Project Nightfall is a Facebook group dedicated to philanthropy. I appreciate the following words shared by the group earlier today.
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Three Different Calendars, Three Faiths,
One Rare Alignment
Something unusual is happening right now.
Ramadan, Lent, and Lunar New Year all started within the same window of days, creating an extraordinary convergence of Muslim, Christian, and Chinese traditions around mid-February.
Lunar New Year began on February 17, welcoming the Year of the Horse. Families gathered. Homes were cleaned. Red envelopes were exchanged. Firecrackers lit up the night. Across the world, millions marked a fresh start under the first new moon of the Chinese lunisolar calendar.
That same evening, depending on crescent moon sightings, Ramadan began. The first fast started on February 18. Muslims around the globe are now fasting from dawn to sunset, centering their days around prayer, discipline, charity, and spiritual reflection. For the next month, the rhythm of life shifts toward restraint and devotion.
On February 18, Lent also began with Ash Wednesday. Christians entered a 40-day period of prayer and sacrifice leading to Easter on April 5. Ash crosses appeared on foreheads. Some began fasting. Others gave up comforts. The season of repentance and renewal is now underway.
Three observances. Three faith traditions. All unfolding at the same time.
This alignment is unusual because these holidays do not move together. Lunar New Year follows the Chinese lunisolar calendar. Ramadan shifts roughly 11 days earlier each year because it is based on a purely lunar cycle. Lent is calculated using the Gregorian calendar in relation to Easter after the winter solstice.
They drift independently. For them to begin almost simultaneously is rare and may not repeat for decades.
Yet here we are. Across cities and villages, lanterns glow while others break their fast at sunset. Ash Wednesday services are held while families celebrate reunion dinners. Some people are feasting. Others are fasting. All are reflecting.
Different rituals. Different prayers. Different histories. But the themes feel strikingly similar.
This week, millions of people across cultures pressed pause in their own way. Some through celebration. Some through sacrifice. Some through quiet prayer.
It is a powerful reminder that while calendars divide us, human longing does not.
Around the world right now, people are choosing reflection over noise, intention over routine. And that feels significant.
What does death mean? Turning. The soul is always awake and therefore it is always living, but it may turn from one side to the other side. If there is some beautiful voice coming from behind to which it wishes to listen, then it turns towards it; and in the same way, when it is attracted to a certain sphere to which it had been asleep before, that is called awakening.
We see that the time for nature to awaken is the spring. It is asleep all winter and it awakens in the spring. And there is a time for the sea to awaken; when the wind blows and brings good tidings as if to awaken it from sleep, then the waves rise. All this shows struggle, shows that something has touched the soul that makes it uneasy, restless, that makes it want liberation, release. Every atom, every object, every condition, and every living being has a time of awakening. Sometimes this is a gradual awakening and sometimes it is sudden. To some people it comes in a moment’s time by some blow or disappointment, or because their heart has broken through something that happened suddenly. It may have appeared cruel, but at the same time the result was a sudden awakening, and this awakening brought a blessing beyond words. The outlook changed, the insight deepened; joy, quiet, and freedom were felt, and compassion showed in the attitude. A person who would never forgive, who liked to take revenge, who was easily displeased, who would measure and weigh everything, when their soul is awakened, becomes in one moment a different person. As Mahmud Ghasnavi, the emperor poet of India, has said in most beautiful words, “I, the emperor, have thousands of slaves awaiting my command, but the moment love had sprung in my heart I considered myself the slave of my servants.”
The whole attitude changes. Only, the question is what one awakens to, in which sphere, in what plane, to which reality. Sometimes, after one has made a mistake, by the loss that mistake has caused the outlook becomes different. In business, in one’s profession, in worldly life, a certain experience, just like a blow, has broken something in someone; and with that breaking a light has come, a new life. But it is not right to awaken someone by mistake. No doubt very often awakening comes by a blow, by great pain; but at the same time it is not necessary to look for a blow. Life has enough blows in store for us; we need not look for them.
. . . [T]he more one happens to glance into the hereafter, the more one will realize that what the hereafter is – what is behind the veil of death – is the awakening to another sphere, a sphere as real as this one or even more real. For what is real? It is the soul, the consciousness itself, that is real. What is past is a dream; what will come is hope. What one experiences seems real, but it is only a suggestion. The soul is real, and its aim is to realize itself; its liberation, its freedom, its harmony, its peace all depend upon its own unfoldment. No outer experience can make soul realize the real.
