Love is sufficient of itself; it gives pleasure by itself and because of itself. It is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in the practice.
*St. Bernard of Clairvaux (France, d. 1153; Christian mystic, Cistercian abbot).
My virginal heart, virgin by You, Grace - one rose petal in a Garden of Love
Lying here alone, a Wind moves upon me, I fall into the Fire
A conception, painful and sweet, "Could this be what I've always yearned for, had no words to speak?"
A whisper in the glad dark, "Friend, this Fire, the Beloved's funeral pyre"
Flesh to ashes I've become tonight in this bright Night, words to spirit, delectable kisses of Light
No wonder, in Here with You, I feel so alive!
This death I'd rather have than that life I had this Life, this Lover, concealed from sight
All seeking ended, I found in being found, and we're touching the Sky
I just heard Something I dare not say ... "Quiet"
*Brian K. Wilcox, "A Hidden Love."
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Bernard of Clairvaux speaks of Love's value being in its practice. Love is. Yet, Love is a practice. Love is like a symphony within us. Yet, a symphony is, while it becomes through practice. Did the joy arise first or the smile?
The night of the unveiling is the whole path leading to it. The symphony is inherent in the first beginnings, even before the thought. There is no separation between orchestra, composition, and symphony - manifesting this takes practice. Still, it can become, for it is.
Love outside time is like bringing music into time. Bringing Love into time is bringing God and yourself into time - together.
Love's conqueror is he Whom love conquers.
Apply yourself, hand and foot, To the search;
But when you reach the sea, Stop talking of the stream.
*Hakim Sanai (Persian, Sufi; d. c. 1131), "Love's Conquerer is He." In 108 Sufi Poems.
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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2024. Permission is given to use photographs and writings with credit given to the copyright owner.
*Brian is a lay Buddhist of the Plum Village lineage and practitioner in Open Heart Sangha North, Bath, Maine. He is a Buddhist, interspiritual chaplain, specializing in facilitating groups in correctional facilities and remote spiritual care. Brian is much influenced by Jesus' example and teachings, as found in the Christian Gospels, while seeing Jesus as free of the trappings of the Christian religion - all religion.
*Brian's book is An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love. The book is a collection of poems Brian wrote based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
