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Invitation to Friendship
It doesn't interest me to know what
you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream
your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk
being a fool for love,
for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets
are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched
the center of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened
by life's betrayals
or if you have become shriveled
and closed from fear of further pain!
I want to know if you can sit with pain,
mine or your own;
without moving to hide it or
jade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy,
mine or your own;
if you can dance with wildness and
let ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes without cautioning us
to be careful, to be realistic,
or to remember the limitation of being human.
It doesn't interest me to know if the legends
you're telling me are true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another
to be true to yourself,
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithful
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty
even when it's not pretty every day,
and if you can source your life
from God's presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure,
yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake and
shout to the silver moon, "YES!"
It doesn't interest me to know
where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after
a night of grief and despair,
weary to the bone,
and do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn't interest me to know who you are,
how you came here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what
or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like
the company you keep in the empty moments.
Oriah Mountain Dreamer,
Indian Elder
