Imagery from Afghanistan and Iran

Saffron, the world's most expensive spice,
is derived from the flower of the saffron crocus
(Crocus sativus)

A few favorite passages . . .
On ETERNAL RETURN
from The Saffron Kitchen, Yasmin Crowther

"It was suddenly a warm afternoon, a lost summer day in late autumn . . . " (48).

"That's the way of things: saffron, shit, saffron, shit" (175).


On SUSTENANCE
from A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini

"You make the night to pass into the day and You make the day to pass into the night, and You bring forth the living from the dead and You bring forth the dead from the living, and You give sustenance to whom You please without measure.

"Give sustenance, Allah.

"Give sustenance to me" (87).


On THEFT & FORGIVENESS
from The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

"Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. . . . When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. . . . There is no act more wretched than stealing, Amir" (17 - 18).

"Then I realized something: That last thought had brought no sting with it. Closing Sohrab's door, I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night" (359).


P.S. April 2020

More on Forgiveness:
from Nadia Bolz-Weber:

"I’m not sure what allows us to forgive. . . . Harm is harm. Forgiveness doesn’t minimize harm, nor does it exonerate the perpetrators. But maybe it can free victims. Free us from carrying someone else’s burden - someone else’s shame - someone else’s sin. That is for them to carry alone. And when it comes, when forgiveness shows up, it feels free and unbidden . . . and it brings life, and life abundant. Yes, forgiveness feels impossible, and also like the most holy thing there is."

and from my sister Diane Burrows:
" . . . if you can, open your hand and let the guilt go."

and from The Little Paris Bookshop