Jim’s House Concert

1. G Major Prelude

And a man said, Speak to us of Self-Knowledge.

     And he answered, saying:

     Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.

     But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge.

     You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.

     You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

  And it is well you should.

     The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;

     And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.

     But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;

     And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.

     For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”  

     Say not, "I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”

     For the soul walks upon all paths.

     The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

     The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals. 

2. D Minor Prelude

Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.

And he answered:

    Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

     And how else can it be?

     The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

     Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?

     And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

     When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

     When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

    Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”

     But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

     Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.

     Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

     When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

3. C Major Prelude

And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship.

    And he answered, saying:

    Your friend is your needs answered.

    He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.

    And he is your board and your fireside.

    For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the “nay” in your own mind, nor do you withhold the “ay.”

    And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;

    For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.

    When you part from your friend, you grieve not;

    For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.

    And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.

    For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery us not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.

    If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.

    For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?

    Seek him always with hours to live.

    For it is his to fill your need but not your emptiness.

    And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.

    For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.