“Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened.  Don’t open the door to the study
and begin reading.  Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

-Rumi (translated by John Moyne and Coleman Barks)

This quatrain of Rumi has resonated with me for over 20 years. How many mornings do we wake up with dread or worry, “empty and frightened” about the day ahead? Too often our inclination is to dive into work to keep the fears at bay. Rumi thinks this is a bad idea.

Rather than busy our selves immediately with tasks, emails, phone calls and spreadsheets, what if we started each day playing guitar, flute or piano, or singing a song, or just 15 minutes of standing near a tree or watching the sun climb in the sky? What is it we most love to do? How would our lives be different if we started each day with that?

What beauty can you love and bathe in today?

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Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufimystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions; people of all faiths and nations have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States.

Joe Laur is a father, husband, naturalist, executive, consultant, and a lowly rabbinic student. He can be reached at joe.laur@godsdog.net.