The Jeweler

If a naive and desperate man
Brings a precious stone
To the only jeweler in town,
Wanting to sell it,

The jeweler’s eyes
Will begin to play a game,
Like most eyes in the world when they look at you.

The jeweler’s face will stay calm.
He will not want to reveal the stone’s true value,
But to hold the man captive to fear and greed
While he calculates
The value of the transaction.

But one moment with me, my dear,
Will show you
That there is nothing,
Nothing
Hafiz wants from you.

When you sit before a Master like me,
Even if you are a drooling mess,
My eyes sing with Excitement–

They see your Divine Worth.

— Hafiz

As we are willing to see through the eyes of Love, of the Divine, we see the Divine in all of life, all of Creation, When we see so differently from our training in this way, we don’t focus on the ills, but celebrate them for what it truly is. In contrast, there is guidance as we are open to it.

Einstein said that “in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." The desperate man in the middle of his difficulties always has opportunities. The jeweler with all of his or her calculating strategies has fresh opportunities. As we focus on the difficulty, it makes it more challenging to see the opportunity, but it is always there, and we are the ones who choose what to look at and see. Contrast creates opportunities. Without it, there would be no opportunities. Celebrate the contrast as we see it for the value it holds to guide us to what we would prefer.

Discernment is our celebration in action. Focus is our choice. We can walk into a room full of light and turn on the dark switch, or walk into a dark room and shine the light that is us in our Divine Worth.