Questions

Since nothing actually exists except You,
Then why do I keep hearing all this noise?

These magnificent women with their beauty astound me.
Their side-glances, their eyebrows, how does all that work?
What is it?

These palm trees and these tulips, where did they come from?
What purpose do they serve? What are clouds and wind?

We hope for faithfulness and loyalty from people.
But people don't have the faintest idea what loyalty is.

Good rises from good actions, and that is good.
Beyond that, what else do saints and good people say?

I am willing to give up my breath and my life for you,
Even though I don't know the first thing about sacrifice.

The abundant objects of the world mean nothing at all!
But if the wine is free, how could Ghalib hold back.

-- Ghalib (Mirza Beg Asadullah Khan) (1797–1869), Urdu-speaking Indian poet

Closed Path

I thought that my voyage had come to its end 

at the last limit of my power,---

that the path before me was closed,
that provisions were exhausted
and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.

But I find that thy will knows no end in me.
And when old words die out on the tongue,
new melodies break forth from the heart;
and where the old tracks are lost,
new country is revealed with its wonders.

--Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Bengali philosopher, mystic, painter, composer, and poet, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1913.

Scripture references: Isaiah 40:3, Mark 1:2-3 (Advent 2B)