Inspiring words from Pir Zia

Friends, I will be traveling starting next week for about 3 weeks, so there may be a hiatus or at least fewer posts until mid-January.

I am sending all of you deep bows of gratitude for your presence in my life and for all the incredible and beautiful work you do. May your holidays be filled with love and light and your new year promise new beginnings. And may the inevitable challenges be faced with courage and grace through the companionship of our beloved community.

I was deeply moved by these words from Pir Zia Inayat Khan from his monthly Zephyr newsletter and wanted to share them:

14 December 2020

Dear Companions on the Path,

Here in the northern hemisphere we are nearing the darkest day of the year. It has not been an easy year. We have lost some dear friends—have lost, at least, their earthly forms—and the lives of many of us have been unsettled in numerous ways. The routines of travel and meeting that previously connected us have been unceremoniously interrupted. At the same time, we have found new means of being in touch.

Perhaps you find yourself, like so many, carrying an especially heavy load at present. This may be a timely moment to ask yourself what is really yours to lug through time and space. Are you bearing a heavier burden than is necessary? In addition to the ideals you have consciously chosen, are you carrying a load of inchoate worries and vague grievances?

Look how calmly the trees abandon their autumn leaves, scattering jewels on the ground, soon to become mulch. These serene beings are apt teachers for us. Just see how they send their life-essence down into their roots as the days shorten and darken.

There is a time for stillness and empty-handedness, a time for holding vigil in the darkness. Winter keeps a secret that is vital to our soul’s knowledge of itself. Before long, the days will lengthen again. But now is the time to be rooted in the silent, patient earth as the planet heaves through the ebon emptiness of space.

Yours ever,

Pir Zia