Poem

I was given a copy of this poem from my pastor. We had a group dicusion on what each line ment to us and what it says about our society.

What do you think? I'm ready for a dicussion if you are......

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THE INVITATION by Orian Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

copyright © 1999 by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

July - the Hottest on Record

Lucky for me I wasn't in town for most of the HEAT.

Spent for first week of the month in San Diego. Great 4th of July at the beach. Collected Pooka shells, played in the surf, watched many sunsets, watch the fireworks.

Spent the next week in town. Don't remember what I did.....

Spent the next two weeks in the Pacific Northwest with family. Did a lot of work at mom's house. Bottle some wine. Went to the Oregon Brewers Festival - they had 80 different breweries there. Only made it through 28 of the brews. They give 4 ounces per taste. So that's 28x4 oz = 112 ounces. Split that between 3 people still means I didn't drive home. Thank God for lightrail! Went Sport Clay Shooting with my dad and brother. Kind of like golf but with shotguns. A higher score is better. Out of a possible 100 I know I hit at least 25 clays. Picked Blueberries and made jam - bought Marrionberries and made jam. Watched Chicken TV every night I could. Took the family to Detroit Lake with a friend of my dad's and went wake boarding, surfing, and intertubing off their ski boat. New for my kids - they loved it. OH, I almost for got ....... It was darn HOT in Portland while we were there. Not as hot as Phoenix but Portland's humidity made up for it.

Next week the kids go back to school and life returns to "NORMAL"