The Essential Rumi

On my nightstand is a book housed in an ornate book cover... all different shades of fiery orange designs strategically placed on it. The book is called The Essential Rumi. I bought it in a used bookstore in downtown Vancouver quite few years ago. I was looking for a book of poetry, but I was also looking for something unique, something that was meant to be read and not just shoved away somewhere like some of my books that I tend not to see very often once I have gotten through them the first time.

And luckily, I opened the front cover of this particular book to find a message scrawled out in thin, black letters filling up a whole page- a letter between two friends who were strangers to me, but somehow I feel connected to them now. Maybe it's because I think I needed the message myself. It read:

Sabrina,
Happy Birthday!
Whatever you do, do not put this book on a shelf, or with poetry.
Put it anywhere
- your kitchen, living room, bathroom,
anywhere where you might pick it up some time,
read a poem,
a sentence, a word.
This is not poetry,
It is life, wisdom, love,
insight, enlightenment.
and nothing at all.
Jochem

I have no idea who Sabrina is, but I wonder what varied emotions she must have felt as she read this book. And I think she is lucky to have a friend like Jochem who obviously has a great appreciation for words. He explained the magic in this book better than I could have.

Since I bought it, this message reminds me to pull this book out and allow all the secrets that it holds to spread into my room, providing imagination and depth to me and my surroundings. It was this message that really sold the book to me. I felt like it was meant for me to take, to adorn my bedroom, my life, my days, and to give me words, wisdom and enlightenment to wake up to every morning.

This month, I have been making sure that I read at least one of Rumi's poems each day. It's the first thing I read, the first thoughts that I put into my head, each day. And though I am often tempted to read on, into the next poem, I try to hold myself back. I realize that one a day is more than enough to soak in, ponder, and let slip under my skin and into my thoughts and dreams. Sometimes, even one line of Rumi's is enough to send me dreaming. And I'd like to give those lines time to settle inside and around me.

Thank you to the two strangers whose message drew me to this book even more. Maybe I should write a message in any book I give away so that my words may also attract some new reader, some new eyes who might connect to me and the book before it is even begun. Funny how the message made me feel connected to the people and also the world, just as Rumi's poetry often does... bringing me back to my connection to not only other people, but to the earth and the divine.

If you get a chance, read this book, and the next time you pass on a book, even to a bookstore, write a little message in the front cover. You never know how it might affect or even change someone's life.

Books and authors really do connect people, and so do the people reading their words.