Inviting Guests

(Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris, 1925, by André Kertész,
1894-1985, Hungarian-born photographer)

“True friends want good conversations and will help one another and draw one another into good conversations. Friends will benefit from the insights of one another, as they constantly share the fruits of their personal meditation and contemplation. And in fact, some truths will be discovered in conversation which each friend would never have discovered separately. There is something irreplaceable about two minds working together, in a context of mutual affection and trust, to uncover the deepest truths.”

~ John Cuddeback, from True Friendship: Where Virtue Becomes Happiness

INVITING GUESTS

I sent out invitations
To summon guests.
I collected together
All my friends.
Loud talk
And simple feasting:
Discussion of philosophy,
Investigation of subtleties.
Tongues loosened
And minds at one.
Hearts refreshed
By discharge of emotion!

~ Ch’eng-Kung Sui, third-century Chinese poet