This was one of those weeks for me when all things converged.
Conversations overlapped, unspoken needs got answered, everyone (it seemed) held up mirrors for one another.
The topics at hand included success, cancer, sleeplessness, politics, houseguests, fear, running, education, food and technology. It was a busy week.
And still, the answer to pretty much every question was the same.
There is spiritual in the actual, sacred in the ordinary, ideas (as William Carlos Williams would say) in things.
This was a good reminder, when so many things seem impossible to grasp and my body either threatens to sink or implode or combust in the buzz of it all. It was a good reminder to look around and notice what beauty is at hand right here and now. It was a good reminder to eat my bowl of fruit and pour my cup of coffee, kiss my family and kiss them again, and do the work that makes my heart sing. It would be silly, after a week like mine, to ignore a reminder like that.
The Inner History of a Day
by John O’Donohue
No one knew the name of this day;
Born quietly from deepest night,
It hid its face in light,
Demanded nothing for itself,
Opened out to offer each of us
A field of brightness that traveled ahead,
Providing in time, ground to hold our footsteps
And the light of thought to show the way.
(Read the rest here…)
(Hear a lovely interview with John O’Donohue and recitation of some of his poems in his warm Irish brogue here…)
Happy Friday, my friends.
Namaste.
It’s fascinating, the lessons we learn when we open our hearts and minds to the Teacher Within.
Namaste to you, too.
They’re all there, aren’t they?
“the smallness that fuels our fear and force”
Oh yeah. That’s it, right there.
Beautiful poem. So much truth and wisdom. Thank you!
Isn’t that a fine, fine line?
“what beauty is at hand” is a lovely phrase. And that’s from you, not the poem!
But I do love the poem. I’m going to share it with my yoga teacher.
Yes, do!
This is another new poet for me. I just love that about Poetry Friday, meeting all these new poets. What I also find fascinating (about myself) is that if I had come across this poem on my own I probably wouldn’t have slowed down enough to appreciate it. But because you chose to highlight I took some time to be with it.
This is my favorite stanza
We seldom notice how each day is a holy place
Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,
Transforming our broken fragments
Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.
I love the idea of transforming our broken fragments.
I totally know what you mean, Susan. It’s not, on its face, the type of poetry I typically lean toward. It was listening to this interview with the poet that got me to absorb it properly. And I LOVE that “eucharist of the ordinary” line — my very favorite.
Tanita Says 🙂
“It would be silly, after a week like mine, to ignore a reminder like that.”
Oh, yes. May we continue to be transformed from broken fragments into continuity, and community. xo
Re: Tanita Says 🙂
Yes — that’s a good and proper prayer…