breath and the beloved

Last week at our Interfaith Life Community meeting we read a poem called “Only Breath” by Rumi, the Sufi mystic. I decided to bring the poem to the group because it first caught my eye as the poem begins: Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu / Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion / or cultural system.” How perfect for an interfaith reflection community! The poem also spoke to my personal exploration of faith. In the poem Rumi writes: “I belong to the beloved, have seen the two / worlds as one and that one call to and know, / first, last, outer, inner, only that / breath breathing human being.” I absolutely love the idea of belonging to the beloved. Just the title speaks about the great compassion of the One beyond ourselves. For me the beloved is God. After reading and reflection on the poem I had each of the students to write their own spiritual poem. All of the poems were extraordinarily unique and beautiful and I asked them if there were comfortable to share them on this blog. It was a great meeting and I am thankful for the beautiful conversation and poetry we were able to share with each other.

Here is my poem:

Where do I exist

but in my breath

I cannot belong

to one name

I do not come

from a town, a city

a place in time

I come from something unknown

I am unknown

Only truly seen by the beloved

existence lies in the beloved

in that breath, in that silence.

- Elaina Jo