The True Love

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by David Whyte

There is a faith in loving fiercely the one who is rightfully yours,
especially if you have waited years and especially if part of you
never believed you could deserve this loved and beckoning
hand held out to you this way.

I am thinking of faith now and the testaments of loneliness and
what we feel we are worthy of in this world.

Years ago in the Hebrides I remember an old man who walked
every morning on the grey stones to the shore of baying seals,
who would press his hat to his chest in the blustering salt wind
and say his prayer to the turbulent Jesus hidden in the water,

and I think of the story of the storm and everyone waking
and seeing the distant yet familiar figure far across the water calling to them,

and how we are all preparing for that abrupt waking, and that
calling, and that moment we have to say yes, except it will not
come so grandly, so Biblically, but more subtly and intimately in
the face of the one you know you have to love,

so that when we finally step out of the boat toward them, we find
everything holds us, and everything confirms our courage, and if
you wanted to drown you could, but you don’t

because finally after all this struggle and all these years, you
don’t want to anymore, you’ve simply had enough of drowning,
and you want to live and you want to love and you will walk
across any territory and any darkness, however fluid and
however dangerous, to the take the one hand you know belongs in yours.


Thank you Larry for putting this up on my birthday!

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