Joy is a Light
Joy seems to me a step beyond
happiness – happiness is a sort
of atmosphere you can live in
sometimes, when you’re lucky.
Joy is a light that fills you with
hope and faith and love.
~ Adela Rogers St. Johns
Joy is a Light
Faith
0 World, thou choosest not
By George Santayana
O World, thou choosest not the better part!
It’s not wisdom to be only wise –
And on the inward vision close the eyes,
But it is wisdom to believe the heart.
Columbus found a world, and had no chart,
Save one that faith deciphered in the skies;
To trust the soul’s invincible surmise
Was all his science and his only art.
~ Our knowledge is a torch of smoky pine
That lights the pathway but one step ahead
Across a void of mystery and dread.
Bid, then, the tender light of faith to shine
By which alone the mortal heart is led
Unto the thinking of the thought divine.
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Only You
By Rumi
Only you
I choose among the entire world.
Is it fair of you
letting me be unhappy?
My heart is a pen in your hand.
It is all up to you
to write me happy or sad.
I see only what you reveal
and live as you say.
All my feelings have the color
you desire to paint.
From the beginning to the end,
no one but you.
Please make my future
better than the past.
When you hide I change
to a Godless person,
and when you appear,
I find my faith.
Don’t expect to find
any more in me
than what you give.
Don’t search for
hidden pockets because
I’ve shown you that
all I have is all you gave.
Translated by Nader Khalili
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