Throne of Goodness

I don't know if I'm just lucky or what, but my life is filled with really good people, and my days are (generally) filled with acts of kindness. Of course there's always the odd butt~hole, but I seldom have any significant contact with them. My clients are uber-nice, the UPS guy is totally sweet, and today some homie-bad-ass kid covered in tatts gave me his seat on the subway. Makes my heart hurt hard, all these random acts of caring. Call me naive, call me menopausal (not to my face, please), but I think it's an overwhelmingly decent world we live in, and New Yorkers rank number one on my list of righteous humans.

Unrelated to that, I've finished another small text drawing (see above). The outside rings are a Muslim prayer called "Ayat al-Kursi", or "The Throne Verse". This prayer is considered to be the most excellent verse in the Koran, due to the fact that it mentions the name of Allah more than any other verse. Seventeen times, to be precise. It's a beautiful piece of writing, and when I read it, I'm moved by the love of Muslims for Allah, the Compassionate and Eternal.

The inside geometric pattern is the beloved Hindu mantra, "Om namah Shivaya", which roughly translates as, "I bow to Shiva." Shiva is the symbol of the eternal Self, the supreme consciousness that lives within all of us. The person who chants this mantra and allows it to vibrate in their heart will experience the awakening of Shiva, and witness the radiance of the true Self.

The letters for the outer rings comprising "The Throne Verse" were cut from the Bible. The letters for "Om namah Shivaya" were cut from "The Tablets of Baha'u'llah", the sacred writings of the Bah'ai faith. The latter were intended to imitate the Islamic mandalas that are found in their sacred geometry: interweaving, geometric lines that symbolize the otherwise inexpressible perfection of God.

Both verses point beyond specifics to the human need for God and goodness. So maybe my observations about the charity of New Yorkers weren't completely unrelated after all. Very few can seem to agree on the name, face, and address of God, but no one will dispute the existence and excellence of good will.

Above: THRONE: Ayat al-Kursi ("The Throne Verse") from the Koran, with letters cut from the Bible. 9.25" x 9", 2010.