A Hard Decree

A Hard Decree
Hafiz

Last
Night
God
Posted
On the Tavern wall
A hard decree for all of love’s inmates
Which read:
If you heart cannot find a joyful work
The jaws of this world
Will probably
Grab hold of your
Sweet
Ass

This morning I am thinking of joy and work. Do you find joy in what you set for yourself to do? If not, I wonder if you have this litany in your mind’s chatter: I must do this for people are depending on me? I have to do this because it is what my responsibility as parent, friend, colleague, and employee? I should be doing something else because the world’s fate is entirely in my hands!

Hey, I’ve got some of that chatter too. Yet I wonder what is this wondrous life for? Why do we know beauty? Love? One another? If not for joy, than what else?

So how do we get to joy in the daily routine when “things must get done” and “money earned?” How do we let go of the bite of our mind’s blaming and guilt and get to that field beyond wrong doing and right doing? Might we really lie in the sweet grass instead of being burdened down by, and as if a, sweet ass?

What if you were to imagine the needs that your work fulfills? Say housework offers order and cleanliness to you and others, parenting nurtures and supports whom you love and gives you the chance to contribute, and your job provides security, protection, and connection. I am not saying that mixed in with these needs met by your work there are not also unmet needs. What I offer is an invitation to hold still for a moment, breathe in and out several times as you rest in the energy of these needs without trying to “fix” yourself, the work, or someone else. Connecting to these needs, we connect to life in full affirmation that we belong on this planet and are worthy. Out of this blessed acceptance of ourselves and others, we give birth to the hope of freedom and of joy. No longer prisoners of “should” and “must” there arises new ways of doing the work, changing our work, and enjoying our work.

May this be so.