Rumi on War and Conflict (& the joys of sunlight & song)

Sizdah Bedar

Dear Friends:

Here is some much needed 800 hundred year old balm for aching if not bleeding souls everywhere...Over to Mevlana...

Move beyond any attachment to names.
Every war and every conflict
between human beings
has happened because of some disagreement
about names.
It’s such an unnecessary foolishness,
because just beyond the arguing
there’s a long table of companionship,
set and waiting for us to sit down.
What is praised is one, so the praise is
one too,
many jugs being poured into a huge
basin.
All religions, all this singing, one song.
The differences are just illusion and
vanity.
Sunlight looks slightly different on this
wall than it does on that wall.
and a lot different on this other one,
but it is still one light.
We have borrowed these clothes,
these time-and-space personalities,
from a light,
and when we praise,
we pour them back in.

I found this translation on Faisal Sheikh's site today here and you may find other similar reflections at my site:
oneheartforpeace (easy to find on search engine or GO here

Photo above is a glorious outdoor picnic celebration occuring the 13th day of the new year -Nowrūz (or Persian New Year also "New Light"). The picnic is called "Sizdah Bedar". People will leave their homes to go to the parks or local plains for a festive picnic. It is a must to spend Sizdah Bedar in nature - the most popular day of the holidays among children because they get to play a lot! Also in this day, people throw the Sabze away, they believe Sabze should not stay in the house after "Sizdah Bedar"- that by going into the fields and parks they avoid misfortunes. It is also believed that unwed girls can wish for a husband by going into the fields and tying a knot between green shoots, symbolizing a marital bond.
(How lovely to see how we share the joy of picnics and the New Year worldwide and to appreciate the similarities as well as the delicious differences.)

Nowrūz itself is a celebration which has spread far and wide including parts of South and Central Asia. Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox - when the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day.

The photo and some of this information was found at Iran Chamber dot com