Thoughts on the word "No", The Joy of "No", One Person's Perspective

In the midst of life the word "no" becomes most welcomed.  It becomes that word that though it only has two letters it is a most powerful anointed word.  "No" more than any other word is a transitional word meaning this isn't it, it's not your home, you must keep moving until at last you have found that special place for your heart to rest.  "No" won't let you rest, it is sincere, forthright and noble.  So what of the word "no"? Sitting here drinking coffee, listening to some jazz on a cold and dreary night thinking of the word "no" I am reminded of my dealings with "no" and how it gingerly pushes me away to somehow find my voice.  Can it be that the word "no" with all of its negative connotations, and this is from my perspective, be more positive, even more loving than the word "yes"?  You see there are a few folks who see "yes" as that most invitational of words.  Surely nothing is so great as the word "yes" yet there are times I long for the word "no" when you are told no more, enough, finished. Love and life are dynamic, risky and seldom without event and in this context "no" can become be a welcomed friend. 

Learning and then loving the word "no" emerges from a journey that has experienced the joys, sorrows, pains and suffering of a hope filled life.  Now it may seem that "hope" and "no" may not belong in the same neighborhood but on the contrary they very much do.  Frankly its hard to vision "hope" without "no" being a part of "hopes" narrative.  I suggest here that "no" is the origin even the ground of hope.  This may be too hard or may be too abstract for some yet I suggest that nothing like the word "no" prompts as much rebellion and longing for change like "no". 

When we are told "no" to medical care, "no" to education, "no" to employment, "no" to our state of being, we are transitioning into that hopeful place that calls for action.  It is that place, that sacred place that compels one to do something.  This post does not emerge from an academic paper for the purposes of a scholarly pursuit but from a life, a person who knows the value of "no".   And this is where the joy of "no" comes, that the word "no" somehow fulfills the human soul, even the touch as it creates more and more a longing of the soul for a most sincere pure and cosmic love. 

I invite whoever reads this post to look at the word "no" and rediscover this little word and its power to transform life indeed I suggest more than the word "yes" and experience the incarnation of the beloved in a really different way.