The Weighing
IMAGE OF THE WEEK
We are grateful to Rupali Bhuva for offering this hand-made painting for this reading.
The heart's reasons
seen clearly,
even the hardest
will carry
its whip-marks and sadness
and must be forgiven.
As the drought-starved
eland forgives
the drought-starved lion
who finally takes her,
enters willingly then
the life she cannot refuse,
and is lion, is fed,
and does not remember the other.
So few grains of happiness
measured against all the dark
and still the scales balance.
The world asks of us
only the strength we have and we give it.
Then it asks more, and we give it.
Jane Hirshfield is an American poet, essayist, and translator, and a 2019 elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What do you make of the notion that even the hardest hearts carry whip-marks and sadness that when seen, give us the power to forgive? Can you share a personal story where you found yourself able to forgive, even when the situation seemed unforgiving and harsh? What helps you find those few grains of happiness that balances all the dark you perceive?