The Invitation
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
A Native American Elder
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, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest
me if the story you're telling 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 or mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to
the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or, 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 came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the 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 truly like
the company you keep in the empty moments.
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