THE INVITATION
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
From PDI/15 Feb 1998
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
And if you dare to dream
Of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk
Looking like a fool for love,
For your dreams, for the adventure
of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me what planets
are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched
The center of your own sorrow
If you have been opened by life’s betrayals or
Have become shriveled and closed
From fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain,
Mine or your own
Without moving to hide it
Or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy,
Mine or your own,
If you can dance with wildness
And let the ecstasy fill you
To the tips of your fingers and toes
Without cautioning us
To be careful, to be realistic, or to remember
The limitations of being human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story
You tell me is true,
I want to know if you can disappoint another
To be true to yourself,
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
And not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithful
And therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty
Even when it is not pretty every day,
And if you can source your life from God’s presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure,
Yours and mine,
And still stand at the edge of the lake
And shout to the silver
Of the full moon, “Yes!”
It doesn’t interest me how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
After the night of grief and despair,
Weary and bruised to the bone, and
Do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you are,
How you come to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
In the center of fire with me
And not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what
Or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
From the inside
When all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
And if you can truly like
The company you keep
In the empty moments.
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