Destruction Precedes Renewal

by Rumi:

"A man started to break up the earth with a spade.
A fool came and shouted at him, "Why are you ruining the
soil?"
"You idiot!" the man cried. "Go away and don't bother me!
Understand the difference between destrucion and growth.
How could this soil become a rose garden or wheat field
Before it's broken up and ruined and made ugly?
How could it become orchards and harvests and leaves
and fruit
Before it is utterly destroyed and worn down?
Before you pierce an abscess with a knife
How can it heal and how can you regain your health?
Until the doctor purifies your humors with his cures
How can your illness disappear and true healing arrive?
When a tailor cuts up a cloth, piece by piece,
Does anyone go up to him and strike him and say,
"Why have you torn up this beautiful satin;
What can I do with scraps of torn-up cloth?"
Each time that builders come to repair an old building
Don't they begin by destroying what was there before?
Look at the carpenter or the blacksmith or the butcher;
With them too, you'll find destruction precedes renewal.
If you don't subject wheat to the grinding millstone
How will bread ever come to decorate your table?"

***

How we rage against the destruction of things, how we fight against the end of situations or places of being. We become insecure about change, we fight against it even if the thing has a negative effect on us.

Do you want to see magic in action? Go outside, ask the tree for a small branch. Gently break the branch off the tree -don't forget to thank the tree for the sacrifice!- and sit with the tree. As you contemplate things, break off pieces of the branch. Rip the leaves. If you have a small firepot with you, add these pieces to the fire pot while you are having a discussion with the gods.

Are you creating destruction? No, you are releasing energy and creating change. Life is energy, energy is life. As with all things, the outcome is up to you. The INTENT must come from you.

Nothing is destroyed; life doesn't allow for destruction. Life allows change. Open your arms and dance, accepting the changes that come about now at this time of harvest.

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Comment by kathie on January 23, 2009 at 2:57pm: I too believe that all changes make way for opportunity to build. The road narrows and becomes hard to follow at times. We see negativity in the break down or the change, but it is all blessing. We can build on the cleared space and begin our growth in a changing direction.