Context: End of Year One of the Diploma in Islamic Counselling.
My illustration of the group and the journey
The ship full of strangers, looking to one another with fear and apprehension, at the same time hope of filling the voids and connection.
The need of all the differences to fit together like a convoy going across the seas to fulfil a noble and perilous task, commissioned by the greatest of all kings.
The beginning was unsure with the pushes and pulls of vulnerability and the need to be valued.
To know where to be useful or how.
To move ahead together in unison.
Some had already been on journeys similar and tried to replicate what they knew While for others it was the unknown, unsure watching with humility and awe.
For some the pain shattered hearts each crack sewn together, but the stitches felt stretched to breaking if the delving was too deep into the ocean bed, what will I find what If I never come back darkness upon darkness.
Some had experienced the heat of exposure before and were brave in the confidence that they could be stripped and exposed, in the hope of the warmth of the others to protect them.
And over time the single beings became closer in reflection of each other with an unspoken unity and respect and yet keeping the sacred otherness intact to allow the individuals security.
The storms created calm, the disturbances and cracks bought forth drops of growth. Each drop of wisdom, of truth and reflection, makes an ocean.
The silent tip tap dripping onto the soul, cleansing, levels rising until the soul feels like its drowning, gasping, longing regretting, hoping for one breath and another, just another chance to emerge stronger, purer than before.
Rays of sunshine, waves of whispers, sometime like drums and violins.
My voice my voice does it hide well what I’m feeling, or should I just stop for the sound of my heart to cry and scream and echo through the air.
This is me. What do you see, what do I see, who am I, will I make it to the shore?
Will I be loved; will I be abandoned thrown overboard to remove the burden of the tedious load?
The newness and turmoil then evolved into the known and the future was in sight. The future which envisioned the journey, would take a new path,
Each comrade taking what they learned with each other, from each other onto separate tracks, out into the vast territory of the King, for the same noble cause they embarked upon.
The precious memories were their sustenance now on their bare footed journey.
The memories were like bells ringing, knocking on the door of the hearts, connecting with the yearning, unanswered calling.
Love yourself, quiet and accept the blaming voice, the loathing voice to become in appreciation.
Who am I now, what do you see, what do I see?
The clear mirror doesn’t lie.
Love is from the above not a mask love is the divine.
I am true, I am good and pure as HE created me. I have gifts, that have been implanted within me, woven into my very being, inseparable.
I see, the fog is clearing to reveal the glistening the imperfect, the endearing joy.
To find the treasures within and in each other and hold them tight and nurture them like a beautiful rose that smells of the fragrance of love and compassion, that beautifies everything, everything around it, in the darkness on the bed, of the sea of life, with vibrancy and uniqueness, true manifestation of the glory of its maker.
That’s what I see.
12/07/2018