Reaching Out

for...

Photo by Aniket Narula on Unsplash

One night a man was crying,
“Allah, Allah!”
His lips grew sweet with the praising,
until a cynic said,
“So! I have heard you
calling out, but have you ever
gotten any response?”
The man had no answer for that.
He quit praying and fell into a confused sleep,
where he dreamed he saw the guide of souls in a thick green foliage.

“Why did you stop praising?”
“Because I never heard anything back.”
“This longing you express is the return message.”
The grief you cry out from
draws you toward union.
Your pure sadness that wants help
is the secret cup.

Listen to the moan of a dog for its master.
That whining is the connection.
There are love dogs no one knows the names of.
Give your life to be one of them.

~Rumi, "Love Dogs"

What does prayer do?

Is it a drop in the cosmic bucket; enough drops and the petitioner succeeds in tipping fate in their favor?

Is it akin to protection money, or insurance?

Is it a one-sided conversation?

Is the reaching out truly the return message? Does this constitute a relationship?