There is a longing that burns at the root of spiritual practice.
This is the fire that fuels your journey. The romantic suffering
you pretend to have grown out of, that remains coiled like a serpent
beneath the veneer of maturity. You have studied the sacred texts.
You know that separation from your divine source is an illusion.
You subscribe to the philosophy that there is nowhere to go
and nothing to attain, because you are already there
and you already possess it.
But what about this yearning? What about the way a poem by Rilke
or Rumi breaks open your heart and triggers a sorrow
that could consume you if you gave in to it? You’re pretty sure
this is not a matter of mere psychology. It has little to do with unresolved
issues of childhood abandonment, or codependent tendencies
to falsely place the source of your wholeness outside yourself.
The longing is your recognition of the deepest truth
that God is love and that this is all you want.
Every lesser desire melts when it comes near that flame.
—Mirabai Starr
from Parabola July 2017
art by Fra Angelico, c.1437–1446
