The Heart as a Flute
I feel this is a message many people need to hear, especially near Valentine's Day, and I feel that God wants me to post this for someone who is going through heartache, as we all do from time to time. One of my friends read my poem, “Red Rock Bluff,” a few days ago while critiquing my poetry book. She called to tell me how it had made her cry, because she connected with it so deeply. The next day I saw someone on facebook who is in our writers' guild and requested that he be my “friend.” He emailed me that my little blog caused was what made him finally decide to join the writers guild in the first place. (What?) He said he was going to stop fighting God and focus on writing rather than singing (although he is a successful gospel singer). Apparently this is something he had felt God leading him to do, but maybe he hadn’t wanted to give in until now. I was speechless…I feel that my best works are not posted here, plus I usually only post poems for a short time, for fear of not getting a chance to have them published…so I was shocked! I’m still shocked! (Even if he really was thinking, I can do better than that! LOL) I wasn’t even sure anyone was reading my blog! I get chills thinking that God might use me for His purpose...but, then, He is the One Who gives me the words, when I allow Him to speak through me...whether worthy or not. Then I began thinking about the analogy about our being a hollow reed that God blows through, I had to do research. I found it is the very theme of “Red Rock Bluff.” More on this, later.
There are many cultures and religions that have a flute story. The
Hindus picture Krishna with a crown of colorful peacock feathers playing a flute. This is because they believe God's love must ultimately fill the whole body of man through his heart, which is like a flute. Buddhist Komuso were samurai priests with no masters. They covered their faces in a show of total selflessness, with only their flutes showing beneath the baskets they carried on their heads to collect illnesses or problems of others. This shakuhachi music, or Sui-Zen, would cause those who heard it to fall into a trance and lose their sufferings in the music. Rumi claims that the heart is first a solid reed, then the holes are created by the painful experiences we endure, causing the heart-reed to become a flute so that God may play his lovely music through us. It would seem to me that just the right amount of holes allows God to play the most beautiful music, providing we keep the path open for His holy breath. Rumi believed that the music produced by God through the instrument of our hearts is the only music that can raise the soul to eternal life.
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31 King James
This eagle was actually hand
sculpted & painted by my very
talented friend, Joey Horn!
The Heart as a Canyon
Red Bluff, "Mississippi's Grand Canyon"
“Red Rock Bluff” is about a place I visited with a wonderful friend who had invited me to Columbia so I could get away when I needed it most. He took me on his motorcycle (not an ordinary thing for me, but I loved it) to Red Bluff, “Mississippi’s Grand Canyon.” I was going through a very bad time, having been led down a path of thorny roses, and having been stabbed through the heart several times. When I saw that little canyon with so many different beautiful colors I immediately felt a kinship; but there was trash along the road in front of it, and trees losing their footing, falling over into it. I was angry. Then my friend explained that this is a privately owned spot without funds for clean-up of the constant visitors, and that the trees that fell, along with the corrosion from rain and the elements are actually what gives it the multitude of beautiful colors and causes it to keep growing (the road has been moved twice.) If you saw it in person, you would cry, too, for it is a mirror of the heart. I think my poem relates this story much better; I hope to find a proper place to publish it soon. “Red Rock Bluff” is visual proof that the holes in our hearts make us grow stronger, and allow God to play His music through our heart-flutes. And that, my hurting friends, is beautiful.
Reed Flute Cave in Guilin (China)
Reed Flute Cave in Guilin (China)
I'm sure there are more breathtaking places, such as Reed Flute cave in China, but look how long it took to become what it is today! It was named for the ludi cao growing in front of the cave. This "reed grass" is used for making flutes.The cave is 600,000 years old and about 240 meters long. http://www.visitourchina.com/guide/reed_flute_cave.htm
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Wynne - I already love Mississippi, but your post has got me itching to do some more adventuring! I had no idea either of these places existed. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I only found out about Red Bluff in Morgantown last year...it is much more beautiful in person with so many different colors. My friend who lives in Columbia is going to take some pictures for me.
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