Heart of a Gentleman

Track Four: Toward Our Wholeness 
 
Wow! Where do I begin with this one? I am continually humbled and amazed at how this song has touched and encouraged so many people. I dedicate this song to Sacred Center NY and my Sacred Center family. It was through the teachings there by Rev. August Gold that this song came through. For that I am eternally grateful.
 
The heart of the song is based on one of the 9 Beliefs at SCNY…”#3 All Life is a movement towards our wholeness, our greatness.” This beautiful quote comes from Jonathan Star’s translation of verse 29 of the Tao Te Ching:
 
“Allow your life to unfold naturally
Know that it too is a vessel of perfection
Just as you breathe in and out
Sometimes you’re ahead and other times behind
Sometimes you’re strong and other times weak
Sometimes you’re with people and other times alone
To the Sage all of life is a movement toward perfection”
(Note: The root of the word “perfection” is wholeness or completion) 
 
Two additional inspirations for the song are poems by Rumi, “The Guest House” and “Song of A Man Who Has Come Through” by D.H. Lawrence
 
The Guest House
 
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
 
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
 
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
 
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Song of A Man Who Has Come Through

Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me!
A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.
If only I let it bear me, carry me, if only it carry me!
If only I am sensitive, subtle, oh, delicate, a winged gift!
If only, most lovely of all, I yield myself and am borrowed
By the fine, fine wind that takes its course though the chaos of the world
Like a fine, and exquisite chisel, a wedge-blade inserted;
If only I am keen and hard like the sheer tip of a wedge
Driven by invisible split, we shall come at the wonder, we shall find the Hesperides.

Oh, for the wonder that bubbles into my soul,
I would be a good fountain, a good well-head,
Would blur no whisper, spoil no expression.

What is the knocking?
What is the knocking at the door in the night?
It’s somebody wants to do us harm.

No, no, it is the three strange angels.
Admit them, admit them.

These two poems crystallize the imagery on the verses: “Can you hear the knocking? Knocking at your door?” and the B-Section: “Welcome them in, welcome them in. They are angels sent from beyond”.

The SCNY Gospel Choir debuted this song a year ago in October 2009. Since then this song has taken on a life of its own and I am proud to have been the one chosen to put this timeless message to song. Everyone kept asking me if “Toward Our Wholeness” would be on the album. Initially I didn’t intend to put it on the album but I soon realized the power of this song and that it must be heard by more people so that they too can be inspired and encouraged in the same way my church family has been. 

Here’s the recording of the debut performance and my brief explanation of how the song came to me one Monday night in the Summer of 2009. Carllie Jaxen and Yolanda Batts form the trio with me on the verses.

Enjoy!