. . . [A key] form of awakening is the awakening of the real self. Then one begins to see what one’s thoughts and feelings mean, what right and wrong mean. Then a person begins to weigh and measure all that springs up within them. The further one goes, the more one sees behind things, the more one becomes drawn to explore all the planes of existence, not only living on the surface of life. This is a new kind of awakening; then a person has only to be awakened to the other world; they need not go there. They need not experience what death is, for they can bring about a condition where they rise above life. Then they come to the conclusion that there are many worlds in one world; they close their eyes to the dimensions of the outer world and find within their own self, in their own heart, the center of all worlds. And the only thing that is necessary at this point is turning; not awakening, but turning.
NOTE: Each post in this series is accompanied by Sufi music. Today it is an instrumental piece entitled “Mystical Journey” from the YouTube channel Buddha’s Lounge’s RUMI Spiritual Music Live Stream. I find this music perfect for times of meditation and prayer. Perhaps you will too.
There are those who see divinity in Christ. They say, “Christ was God, Christ is divine.” And there are others who say, “Christ was a man, one like all of us.” When we come to look at this question, we see that the one who says, “Christ is divine” is not wrong. If there is any divinity shown it is in the human being. And the one who says, “Christ was a man,” is not wrong either. In the garb of humanity, Christ manifested.
Those who do not want Christ to be human drag down the greatness and sacredness of the human being by their argument, by saying that humanity is made of sin and by separating Christ from humanity. But there is nothing wrong in calling Christ human or divine. It is in the human being that divine perfection is to be seen. It is in the human being that divinity is manifested. There are Christ’s own words “I am Alpha and Omega.” Many close their eyes to this, but the one who said, “I am Alpha and Omega” existed also before the coming of Jesus, and the one who says, “first and last,” must exist also after Jesus.
In the words of Christ there is the idea of perfection [or wholeness]. He identified himself with that spirit of which he was conscious. Christ was conscious not of his human part but of his perfect being when he said, “I am Alpha and Omega.” He did not identify himself here with his being known as Jesus. He identified himself with that spirit of perfection that lived before Jesus and will continue to live to the end of the world, for eternity.
If this is so, then what does it matter if some say, “Buddha inspired us,” and millions are inspired by Buddha? It is only a difference of name. It is all Alpha and Omega. If others say Moses, or Muhammad, or Krishna, what difference does it make? Was it not from one and the same spirit? Was it not the same Alpha and Omega of which Jesus Christ was conscious? Whoever gives the message to the world, whatever illuminated human beings have raised thousands and millions of people in the world, they cannot but be that same Christ whom the one calls by this name and the other by another name.
Yet human ignorance always causes wars and disasters on account of different religions, and different communities, because of the importance they give to their own conception, their own corrupted conception, which differs from another. Even now, on the one hand there is materialism and on the other there is bigotry.
What is necessary today is to find the first and last religion, to come to the message of Christ, to divine wisdom, so that we may recognize this wisdom in all its different forms, in whatever form it has been given to humanity. It does not matter if it is Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, or Hinduism. It is one wisdom; that call of the spirit awakens each one of us to rise above limitation and to reach for perfection.
NOTE: Each post in this series is accompanied by Sufi music. Today it is an instrumental piece called “Dervish Dream ✧ Duduk Meditation Music” from the YouTube channel Blueberry Meditation’s “Sufi Winds” series. I find this music perfect for times of meditation and prayer. Perhaps you will too.
God is love. If God is love, love is most sacred, and to utter this word without meaning is a vain repetition. The lips of a person to whom it means something are closed; they can say little. For love is a revelation in itself: no study is necessary, no meditation is needed, no piety is required. If love is pure, if the spark of love has begun to glow, then spirituality is within. One must keep blowing the spark until it turns into a perpetual fire.
Where is that perpetual fire to be found? In one’s own heart. The spark that one finds glowing for a moment and that then becomes dim does not belong to heaven, for in heaven all things are lasting; it must belong to some other place.
Love has become a word from the dictionary, a word that is used a thousand times in the day, which means nothing. To the one who knows what it means, love means patience, love means endurance, love means tolerance, love means sacrifice, love means service. All things such as gentleness, humility, modesty, graciousness, kindness; all are the different manifestations of love. It is the same to say, “God is all and all is God,” as to say, “Love is all and all is love.” And it is to find it, to feel it, to experience its warmth, to see in the world the light of love, to keep its glow, and to hold love’s flame high as a sacred torch to guide one in one’s life’s journey to fulfill the purpose of life [which is our spiritual awakening].
NOTE: Each post in this series is accompanied by Sufi music. Today it is an instrumental piece called “Sufi Spirit ✧ Duduk Meditation Music” from the YouTube channel Blueberry Meditation’s “Sufi Winds” series. I find this music perfect for times of meditation and prayer. Perhaps you will too.
