The Call

"Icelandic Poppy," Timm O'Cobhthaigh

I found a large file on Timm's laptop containing poems by Rumi, a 12th-century Arabic poet who has seen great popularity over the past 50 years. His full name -- Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi -- means "Love and the ecstatic flight into the infinite," and his poems are mostly about the soul's converse with God, essentially a song between lover and beloved. Timm's yearning spirit obviously resounds in the following poem, both as a Christian and an artist. To love is to pray, and to create is to kiss: Rumi's raptures are very present in Timm's calling, both in his images as well as his devoted service to his Lord's creation.



Be Lost in the Call

Lord, said David, since you do not need us,
why did you create these two worlds?

Reality replied: O prisoner of time,
I was a secret treasure of kindness and generosity,
and I wished this treasure to be known,
so I created a mirror: its shining face, the heart;
its darkened back, the world;
The back would please you if you've never seen the face.
Has anyone ever produced a mirror out of mud and straw?
Yet clean away the mud and straw, and a mirror might be revealed.
Until the juice ferments a while in the cask,
it isn't wine. If you wish your heart to be bright,
you must do a little work.

My King addressed the soul of my flesh:
You return just as you left.
Where are the traces of my gifts?
We know that alchemy transforms copper into gold.
This Sun doesn't want a crown or robe from God's grace.
He is a hat to a hundred bald men,
a covering for ten who were naked.
Jesus sat humbly on the back of an ass, my child
How could a zephyr ride an ass?

Spirit, find your way, in seeking lowness like a stream.
Reason, tread the path of selflessness into eternity.
Remember God so much that you are forgotten.
Let the caller and the called disappear;
be lost in the Call.

- transl. Kabir Helminski

This photo was taken in 2007, when Timm was in Florida for his nephew Nicholas' funeral. Here he's giving photographic tips to niece and fellow shutterbug Kathy; they're looking at a picture of Kathy taking a picture. Lost in the call, don't you think?