Thursday, September 09, 2004

the cup of our life



i have been working through the cup of our life by joyce rupp. it is the perfect time for this book to come into my hands. i stumbled across it the other day at the used book store. i was looking for an image and stumbled across her site. i clicked on this book and saw this poem there. i'm sure it's in the book, i just haven't noticed it yet. the timing couldn't be better for me right now.

she uses a coffee cup as a metaphor to assist in meditation and prayer. my love for both coffee and restaurant china have both been nurtured by these prayer exercises.

The Perfect Cup

it is time for me
to see the flaws
of myself
and stop
being alarmed

it is time for me
to halt my drive
for perfection
and to accept
my blemishes

it is time for me
to receive
slowly evolving growth
the kind that comes
in God's own good time
and pays no heed
to my panicky pushing

it is time for me
to embrace
my humanness
to love
my incompleteness

it is time for me
to cherish
the unwanted
to welcome
the unknown
to treasure
the unfulfilled

if I wait to be
perfect
before I love myself
I will always be
unsatisfied
and ungrateful

if I wait until
all the flaws, chips,
and cracks disappear
I will be the cup
that stands on the shelf
and is never used

--- Joyce Rupp

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