Questions About Devastation

To Lebanon and her people, who are courageously "facing their dragons"..

On the way to an upcoming blog:
.....Lebanon & Egypt: Who's Facing the Dragons?


Questions About Devastation


A man was breaking up the soil,
When another man came by,
"Why are you ruining this land?"

"Don't be a fool! Nothing can grow
until the ground is turned over and crumbled.

There can be no roses and no orchard
Without first this that looks devastating.

You must lance an ulcer to heal it.
You must tear down parts of an old building
To restore it, and so it is with a sensual life
That has no spirit in it.

To change,
A person must face the dragon of his appetites
With another dragon,

the "life-energy of the soul."

When that's not strong,
The world seems to be full of people
Who have your own fears and wantings.

As one thinks the room is spinning
When he's whirling around.

From Rumi's "Mathnawi" (II, 1180-1183)
Translated by Coleman Barks