Gratitude Monday: Every morning a new arrival

This is a National Poetry Month of resistance, but it also encompasses persistence and resilience. All three of these things are long plays. As much as we’d like to see our oppressors turned to dust with the flick of a wrist, the reality is that they didn’t arrive here suddenly, and it’s going to take time and considerable effort to boot them out and clean up after them.

I, in particular, need to remember this, because I am the most impatient person on the planet. I need to remind myself continually that—ghastly as this administration and its illegalities and cruelties are, and as much as we need to clear them away—just because I can’t snap my fingers and turn them all into dust beside the road while real wounds are healed, that doesn’t mean that the battle (much less the war) is lost.

We need to refresh ourselves from time to time. Meditate, be mindful; rest and recuperate.

So, for Gratitude Monday, let’s have something from the 13^th Century Persian poet we know as Rumi. “The Guest House” is very frequently quoted during mindfulness retreats, so it seems appropriate for today. It reminds us to invite into our lives and souls dark things as well as light, because everything—every thing—has something to teach us. And—I hope—to make us stronger for the necessary.

“The Guest House”

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

 

 

 

©2025 Bas Bleu