True love, true courage

A dear friend gave me the following poem, framed, as a wedding gift.

And--today's the day I'm getting married to my one and only lovey-love. (I'm pre-scheduling this blog post, of course. I'm not so internet geeky that I would be blogging on my wedding day. I might be posting pictures to socialmedia, though. It's the age we live in.)

The True Love by David Whyte

There’s 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 would walk every morning
on the gray 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 waters.

And I think of the story
of the storm and the people
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
when 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’ll walk across any territory,
and any darkness, however fluid,
and however dangerous to take the one
hand and the one life, you know belongs in yours.
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