Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way: A Poem By Mary Oliver

Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way: A Poem

By Mary Oliver

If you're John Muir you want trees to 
live among. If you're Emily, a garden
will do. 
Try to find the right place for yourself. 
If you can't find it, at least dream of it. 

                                             •

When one is alone and lonely, the body
gladly lingers in the wind or the rain, 
or splashes into the cold river, or
pushes through the ice-crusted snow. 

Anything that touches. 

                                             •

God, or the gods, are invisible, quite
understandable. But holiness is visible, 
entirely. 

                                             •

Some words will never leave God's mouth, 
no matter how hard you listen.  

                                             •

In all the works of Beethoven, you will 
not find a single lie.

                                             •

All important ideas must include the trees,
the mountains, and the rivers. 

                                             •

To understand many things you must reach out 
of your own condition. 

                                             •

For how many years did I wander slowly 
through the forest. What wonder and 
glory I would have missed had I ever been
in a hurry!

                                             •

Beauty can both shout and whisper, and still
it explains nothing. 

                                             •

The point is, you're you, and that's for keeps.

---

This poem is excerpted with permission from Mary Oliver's latest collection of poetry,Felicity, published by Penguin Press in October, 2015.

A holy Lent, a whole Lent?

We pray that we might lead a holy Lent.  A holy Lent.  Holy.  Lent.  Holiness has to do with being whole; that to live in a whole way, we must consider our sinfulness, but also consider our blessedness.

All too often, the church has been a reminder of our sinfulness, of the ways that we don’t live up to God’s gift, of the ways that we fall down, and the church has all too often only been a source of reminding us of this sinfulness.  All too often, I find myself encountering people who are in some sense “recovering” Christians – be they Episcopalians, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians or whatever room of the great mansion they may come from.  They are, in some senses “recovering” from the baggage laid on them, and perhaps also, I am sorry to say, abuse. 

Speaking of sin is important, because it can help us to really live in such a way that we know that we can’t “do it” all on our own.  As Paul said, he “sees the good, but can’t do it.”  We may know in our hearts and minds what it might mean to live well and good and lovingly and morally, but sometimes, we just can’t quite make it happen.  Speaking of sin is important for the Church because it is a helpful antedote to arrogance and narcissism.  Speaking of sin is important, in order to help us to focus more on God and our neighbor than on our self.

Speaking of sin, however, can’t be all that the church does. . .  we also need to remember that we are blessed! 

New York City, Chopping Wood, Carrying Water

Riverside Park,...NYC...just a beautiful place.

We arrived today and my wife began her program at Columbia. I had the great pleasure of walking around with my two boys and also checking out some of the amazing sights and sites of New York City. It is exhausting to be watching two kids under 5, but also exhilarating and a tremendous blessing. As a person who grew up in the woods of Vermont, I still am surprised at the trees and nature that can be found in cities. I give great thanks to the visionaries who set aside these areas, and also great thanks to those who continue to maintain these oases in the midst of concrete and steel.

There is an eastern proverb which I believe is either Taoist or Buddhist in origin that says:

"Before enlightenment, chopping wood, carrying water....
after enlightenment, chopping wood, carrying water."

Essentially, even after profound spiritual and mystical experiences our lives remain enmeshed in the everyday. For me, my ordination to the diaconate was a mountaintop experience, and I have had a few of these deeply connecting spiritual experiences. However, I have learned that these experiences are deep, yet do not last forever in their intensity. I know now that I cannot remain on the mountaintop forever, and there is much "chopping wood," and "carrying water" to be done. It seems that a key goal is to find a way to have these seemingly mundane tasks become enlivened and deepened. In the Christian framework, we believe in the Incarnation, that God really became human, as Joan Osborne* asks, "What if God was one of us...?"

Well, that is what we, as Christians, believe, that God became one of us, and is here among us, between us, within us even today. So even our "chopping wood," "carrying water," "changing diapers," "finding snacks," and "playing in the playground," are all enlivened and deepened through the work of the Spirit.


*Shout out to CB for the reminder that it was Joan Osborne and not Alanis Morisette that sang this song!!! (Thanks!!)

Santos Woodcarving Popsicles

The inspiration for this blog came from the photo that was taken at Chimayo, New Mexico a few years ago while I was visiting my wife's parents in Santa Fe. We drove up to Chimayo, which I will write more about soon in another post. The words on the wall of the shop advertise these three items: Santos - those small carved figures of the saints (santos) that are very common in the Southwest; Woodcarving - there are all kinds of woodcarvings to be purchased, many with a religious/spiritual theme; and finally, Popsicles - if I need to describe what popsicles are, I am sorry for you, but I love popsicles.

What I really love about this sign is that these three items are not expected to be advertised together, they point to the holy, but also to the everyday, and make no excuses for the everyday and the holy to be merged and unified.

I will (Godwilling) be ordained this week to the transitional Diaconate in the Episcopal Church and am keen to stay connected to the holy, but also be fully integrated and involved with the everyday.

With this blog, I hope to reflect upon the everyday and the holy and perhaps explore the ways that we have a tendency to separate the everyday and the holy, to separate the santos from the popsicles ...

...however, in our moments of deepest connection to one another and to nature, and to God, I believe that we do see the profound way that there is no separation between the Santos, the Woodcarving, and the Popsicles...(more to come...)