January 2 is my birthday, I am 69 years old today. Thank you moms and dad for the gift of life and your love. I have a good life and I am loved. This is the best I could have.
In honor of my own birthday, I am copying a poem from Joyce Rupp’s “The Star in my Heart.” I have a heart connection to Sister Joyce, poet, prolific writer, and religious sister. I used several of her books in the 1990s in my workshops to inspire women to look within and see the star in their own heart. They did. They saw.
At the beginning of her book, Joyce talks about her own journey to Wisdom.
“Once upon a time a child of happiness danced upon the land, knew friendship with the earth, and celebrated life with her love of solitude and simple things…She grew into a young woman, whose vision of self was clouded, clothed with the complexities of insecurity and the necessity of leaving the hallowed womb of the quiet earth. She walked into cities of strangers straining her inner eye to catch the slightest hint of the beauty that had energized her younger days…
…Days stretched into months and then years went by. She slowly changed by going deeper, deeper, into her Center. Never understanding why the desire to go deeper was there but always knowing there was no other choice than to follow at all cost…Darkness often loomed….Risk and Truth became her companions…She met Compassion and then…..
Wisdom came to greet her.
So close, at times were these companions that she wept for their intensity and her unworthiness. Still they walked with her and…
everywhere she went, her companions reached out and blessed the people of her life. She could only kneel in gratitude, offering her heart of praise to the Divine Companion who had faithfully kept the kindling of love burning in her heart”.
My journey has been much like that and I am grateful to Joyce, for much more, but at least for these summarizing words. In my case, the happy childhood was present, but amidst a lot of mystery of my own heritage, my birth mother and my mom who loved and raised me from the age of two on.
I am grateful to have remained true to the call and companionship and rewards of Wisdom residing within me and I know all my steps and searches, whether in the joy of light and discovery or the mystery of darkness and uncertainty, have been blessed by the ever-present God and grace within me.
And so now, I copy a Birth Poem by Joyce Rupp that always makes my heart dance with wonder and delight. And then I’m going to get up and dance.
“gathered together am I
from a history-held-mystery
a bundle of memories am I.
caught from smiles and heartaches
of faces and places past cherished,
given in love from the heart of life.
from kisses and lovemaking,
from caring and growing,
from vibrancy and vitality,
the gathered memories
of my own named person
have been gifted into existence.
surprises from seeds and secrets,
gifts from unknown voices and events:
here am I, so ordinary, so unique.
here am I so gifted, so complex.
knowing that the seed of my self
has touched the gathered memories;
gleaned from the ages of another time,
seed and sperm seeking, making known.
a birthed bundle surprised into life,
light filling the center of a new spirit;
the blessing of eternity passed on:
urgency always to seek the face of God,
first gatherer of all good memories.”
Joyce Rupp
A Star is Born
page 49
Thank you Joyce. This is a beautiful celebration of the Truth and Wonder of my birthday. Now, turn up the music and let’s dance!
Napkinwriter 