It is said that with wisdom comes the ability
To solve difficult problems
Solving difficult problems requires courage
Courage to stand up for what is right
Solving problems requires love
Love that gives one the courage to go on
Solving problems requires patience
Patience under all circumstances
Solving problems requires strength
Strength to endure difficult times
Solving difficult problems leads to unity
Unity, the ultimate reward!
Lida Berghuis
July 17th, 2014
The hurts of the past do come back
The uncertainty of the future always exists
These are the things I need to make peace with
How to grow in strength and love
That what hurt me before and can hurt me now
Wanes in strength and loses its grip on my psyche
I am not bullet proof and will never be
But the armour of love and compassion and reliance on God
Can protect me from the bullets of life!
I may get injured but I will heal
Sometimes I’m taken by surprise, but the secret is
To remain calm and not feel the need to defend or justify!
To have compassion for the one who unknowingly, sometimes
Is throwing the darts
The intention is mostly love
But sometimes the words just come out wrong
So, with peaceful acquiescence I face a new day
Fill my heart with love and care
Let go of the negative things
Celebrate the positive
And realise that no on can hurt me
If my heart is full of love!
Lida Berghuis
July 16th, 2014
What is it about drinking tea that is so soothing?
Especially when drunk in the company of a friend?
Is it the aroma of a lovely tea chosen with care?
Is it the warmth of tea felt all inside as one drinks it?
Is it the conversation that one can’t rush?
All of the above perhaps and much more!
Tea brings people together in a beautiful way
It’s a binding agent!
It communicates love!
It says I have time to make you some tea and
Sit and drink it with you as we chat!
It means I’m giving you attention
I’m happy to serve you
For all these things, offering someone tea
Is one of the loveliest things one can do!
Also, this tradition runs in my veins as a Persian girl
Offering tea, one of the first things one does when friends come over
It’s a warm welcome, a warm hug in liquid form!
Lida Berghuis
July 4th, 2014
Tea room in Hudson!
What is the best gift of all
I wonder to myself
A listening ear?
A kind heart?
A cheerful countenance?
These are some!
What would I want from a friend?
To let me be who I am
Don’t mind my silliness and my laughing out loud!
What is the best gift I can give?
My undivided attention
My understanding
My affection and love!
Material things are OK
But the best gifts are those
That don’t need to be wrapped
Ones that are made with
Thoughtful hands and hearts
And sometimes the best gifts come in words
Words of encouragement
Words of wisdom
Words of comfort
Sometimes it’s a phone call
From a friend
Who remembers you when
You feel alone
Or the friend that always
Has time for you!
The gifts I like don’t cost a thing
They just require love and understanding
And since they don’t take up any space
These are the gifts that I’ll carry with me
For all time and everywhere!
Lida Berghuis
December 25th, 2013
Why is the path to true love
Fraught with dangers, thorny paths, and mountains high?
Why do we have to suffer so much
Even when we find the one we love?
Why is the world of emotion so complicated?
Why cant we design a computer program for love?
Make a spread sheet of pros and cons
A logical way to judge what our heart desires
Why aren’t computers smart enough
To help us with this complicated equation called love?
Why do pain and joy intertwine
In this crazy thing called love?
Why can’t we just live as monks and nuns
That way we wouldnt have to worry about love!
There is a yearning in our hearts
We need love
True love is like water
To the thirsty one
We are drawn to the lucid spring of love
Even as a thirsty one wondering in the desert of life
Once we see the face of the beloved
Its imprinted in our hearts
All the reasoning in the world
Is unable to change our mind
Love does blind us
To the loved ones faults
Others will tell us this or that
But we are not sure what planet they are from!
Our heart longs to be with our loved one
Our heart only sees the beautiful qualities
Of the one we love
We would swim an ocean or desert cross
Without a thought
Without a doubt!
The people who love us try to tell us
To be careful not to drown, not to fall!
