Sacred Heart #2

In our souls everything
moves guided by a mysterious hand.
We know nothing of our own souls
that are ununderstandable and say nothing.

The deepest words
of the wise man teach us
the same as the whistle of the wind when it blows
or the sound of the water when it is flowing.

Antonio Machado  (1875-1919) was a Spanish poet and school teacher who developed a style of poetry that combined humanity and a Taoist contemplation of existence.

Some people believe we must choose between the body and the soul; that we much live in one world or the other. In this poem nature is not seen as an enemy of the spirit but rather as an entrance to it. What cannot be understood by the mind alone, or taught by the wisest teachers, can easily be learned if one turns to nature. That turning does not shun the senses but rather engages them, and by opening to the body of life, we can discover the wisdom of the soul.