Hello family!
So, it looks like Spring may finally be arriving. This winter was only my second that I’ve ever spent in Chicago, and goodness gracious did it feel long and cold. I cannot wait for the sunshine to return more fully. In the spirit of Spring, I was reading one of my favorite poets, Mary Oliver; she loved nature and wrote on the natural world often. I thought I’d share a piece of her work. I find her poems as good heart food to mediate on while I take some quiet time, and since we’re trying to take more quiet time during Lent, I thought a little poetry might be a nourishing way to do that. Anyway, this is her poem entitled “Gethsemane”.
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Gethsemane (by Mary Oliver)
The grass never sleeps.
Or the roses.
Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning.
Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept.
The cricket has such splendid fringe on its feet,
and it sings, have you noticed, with its whole body,
and heaven knows if it even sleeps.
Jesus said, wait with me. And maybe the stars did, maybe
the wind wound itself into a silver tree, and didn’t move,
maybe
the lake far away, where once he walked as on a
blue pavement,
lay still and waited, wild awake.
Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not
keep that vigil, how they must have wept,
so utterly human, knowing this too
must be a part of the story.
