"It's in the valleys that I grow..."

Your Friday photo…

This photo from Avatar’s Point at Meher Mount looking southeast to the Santa Monica Mountains and Heritage Valley was taken by former caretaker Buzz Glasky.

This song was adapted by singer-songwriter, Pam Rubenstein, from the poem, “It’s In the Valleys I Grow,” by Jane Eggleston.

“Sometimes my life seems hard to bear,
Full of troubles, tears, and woe,
It’s then I must remember,
It’s in the valleys that I grow.”

— Jane Eggleston/Pam Rubenstein

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It’s In the Valleys That I Grow

Sometimes my life seems hard to bear,
Full of troubles, tears, and woe,
It’s then that I must remember,
It’s in the valleys that I grow.

If I never left the mountaintop,
And knew nothing more of pain,
I seldom would remember You,
And my life would be in vain.

I have so much to learn about,
And my growth seems very slow;
Sometimes I need the mountaintops,
But it’s in the valleys that I grow.

And I don’t always understand
Why things happen as they do,
But I’m very sure of one thing,
My dearest Friend will see me through.

Forgive me for complaining, Lord,
When I’m feeling very low,
Just flash me a reminder:
It’s in the valleys that I grow.

Do what You must to make me strong,
And use me every day,
To share Your love with others,
And help them find their way.

Thank you for the valleys, Lord,
For this one thing, I know:
The mountaintops are glorious,
But it’s in the valleys that I grow.

~Jane Eggleston, Poet, and Pam Rubenstein, Singer & Songwriter

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Listen to the Song
Click to hear Pam Rubenstein sing “It’s In the Valleys That I Grow” on her solo CD, It’s Always Now.

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About

• Jane Eggleston was a church volunteer at Grace Baptist Church in Williamsburg, VA. She wrote this poem, “It’s In the Valleys I Grow,” in 1977.

• Pam Rubenstein is a professional musician, and artist, and follower of Avatar Meher Baba. She and her late husband, Danny Rubenstein, created and performed original music inspired by Meher Baba. Her solo CD It’s Always Now is available from Sheriar Books.

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"To bring you love is but to offer you your own."

Your Friday photo…

Meher Mount was given archival, out-of-print issues of The Awakener: A Journal Devoted to Meher Baba to share with His followers and visitors to Meher Mount.

The poem, “Your Eyes” by Sam Ervin, Meher Mount’s board president, was published in The Awakener issue pictured below in 1972.

There are free copies of this issue and others available on request.

“To bring you love is but to offer you
your own.
To worship is but yielding fruit
you’ve sown.”

— Sam Ervin, Board President

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I’ve searched everywhere in faces
for eyes
that meeting mine engender
no surprise,
but joy and sorrow and a wish;
a longing that is flame,
consuming all that isn’t,
illumining your Name.
To bring you love is but to offer you
your own.
To worship is but yielding fruit
you’ve sown.

Your eyes, my love, are promises
of kisses
no mortal man can know.
Do I dare? Do I dare
to turn around in me
and set one trembling foot upon the path
known also as abyss
and face the windswept desolation
of my heart?
And could I think to win
where gain is loss?

Your eyes, my love, are portals
to unfathomed night
where purity in silence lies;
where light, one piercing ray
may turn my inner night
to brightest day.

~Sam Ervin, The Awakener, Volume XIV, No. 1, 1972

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The Awakener: A Journal Devoted to Meher Baba

The Awakener: A Journal Devoted to Meher Baba was published from 1953-1986.

It was produced by Filis Frederick with the direct approval of Meher Baba. The Awakener was dedicated to spreading Meher Baba’s message of Love and Truth.

There are a few remaining copies of the original issues available to you for free.

These journals contain messages, discourses and pearls of wisdom given by Meher Baba. In addition, there are fascinating first-hand stories told by many of His closer followers from all over the world.

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More Information

• The Awakener: A Journal Devoted to Meher Baba, Meher Mount Story Blog Post.

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"If God came not as man..."

Your Friday photo is in honor of Avatar Meher Baba’s upcoming birthday on Tuesday, February 25…

Meher Baba declared that God incarnates in human form every 700 to 1,400 years.

Each incarnation is referred to as the Avatar. Incarnations of the Avatar include Meher Baba, Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Rama, and Zoroaster.

“The Avatar is always One and the Same, because God is always One and the Same, the Eternal, Indivisible, Infinite One…the Highest of the High,” Meher Baba explained.

He said, “I am equally approachable to one and all, big and small, to saints who rise and sinners who fall, through all the various paths that give the Divine Call… and also directly through no medium or ‘ism’ at all.”

“If God came not as man, 
How could we really know  
That we could love Him so?”

— Malcolm Schloss

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The poem “First and Foremost” is the opening poem in Ways to Attain the Supreme Reality, a collection of poetry published in 1952 at Avatar Meher Baba’s directive.

FIRST  AND  FOREMOST 

IF THE SUN did not shine, 
To whom would the flower turn,  
How would the mango grow? 

If the sea were not spread,
To what would the rain descend,
Whither the river flow? 

If the earth did not spin, 
How would the light return,  
Where would the darkness go? 

If the air were not rare,
How would the breathing flow,
Where would the spirit go? 

If God came not as man, 
How could we really know  
That we could love Him so?

 ~Malcolm Schloss

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You can also listen to an excerpt of this poem sung by Jim Meyer by clicking here and then on “First and Foremost.” The poetry from Ways to Attain the Supreme Reality was set to music by Jim Meyer and Bob Brown in the CD of the same name published in 1999. The entire book of poems is recorded in order.

Malcolm B. Schloss (1895-1954) was a follower of Avatar Meher Baba. He was married to Jean Adriel, a co-founder of Meher Mount.

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Source

Ways to Attain the Supreme Reality (eBook) by Shri Meher Baba with Interpretations in Verse by Malcolm Schloss, pg. 15. (c)2020 Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India. Used with permission.

Photograph: Avatar Meher Baba at the Namada River, Madha Pradesh, India, in December 1938. Photo by Rano Gayley. Courtesy of Meher Nazar Publications, Inc., Ahmednagar, India.

The CD Ways to Attain the Supreme Reality is available from Sheriar Books (Myrtle Beach, SC).

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