It is very difficult to judge an awakened soul, as they say in the East, for there is nothing outwardly to prove its condition. The best way of seeing an awakened soul is to wake up oneself, but no one in the world can pretend to be awake when they are still asleep. . . . All other pretences one can make, but not the one of being an awakened soul, for it is a living light. Truth is born in the awakening of the soul, and truth is not taught, truth is discovered. The knowledge of truth cannot be compared with the knowledge of forms or ideas; truth is beyond forms and ideas. What is it? It is itself and it is our Self.
Very often people make an effort, though in vain, to awaken a friend or a near relation whom they love. But in the first place, we do not know if that person is more awakened than we ourselves; we may be trying for nothing. And the other point is that it is possible that a person who is asleep needs that sleep. Waking them in that case would be a sin instead of a virtue. We are only allowed to give our hand to the one who is turning over in their sleep, who desires to wake up; only then a hand is given. It is in this giving of the hand that is called initiation. No doubt a teacher who is acquainted with this path may give a hand outwardly to the one who wishes to journey, but inwardly there is the Teacher who has always given and always gives a hand to awakening souls, the same hand that has received the sages and masters of all time in a higher initiation. Verily, the seeker will find sooner or later, if only they keep steadily on the path until they arrive at their destination.
NOTE: Each post in this series is accompanied by Sufi music. Today it is an instrumental piece called “As You Start to Walk on the Way, the Way Appears” from the YouTube channel Buddha’s Lounge’s RUMI Spiritual Music Live Stream. I find this music perfect for times of meditation and prayer. Perhaps you will too.
Ripening is a desirable result, and it is the aim of every object in life to ripen and to develop; therefore in the awakening of the soul one may recognize the fulfillment of life’s purpose. . . . The moment the soul has awakened, music makes an appeal to it, poetry touches it, words move it, art has an influence upon it. It no longer is a sleeping soul; it is awake and it begins to enjoy life to a fuller extent.
It is this awakening of the soul that is mentioned in the Bible: unless the soul is born again, it will not enter the kingdom of heaven. For the soul to be born again means that it is awakened after having come on earth; and entering the kingdom of heaven means entering this world in which we are now standing, the same kingdom that turns into heaven as soon as the point of view has changed. Is it not interesting and most wonderful to think that the same earth that we walk on is earth to one person and heaven to another? And it is still more interesting to notice that it is we who change it from earth to heaven. This change comes not by study or by anything else but the changing of our point of view. I have known people who seek after truth, study books about it, even write many books about philosophy and theology themselves, and in the end they were standing in the same place as before. That shows that all our outer efforts are excuses; there is only one thing that brings one face to face with reality, and that is the awakening of the soul. . . . It is not for the outer world to help us understand life better, it is we ourselves who should help ourselves.
Then there is a further awakening, a continuation of what I have called the awakening of the soul. And the sign of this awakening is that the awakened person throws a light, the light of the soul, upon every creature and every object, and sees that object, person, condition in this light. It is their own soul that becomes a torch in their hand; it is their own light that illuminates their path. It is just like directing a searchlight into dark corners that one could not see before, and the corners become clear and illuminated; it is like throwing light upon problems that one did not understand before, like seeing through people with x-rays when they were a riddle before.
As soon as life becomes clear to the awakened soul, it shows another phase of manifestation, and this is that every aspect of life communicates with this person. Life is communicative, the soul is communicative, but they do not communicate until the soul is awakened. Once a soul is awakened, it begins to communicate with life.
. . . Those who are awakened become guiding lights not only for themselves but also for others. And by their light, often unknowingly, their presence itself helps to make the most difficult problems easy. This makes us realize the fact that [each one of us] is light, as the scriptures have said, a light whose origin, whose source, is divine. And when this light is kindled, then life becomes quite different. . . . [Awakened ones speak] a universal language, a language of vibrations, a language of feeling, a language that touches the innermost sense. . . . [They are] able to communicate with the innermost being of another person [because they know] how to communicate with themselves, their awakened selves.
The personality of an awakened soul becomes different from every other personality. It becomes more magnetic, for it is the living person who has magnetism; a corpse has no magnetism. It is the living who bring joy, and therefore it is the awakened soul who is joyous.
And never for one moment think, as many do, that a spiritual person is a sorrowful, dried up, long-faced person. Spirit is joy, spirit is life; and when that spirit has awakened, all the joy and pleasure that exist are there. As the sun takes away all darkness, so spiritual light removes all worries, anxieties, and doubts. If a spiritual awakening were not so precious, then what would be the use of seeking it in life?
