A beautiful book came across my desk the other day, “Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems,” edited by Ravi Nathwani and Kate Vogt. It’s full of gems like this by ancient Sufi poet Hafiz:

How

did the rose

ever open its heart

and give to this world all of its beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light against its being,

otherwise we all remain too

frightened.

So lovely, right? There’s more from Rilke, Rumi, St. Catherine of Siena, and others.

With books this purely inspiring, I like doing the oracle thing: I ask in my head or aloud: What do I need to know now? And then open. And voila. I just got the above which speaks perfectly to my heart, which is a little sweetly tender today.

What are your favorite inspirational books?

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