Mary Oliver again. She never lets you down, does she? This is from Halleluiah
Everyone should be born into this world happy
and loving everything.
But in truth it rarely works that way.
For myself, I have spent my life clamoring toward it.
Halleluiah, anyway I’m not where I started!
And have you too been trudging like that, sometimes
almost forgetting how wondrous the world is
and how miraculously kind some people can be?
You can read the entire poem here
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
“…almost forgetting how wondrous the world is.” That is a wondrous way to begin the week. Mary never fails and I am grateful to encounter this post today!
Fran,
You’re right that Mary never seems to fail us. And it is good to remember, amidst all the angst and suffering in our world, that it still is a wondrous gift from God.
Paul
“Halleluiah – I’m sixty now, and even a little more, and I feel like I have wings.”
Ditto, and Amen!
Thanks for starting the week by including her poem.
Bob,
Good for you. Soar high and fly far.
Paul
I’m with Bob as I read the rest of the poem – how could I not?? – and I am retiring on June 30th and yes, I am “even a little more” than 65 but “I feel like I have wings.”
The most striking line for me is we almost forget “how miraculously kind some people can be”. It is so important to be those kind people and to see the kindness in others.
When I’m retired I will be able to take time to read more of Mary Oliver’s wonderful poems!
Paul, thanks for sharing.
Lynda,
As someone famous once said, “Oh, the places you’ll go!”
This will be a big transition for you but I’m glad that you approach it with such great spirit. I hope it will mark a great and glorious phase in your life.
Paul
Time to remember to look up and not trudge! May the start of the week be full of joy…
Michelle,
A great reminder – we shouldn’t trudge. I have a tendency to look down and constantly need to be encouraged to look at the sky and the stars.
Paul
Lovely, what a perfect way to describe what it means to live in the present moment!
Mike,
Ah, yes. The present moment. Love to be there sometime!
Paul
Oh, I am sixty and a little more. I feel I still have far to go, still seeking, sometimes flying, sometimes being caught up in the muck and mire of here below. Too busy being grumpy!
Since I can’t fly free into my own pursuits as much as I’d like – I will be working for at least a few more years, I better start looking around. I think if you are always looking for the wonderful time to come, you may be missing the blessings in the now. Guilty!
m.
You and me both Marg! It’s been a tough day to see the good stuff (recurring bad stuff always brings the worst out of me) but when I checked out the PFO blog I managed to have a smile (recurring good stuff to compensate). God is good
God is good, and so is life
Marg,
I forget who said it, but in the Words of Wisdom quotes there is one that really hit home for me, “As it turns out, the moment you’ve been waiting for is now.”
I am more guilty than you, I bet, of “missing the blessings in the now.”
Paul
Oh, this works for me today!
I mentioned a few weeks ago about some friends who saved the life of a woman who was suicidal. I met her with those friends on Saturday and saw a broken person being put back together by a group of, to all intents and purposes, strangers. None of them are what anyone would traditionally call call saints but each and every one of them was making sure that she never felt as lonely as she did on that day. They were all wrapping their wings around her.
Simon,
Thanks be to God!
I have a deep sense of gratitude for your friends who reached out and also that this woman was open to receive this life line.
The image of them wrapping their wings around her. Beautiful!
Me too. I didn’t know this woman at all and when I heard about it I felt like they had lifted my sister out of the jaws of despair. It is things like that that remind me that humanity is innately good.
Simon,
It is so consoling to know that in what is too often a cold and callous world there are those who will reach out to help and support someone. Thanks for sharing this.
Paul