A treasure that nobody can take away from us, a light that will always shine and will never be extinguished – that is spiritual awakening, and it is the fulfillment of life’s purpose.
NOTE: Each post in this series is accompanied by Sufi music. Today it is an instrumental piece called “Echoes of the Divine” from the YouTube channel Blueberry Meditation’s “Sufi Winds” series. I find this music perfect for times of meditation and prayer. Perhaps you will too.
Happiness cannot be bought or sold, nor can you give it to a person who has not got it. Happiness is your own being, your own self – that self that is the most precious thing in life. All religious and all philosophical systems have in different forms taught humanity how to find it by the religious path or the mystical way; and all the wise ones have in some form or another given a method by which the individual can find happiness for which the soul is seeking.
Sages and mystics have called this process alchemy. The stories of the Arabian Nights, which symbolize mystical ideas, are full of the belief that there is a philosopher’s stone that will turn metals into gold by a chemical process. No doubt this symbolic idea has deluded people in both the East and West; many have thought that a process exists by which gold can be produced. But this is not the idea of the wise; the pursuit of gold is for those who as yet are only children. For those who have the consciousness of reality, gold stands for light or spiritual inspiration. Gold represents the color of light, and therefore an unconscious pursuit after light has made people seek for gold. But there is a great difference between real gold and false. It is the longing for true gold that makes people collect the imitation gold, ignorant that the real gold is within. A person satisfies the craving of their soul in this way, as a child satisfies itself by playing with dolls.
This realization is not a matter of age. One person may have reached an advanced age and still be playing with dolls, and their soul may be involved in the search for this imitation gold, while another may have begun in youth to see life in its real aspect. If one studied the transitory nature of life in the world and how changeable it is, and the constant craving of everyone for happiness, one would certainly endeavor at all costs to find something one could depend upon. Humanity, placed in the midst of this ever-changing world, still appreciates and seeks for constancy somewhere. People do not know that they must develop the nature of constancy in themselves. It is the nature of the soul to value that which is dependable. But is there anything in the world on which one can depend, which is above change and destruction? All that is born, all that is made, must one day face destruction. All that has a beginning has also an end; but if there is anything one can depend upon it is hidden in the heart of each one of us. It is the divine spark, the true philosopher’s stone, the real gold, which is the innermost being of all.
A person may follow a religion and yet not come to the realization of truth, and of what use is their religion to them if they are not happy? Religion does not mean depression and sadness. The spirit of religion should give happiness. God is happy. God is the perfection of love, harmony, and beauty. A religious person should be happier than one who is not religious. If a person who professes religion is always melancholy, their religion is disgraced; the form has been kept, but the spirit has been lost. If the study of religion and mysticism does not lead to real joy and happiness, it may just as well not exit, for then it does not help to fulfill the purpose of life. The world today is sad and suffering as the result of terrible wars; the religion that answers the demand of life today is one that investigates and gives life to souls, that illuminates the heart of humanity with the divine light that is already there; not necessarily by any outer form, though for some a form may be helpful, but by showing that happiness that is the desire of every soul.
As for the question of how this method of alchemy is practiced, the whole process was explained by the alchemists in a symbolical way. They said gold is made out of mercury; the nature of mercury is to be ever-moving, but by a certain process the mercury is first stilled, and once stilled it becomes silver; then the silver has to be melted, and the juice of an herb is poured onto the molten silver, which is thereby turned into gold. This, if course, gives only an outline, but one can find detailed explanations of the whole process. Many childlike souls have tried to make gold by stilling mercury and melting silver, and they have tried to find the herb, but they were deluded, and they would have done better to have worked and earned money.
The real interpretation of this process is that mercury represents the nature of the ever-restless mind. Especially when he tries to concentrate, a person realizes that the mind is ever-restless. The mind is like a restive horse: when it is ridden it is more restive than when it is in the stable. Such is the nature of the mind – it becomes more restless when one desires to control it. It is like mercury, constantly moving.
When by a method of concentration one has mastered the mind, one has taken the first step in the accomplishment of a sacred task. Prayer is concentration, reading is concentration, sitting and relaxing and thinking on one subject are all concentration. All artists, thinkers, and inventors have practiced concentration in some form: they have given their minds to one thing, and by focusing on one object have developed the faculty of concentration, but for stilling the mind a special method taught by the mystic is necessary, just as a singer needs to be taught by a teacher of voice-production.
