"[After Pentecost] Beloved Mary soon set off journeying with John, now as her son, with the tenderness of mother and child, together as one, that they might support each other, and that in their journeying they might continue to convey the teachings of her son Jesus, and to heal, through the Light and Peace of God extended through their own remembrance and prayer.
"The Jesus of your spirit is within you:
ask his aid, for he is a good helper.
[Rumi, Mathnawi II: 450]
"As for those who strive hard on Our Way --
We shall most certainly guide them onto paths that lead to Us.
For behold, God is indeed with the doers of Good.
[Quran, Surah al-Ankabut 29:69]
"Beloved Mary would continue to care for the community, for the disciples of Jesus, for the women, for all as an illuminated mother.
"And lower the wings of your tenderness
toward the faithful who follow you.
[Quran, Surah ash-Shu'ana 26: 215]
". . . Surely [the Beatitudes] are some of the principles that Beloved Mary taught, by her very being, her light shining brightly. Aligned with the Source of Being, always with unswerving devotion, eternal kindness, never sanctimonious or superficial but from the depths of her soul, greeting each being with love, in every encounter, even with the rocks upon the earth, whose praise surely she could hear, and from which she knew springs can emerge.
"In a well-known hadith, Prophet Muhammad spoke of how all of nature is in communication, even rocks: 'I know a rock in Mecca that would greet me before I received my mission. I still know it now.' In the Mevlevi tradition of Rumi, there is a practice known as Gorushmek, of pausing in greeting, even with each apparently 'inanimate' thing, 'seeing and being seen' by everything and everyone we encounter. When taking up a cup to drink, one would pause and 'see with' the cup, kiss it, and then drink. And even before rising from prayer upon the rug before us, one would kiss it, and bow again, in recognition of its service. Continually seeing, being seen, by all that is moment by moment, even as the rose smiles at the sun as its rays kiss her face. Surely this was a natural practice for Beloved Mary, whose heart was so attuned to every creature, every particle of being, of her Sustainer's Magnificence. Surely within every soul there is a longing to be recognized, to 'be seen.' This manner of seeing is a most foundational practice that can enliven all our days."