Sometimes we listen, sometimes we don’t
Love is blind, after all!
But true love stands the test of time
This love doesnt die because of trials
One can lose battles, but one wins the war
To be united with the loved one
This thing called love
For which blood has been shed time after time
This magical force
Is one we can’t live without
The path never easy
But worth the fight!
Without love
Life would not be worthwhile!
Lida Berghuis
February 2nd 2004
Courage to change
Courage to grow
Courage to see things
From another view point
Courage to learn
Courage to explore
Courage to go where
One has not gone before
Courage to dream
Courage to work toward that dream
Courage to persevere
Endlessly
Courage to get up
When we fall
Courage to learn
And move on
Courage to face our fears
And overcome
Courage to accept that yet again
We may fall
Courage to love
And be loved
Courage to be able to
Stand ones ground
Courage to be different
Stand out
Courage to say
What others might not
Courage to be in the
Vanguard of change
Courage is needed
If we want change
Lida Berghuis
April 16th
Montreal Shrine
Poetry is the essence of life
The things that count
The things that touch us, move us
Elevate us
Poetry is an emanation of the soul
Our essential self
Our eternal self
Our higher self
Poetry is about the intangible things
Love, compassion, curiosity
Poetry reaches where other things can’t
It penetrates our material shell
And illumines our inner self
Poetry is the expression of love
Love for the Divine
Love for our fellow man
Poetry is other-worldly
Magical, mystical, transformative
Poetry is beauty
A beauty that does not fade
Poetry is a love song
The Rubix Cube
The most intricate jigsaw puzzle
The most challenging maze
All of these cannot compare to the puzzle of love!
The puzzle of love
A living maze
It changes and expands when least expected
Twists are added at whim it seems
While it was complicated to begin with!
The puzzle of love
Not for the faint of heart
Not for those who are not willing to get lost
In the desert of love!
The puzzle of love
About which stories are told
And poems are written
From the time of old
The puzzle of love
The eternal quest
For the heart that accepts the challenge
And makes a start
I was never fascinated
By the Rubix Cube
Or intricate jigsaw puzzles
Of many hues
But I am most intrigued by
The puzzle of love
This living maze
This ultimate challenge of the heart
Lida Berghuis
April 13th, 2004
“In the path of the Blessed Beauty, I have experienced but little adversity… I pray that I will be given the opportunity to attain the gift of calamity in His path!”
Dr. A. M. Davudi
“The gift of calamity”
What does this phrase imply?
What does it mean?
Perhaps the lover of Truth is so intoxicated
With the wine of the love of God
That calamity in His the path
Is seen as a gift!
To see calamity as a gift
Requires deep faith
And the letting go of self and ego!
When one is released from the prison of self
Imprisonment will seem like freedom
Freedom from the desires of the insistent self
When one is released from the prison of self
Fear leaves and contentment pitches its tent
When one is released from the prison of self
Anger and injustice can be met with kindness and generosity
When on is released from the prison of self
There is nothing one can’t achieve
The Beloved is the focus
His will reigns supreme
One’s comfort and ease
One’s wishes and dreams
Take second place to His wishes
He who wants nothing but
The illumination of that soul
The development of his capacities
The polishing of the mirror of his heart
And the appearance of the gems of virtues
When one is released from the prison of self
One dies to the world
One becomes dust in the pathway of the Beloved
One only wants to serve and love others
Now and all through eternity
Lida Berghuis
October 1st, 2013
In a circle on the grass
In the cool evening air
With bird song in the background
We remembered those who are no longer with us
In this physical world
Their spirit not far
Strong the bonds that connect us
Those who had gathered
Thought of them
And prayed for them
I’m sure they heard us
And perhaps
They were even there!
Hearts were touched
Tears filled some eyes
Memories were recalled
As the sun set
And this is how we honored
Those who have moved Beyond
This plane of dust
And entered the world of Tranquility and love!
Lida Berghuis
August 15, 2013
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