Two Cups of Tea at Hope’s Cafe
My first encounter with the quote “We carry within us the wonders we seek” struck me as a kind of ephinany. As a newly trained therapist, this one statement put in perspective that my task involved helping folks find the wonder, the capability, they carried within, to assist them in bringing it out in themselves. I hung a sign with this quote in my office.
Very similar words are attributed to Rumi in the 13th century, but later credited to Sir Thomas Browne, a “polymath,” known for his diverse education in science, religion, and the esoteric. He had a deep curiosity about the natural world and wrote widely with subtle humor.
He was educated at Winchester College, later graduating from Oxford. Browne then began studies in medicine and received his medical degree from Leiden in 1633. His prolific writing careeer was marked by a controversy when he discovered an unauthorized edition of Religio Medici (The Religion of a Physician). This version included “unauthorized religious speculations,” which ultimately got him placed on Papal Index Librorum Prohibitorom, the “banned book list” of its time.
The following year Browne published Pseudodoxia Epidemica, (Enquiries Into Very many Received Tenants, and commonly Presumed Truths) which delved into the prevalence of false beliefs and “vulgar errors.” This was at a time when science was considered “New Learning,” and, as such, somewhat suspect. His book proved helpful in promoting scientific journalism.
Browne’s curiosity is inspiring. That he builds on Rumi’s wisdom about wonders within reminds us that we all have the opportunity to expand on the knowledge and wisdom that has gone before us. And we are enabled to do that with the recognition that “We carry within us the wonders we seek.”
The invitation is open to share two cups of tea anytime at Hope’s Café or anywhere you share companionship and conversation.
May we bearers of hope, the “wait staff” at Hope’s Café, for each other and all those we encounter. Shalom, Kate
Hope's Cafe 