In times like these in which we have very little control over the outcome, finding a space where life still has meaning is critical to our ability to persevere.  This is an excerpt of a wonderful poem from Rumi.

How does a part of the world leave the world?
How can wetness leave water?

Don’t try to put out a fire
by throwing on more fire!
Don’t wash a wound with blood!

No matter how fast you run,
your shadow more than keeps up.
Sometimes, it’s in front!

Only full, overhead sun
diminishes your shadow.

But that shadow has been serving you!
What hurts you, blesses you.
Darkness is your candle.
Your boundaries are your quest.

I can explain this, but it would break
the glass cover on your heart,
and there’s no fixing that.

You must have shadow and light source both.
Listen, and lay your head under the tree of awe.

The soul lives there in the silent breath.

—Mevlâna Jalâluddin Rumi

from The Essential Rumi, Expanded Edition.

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