Now we are beyond meeting or parting,
Beyond sorrow or regret,
Keep in mind
What I have to say-
If religious teachings and practice is the Basis,
you're missing the point.
The inner life is not about remembering God;
It's about not forgetting.
Traversing the spiritual path does not mean
becoming what you are not;
Arriving at the goal does not mean
you have gone anywhere at all.
Measuring self and other is not the objective,
neither is it striving to obtain what you already have.
The reach and range of the nature of things cannot be grasped -
without center or edge, it is comprehended in an instant.
As for thoughts and emotions, let them be; they arise & dissipate
of their own accord, like clouds passing through an empty sky.
Be who you are
and the supreme secret is displayed for all to see.
Take your ease in the ageless cycle
of day and night;
Eagerly fulfill the compassionate intent of Messiah Jesus
toward this this thing of beauty, this passing world.
Appreciate what you have in the palm of your hand;
You have nothing more: it is all that you need.
“Commit your way to the LORD,
put your trust in Him, and He will bring it to pass.” - Psalm 37:5
Christopher Seal 16 DEC 02 – 31 DEC 08 All Applicable Rights Reserved
Beautiful words, brother, but I hope you are not planning to depart too soon.
ReplyDeleteI came upon your blog by accident (if there is such a thing), when I updated my profile to add Tehillim and then checked who else digs the Psalms in Hebrew, and there you were!
My friend Brock gave me a copy of Tehillim from ArtScroll for Christmas, and his dad got him the same thing for Christmas, so we can read the psalms together when we go to coffeehouses in our neighborhood, and also continue learning Hebrew. I am a 20 year veteran of Greek Orthodoxy and fairly fluent in NT/Byzantine Greek, and my friend Brock is now right behind me in Greek, which I began teaching him about two years ago. He's a little ahead of me in Hebrew fluency, despite the fact that I've known how to read Hebrew for 35 years, just didn't care for it that much, but I do now, now that he does. Brock is a young film maker, right now finishing up a screenplay of the book of Job, which will have the dialogs in Hebrew with English subtitles.
Noticed your wide range of interests, and your age matches mine. Been blogging since early 2006, but don't know if I will continue. I notice your blog isn't very old, but I hope you will write more; I'd like to make your acquaintance. That you would call your blog Ναως and not Ναος (Greek, "temple") intrigues me. Both words too are similar, though not related, to ναυς ("ship") and νους ("mind", but in a specific sense). I've often wondered how much accidental similarities between words in the same language or in different languages are not accidental at all, but God's majestic sense of humor and mystery at work.
Now that I've dropped this somewhat irrelevant comment, I'm going to go and read your other posts. Again, the words in this one are beautiful and noble. Axios!
Thank you for your kind words, Romanos, though I have a feeling that I'll never be really worthy of them. I have a bit of experience with Orthodoxy, and also use the Artscroll Tehillim! 'Ship' and 'Mind' are indeed very closely related, are they not?
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