The Invitation

This was passed on to me years ago by my good buddy CW. I decided to share it with a (somewhat) larger audience. It is dedicated to a couple friends who could use it right now and also seems to fit my mood of late.

The Invitation

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer (an Indian 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 shrivelled 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 and 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.