Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, June 24, 2008



Some say horsemen, some say warriors,
Some say a fleet of ships is the loveliest
Vision in this dark world, but I say it’s
What you love.

….. I recall Anaktoria, whose sweet step
Or that flicker of light on her face,
I’d rather see than Lydian chariots
Or the armed ranks of the hoplites.

- fragment of a poem by Sappho, poet of Lesbos.
A newly-discovered poem of hers was read on
this day, 2005, on the BBC. It was found in the
wrappings of a mummy, 2600 years old


Jesus is reported famously to have said, Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Bang on, as they say. The problem is, of course, that there are many people who love power, war, competition, dominance, the ego, wealth, etc.

But remember: Love is a choice, a 95% act of the will (the rest is passion or infatuation or romance - not that choosing what we love can’t be passionate!). And Jesus, as well as most great teachers of the Inner Life, keep trying to show us what to choose to love if we desire true happiness. Jesus’ ultimate “commandment” was to Love our fellow human beings and their innate beauty with the fierce passion of the mind, heart and will - or, as the great Hebrew commandment goes concerning God, “with all your heart and soul and mind and strength”.

Today might be a good day to watch what we do, how we behave, both on the exterior and the interior. What does it tell us about what we have chosen to love?

It makes a profound difference, not only to ourselves, but to the way the World goes.

Brian+