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| comment | | "parent_author":"",<br>"parent_permlink":"poetry",<br>"author":"yahialababidi",<br>"permlink":"the-evolution-of-our-heroes-day-9",<br>"title":"The Evolution of Our Heroes (Day 9)",<br>"body":"<center>https:\/\/cdn.pixabay.com\/photo\/2016\/05\/02\/17\/41\/superman-1367737_960_720.jpg<\/center>\n\nOur heroes evolve as we do. As a pre-adolescent,<br> for example,<br> I was obsessed with comic books superheroes\u2014which was a role,<br> in turn,<br> I ascribed to rockstars in my teens. In my early twenties,<br> philosophers represented the ultimate definition of cool and this,<br> gradually,<br> gave way to poets and artists in general,<br> in my thirties,<br> whom I regarded as true free spirits and independent thinkers. \n\nNow,<br> in my mid forties,<br> my superheroes are mystics and saints. I study their lives and utterances for clues on how to realize this remote human possibility. I realize how difficult and rare it is to embark on the great adventures of the spirit life that they undertook,<br> these intrepid explorers of inner space. I revere those virtuosos of love and longing,<br> the way I did their caped and masked counterparts in comic books: for their inspiring sense of purpose and their willingness to sacrifice all to achieve it.\n\nToday\u2019s poem is not directly about mystics or saints. But,<br> it is related to a faculty that,<br> if we attempt to faithfully develop throughout our lives,<br> we might hope to experience a glimpse of their exalted state:\n\n>I used to marvel at the saints who purposely subjected themselves to bodily abuses. Now I understand that this passion for pain,<br> even in the torture of martyrdom,<br> represents the haste and impatience to no longer be interrupted and disturbed by the evil that can come from this side... So great is my fear of the body's abuse of the soul...\n\n>\u2014poet Rainer Maria Rilke (in a letter to his muse Lou Andreas Salome)\n![Dove.png (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmSvhy8tfe1EucmC3ZWtA1mmYP1HbFzHUPAPKTNJLfWjKc\/Dove.png)\n<center>***Remaining Awake***\n***\nWhether or not we recognize it,<br> \nwe all carry beepers that go off all hours,<br> \nthey're in-built and difficult to get rid of \n\u2014let's call them our conscience.\n\nYou may press the mute button\nbut you can't keep it down for long\nwell-functioning models are dream-proof\ninstructing us in code,<br> while we slumber\n\nThere are two ways through: \none is fiendish complexity,<br> \nthe other is utter simplicity. \n\nInner work that we postpone only piles up\noverwhelms and threatens to bury us,<br> \nbest to take the call when conscience speaks.\n\nIt's a sign of spiritual maturity \nwhen lesser transgressions \nprick our conscience \nthe way major ones did before.\n\nOur lives are like a long day; \nit's easier to fall sleep,<br> \nif we\u2019ve remained awake.\n\n\u00a9 Yahia Lababidi<\/center>\n***\n<center>https:\/\/cdn.pixabay.com\/photo\/2017\/10\/25\/10\/13\/all-saints-2887463_960_720.jpg<\/center>\n***\n(Images: Pixabay [1 (https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/superman-lego-egg-hatch-hatched-1367737\/),<br> [2 (https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/all-saints-christian-holy-faith-2887463\/))\n![Dove.png (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmSvhy8tfe1EucmC3ZWtA1mmYP1HbFzHUPAPKTNJLfWjKc\/Dove.png)This is my entry for Day 9 of @d-pend's [The 100 Day Poetry Challenge (https:\/\/steemit.com\/steemitschool\/@d-pend\/announcing-the-steemit-school-poetry-100-day-challenge). To join the movement,<br> please,<br> visit [Steemit School on discord (https:\/\/discord.gg\/hyfYQ9P) founded by @Dobartim",<br>"json_metadata":" \"tags\":[\"poetry\",<br>\"writing\",<br>\"steemitschoolpoetry\",<br>\"ocd-resteem\",<br>\"adsactly\" ,<br>\"users\":[\"d-pend\",<br>\"dobartim\" ,<br>\"image\":[\"https:\/\/cdn.pixabay.com\/photo\/2016\/05\/02\/17\/41\/superman-1367737_960_720.jpg\",<br>\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmSvhy8tfe1EucmC3ZWtA1mmYP1HbFzHUPAPKTNJLfWjKc\/Dove.png\",<br>\"https:\/\/cdn.pixabay.com\/photo\/2017\/10\/25\/10\/13\/all-saints-2887463_960_720.jpg\" ,<br>\"links\":[\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/superman-lego-egg-hatch-hatched-1367737\/\",<br>\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/all-saints-christian-holy-faith-2887463\/\",<br>\"https:\/\/steemit.com\/steemitschool\/@d-pend\/announcing-the-steemit-school-poetry-100-day-challenge\",<br>\"https:\/\/discord.gg\/hyfYQ9P\" ,<br>\"app\":\"steemit\/0.1\",<br>\"format\":\"markdown\" " |
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