Few are born with integrity. If we are lucky we are raised by people who have a firm grasp on the concept and we can learn from them these important values in life.
I was was not handed the gift of integrity. My moral compass was lost in the rubble and the hustle of everyday living and surviving. In truth, I never had a compass to lose. It was not part of the family package I was born into. Like most of my values, integrity was something I had to learn about and those lessons did not come easy or happen until much later in life. I was shown many examples, of course, but I didn't recognize their worth until later, when reflecting on my life, and they made themselves known. I can report, from this position of age and rumination, that integrity is not something that is lost once it is exhibited. Choosing rightly cuts through the debris of an ambiguous life. Integrity is a higher vibration and even though a person might be writhing in a pit of despair and survival and wanting none of it, that shared integrity lies sleeping until awakened.
Humans are hard wired to be loving and respectful (though it is hard to believe) which makes it all the more important for us to carry the integrity for those who cannot right now. Not everyone is in the same space in the growth spectrum. Like love, no acts of integrity are lost or wasted. They await their moment in time.
Hafiz seems to say here that, like perfect love, perfect integrity is something one aspires to but probably cannot always hold. We may need to lean into the integrity that we have been shown for strength to re-calibrate our own compasses. Ergo, the importance of sharing it whenever possible when we have it.
Thank you for listening.
Music: A reservoir of what is best in ourselves is what we all need to drink from in these challenging times. Whether our glass is half full or half empty, we can make integrity our glass and share what we've got when we have it. Here is the Wallin' Jennys version of the Emmylou Harris' song, Deeper Well.
I rocked with the cradle and I rolled with the rage
I shook those walls and I rattled that cage
I took my troubles down a dead-end trail
Reachin' out a hand for a holier grail
The original post in this series of poems by Hafiz (including an addendum regarding the authenticity of these poems) can be found here. Also, my thoughts on this series a year into these poems, HERE.
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz and translated by Daniel Ladinsky can be purchased here.
My book can be purchased HERE. E-book HERE. The Season Two blogcasts with audio excerpts from my book begin HERE: in Behind The Lines. This reading of the book excerpts in a mixed media format is Season Two of this blog. These recorded excerpts are outside the chronological order in which the book was written. Podcasts with audio only beginning with episode 22 can be found HERE.
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