A reflection on a poem by Rilke

In the past few weeks I have been reading Rainer Maria Rilke ( as you may very well have noticed by the choice of poems posted on this blog). Rilke was a serious mystic, a poet-teacher and his language is very immediate and intense. In fact, sometimes I read the English translation before I feel ready for the original German verses. Monosyllabic English seems to take quite a bit off the added depth and profound resonance by the words in their original intent.

There are many poems I resonate with, but there is one in particular I have been coming back to many times: You see, I want a lot.

This poem is about the open heart. The willingness to be the space for everything – from the deepest depth of our being to the highest possible realm. “You see I want a lot, maybe I want everything…” there is the hesitation of knowing that no man can know God, but at the same time there is the complete surrender, the ultimate intimacy with everything there is.

Many live who are happy and content, at ease with life, not in resistance and free of suffering. But God loves those who wants to know him, surrenders and explores with the curiosity – not of a searcher, but of a child, excited to find, whatever it may be.

Go inside. Take a heart and go deeply inside.