By the River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept by Paulo Coelho

Thursday, December 24, 2020

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars
    we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
    our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
    they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord
    while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
    my highest joy.

7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
    on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
    “tear it down to its foundations!”
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
    happy is the one who repays you
    according to what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants
    and dashes them against the rocks.

By the River Piedra, I sat down and wept. It is a fascinating fact that this same phrase is based on a chapter from the book of Psalm. I still find it interesting that Paulo Coelho entangled his books with the writings in the Bible. All the books I read from him offer a lot of possibilities and wonders in the physical and spiritual world. Though his books are fiction philosophical in nature, it is a delight to devour and be devoured in his fascination with spiritual forces in the physical world. I am both entertained and educated every time I read and finished his books. 

By the River Piedra, I sat down and wept. Pilar is me: a girl who had her first love in her childhood days or must I say crushes in my elementary days and a woman who is in denial of the love she still has for the same guy she fell in love with when she was just a child. Well as for me I am a woman who waits for her God's best as of now, after all my conscious effort of doing my way to find the one, I let Him take over and do His way. It was not easy surrendering this desire, I still struggle with letting Him take over this aspect of my life. Yet, I believe He knows better than me, and what's best for me.

By the River Piedra, I sat down and wept. The road to acceptance is never easy same as surrendering. To accept that you cannot do it on your own strength is a sign of weakness in this world and that surrendering is a result of that weakness. Yet, I beg to disagree. Surrendering takes a lot of strength and bravery, again I say, it is never ever easy. But with love everything is possible. That kind of love that surpasses all understanding. That kind of love that brings you peace amidst trouble. The love that can only be found in Him. Pilar accepted and surrendered and fought for her love. 

By the River Piedra, I sat down and wept.
    
 

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