In “The Essence of Religion” posted several days ago, I shared a lovely poem by Hafiz about what religion is always about.  To sum it up, in the Words of Jesus, “Love your neighbor as yourself” though Hafiz broadened this to include the whole of God’s creation.  And he noted that just about any religious passion, or ritual, or belief system is quite okay…IF…it facilitates the love of God’s creation.  It is so easy to “love god” and do so with “sound and fury” (often signifying nothing) but it does not mean jack if the whole of your life demonstrates a disinterest, contempt, or hatred for any part of God’s creation.  Someone has said, “It is not so important what you say as what you do.”  “Saying” is important, yes, but not without behavior to back it up.   Again I share one of my favorite bits from Shakespeare, “With devotions visage and pious action they do sugar o’er the devil himself.”  And here again I share the Hafiz poem:

Becoming Human

by Hafiz

Once a man came to me and spoke for hours about
“His great visions of God” he felt he was having.

He asked me for confirmation, saying,
“Are these wondrous dreams true?”

I replied, “How many goats do you have?”

He looked surprised and said,
“I am speaking of sublime visions
And you ask
About goats!”

And I spoke again saying,
“Yes, brother – how many do you have?”

“Well, Hafiz, I have sixty-two.”

“And how many wives?”

Again he looked surprised, then said,
“Four.”

“How many rose bushes in your garden,
How many children,
Are your parents still alive,
Do you feed the birds in winter?”

And to all he answered.

Then I said,

“You asked me if I thought your visions were true,
I would say that they were if they make you become
More human,

More kind to every creature and plant
That you know.”