The secret of this concentration is learned in the science of breath. Breath is the essence of life, the center of life, and the mind may be controlled by a knowledge of the proper method of [meditative] breathing. . . . When the mind is under perfect control and no longer restless, one can hold a thought at will as long as one wishes. This is the beginning of phenomena. Some abuse these privileges, and by dissipating the power thus obtained, they destroy the silver before turning it into gold. The silver must be heated before it can melt, and with what? With that warmth that is the divine essence in the heart of all, which comes forth as love, tolerance, empathy, service, humility, and unselfishness, in a stream that rises and falls in a thousand drops, each drop of which could be called a virtue, and all coming from that one stream hidden in the heart of each one of us, the love element; and when it grows in the heart, then the actions, the movements, the tone of the voice, and the expression all show that the heart is warm. The moment this happens a person really lives, they have unsealed the spring of happiness that overcomes all that is jarring and inharmonious, and the spring has established itself as a divine stream.
After the heart is warmed by the divine element, which is love, the next stage is the herb, which is the love of God. But the love of God alone is not sufficient; knowledge of God is also necessary. It is the absence of the knowledge of God that makes a person leave their religion, for there is a limit to their patience. Knowledge of God strengthens a person’s belief in God and throws light on the individual and on life. Things become clear; every leaf on a tree becomes as a page of a holy book to one whose eyes are open to the knowledge of God. When the juice of the herb of divine love is poured on the heart, warmed by love for one’s fellow humans, then that heart becomes the heart of gold, the heart that expresses what God would express. [None of us have seen God, but we have seen the effects of God’s transforming presence in our lives and the lives of others], and when this happens, then verily everything that comes from such a person comes from God.
NOTE: Each post in this series is accompanied by Sufi music. Today it is an instrumental piece called “Close Your Eyes, Fall in Love, Stay There” from the YouTube channel Buddha’s Lounge’s RUMI Spiritual Music Live Stream. I find this music perfect for times of meditation and prayer. Perhaps you will too.
I established The Wild Reed in 2006 as a sign of solidarity with all who are dedicated to living lives of integrity – though, in particular, with gay people seeking to be true to both the gift of their sexuality and their Catholic faith. The Wild Reed's original by-line read, “Thoughts and reflections from a progressive, gay, Catholic perspective.” As you can see, it reads differently now. This is because my journey has, in many ways, taken me beyond, or perhaps better still, deeper into the realities that the words “progressive,” “gay,” and “Catholic” seek to describe.
Even though reeds can symbolize frailty, they may also represent the strength found in flexibility. Popular wisdom says that the green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm. Tall green reeds are associated with water, fertility, abundance, wealth, and rebirth. The sound of a reed pipe is often considered the voice of a soul pining for God or a lost love.
On September 24, 2012,Michael BaylyofCatholics for Marriage Equality MNwas interviewed by Suzanne Linton of Our World Today about same-sex relationships and why Catholics can vote 'no' on the proposed Minnesota anti-marriage equality amendment.
"I believe your blog to be of utmost importance for all people regardless of their orientation. . . . Thank you for your blog and the care and dedication that you give in bringing the TRUTH to everyone."– William
"Michael, if there is ever a moment in your day or in your life when you feel low and despondent and wonder whether what you are doing is anything worthwhile, think of this: thanks to your writing on the internet, a young man miles away is now willing to embrace life completely and use his talents and passions unashamedly to celebrate God and his creation. Any success I face in the future and any lives I touch would have been made possible thanks to you and your honesty and wisdom."– AB
"Since I discovered your blog I have felt so much more encouraged and inspired knowing that I'm not the only gay guy in the Catholic Church trying to balance my Faith and my sexuality. Continue being a beacon of hope and a guide to the future within our Church!"– Phillip
"Your posts about Catholic issues are always informative and well researched, and I especially appreciate your photography and the personal posts about your own experience. I'm very glad I found your blog and that I've had the chance to get to know you."– Crystal
"Thank you for taking the time to create this fantastic blog. It is so inspiring!"– George
"I cannot claim to be an expert on Catholic blogs, but from what I've seen, The Wild Reed ranks among the very best."– Kevin
"Reading your blog leaves me with the consolation of knowing that the words Catholic, gay and progressive are not mutually exclusive.."– Patrick
"I grieve for the Roman institution’s betrayal of God’s invitation to change. I fear that somewhere in the midst of this denial is a great sin that rests on the shoulders of those who lead and those who passively follow. But knowing that there are voices, voices of the prophets out there gives me hope. Please keep up the good work."– Peter
"I ran across your blog the other day looking for something else. I stopped to look at it and then bookmarked it because you have written some excellent articles that I want to read. I find your writing to be insightful and interesting and I'm looking forward to reading more of it. Keep up the good work. We really, really need sane people with a voice these days."– Jane Gael
"Michael, your site is like water in the desert."– Jayden
