Last week’s blog post honored the treasures of the land, with its power to heal, and its gifts of providing food, clothing, and shelter. The land grounds us, provides stability under our feet, nourishes our souls and feeds our bodies.
However, work is often required to receive these gifts, especially the strength and courage to love others, even the unlovely.
Especially the unlovely.
April is National Poetry Month, and I give you famed poet Mary Oliver, who declares that her “work” is loving the world, especially the natural world. The sketch below illustrates her intent.
Image: Dharma Comics
My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird –
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,
Which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.
~ Mary Oliver
In honor of National Poetry Month, take the time to celebrate poets everywhere. Then, contemplate a better world, and take action to practice the Golden Rule as the New Testament book of Luke 6:31 proclaims:
And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
Special Word of the Week: CATHEXIS
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “Cathexis” is defined as the concentration of mental energy on one particular person, idea, or object. Although the word contains some negative or neutral connotations, it also suggests this idea:
WHEN YOU CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE’S WELFARE AND LEARNING, YOU BEGIN TO ACCEPT THEIR DIFFERENCES — EVEN APPRECIATE THEM.
Can you contribute some lines (poetry or prose) that have inspired you to practice the Golden Rule?
Have you noticed acts of kindness this week, this month, or this year? Tell us please!
I especially love this quote. “WHEN YOU CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE’S WELFARE AND LEARNING, YOU BEGIN TO ACCEPT THEIR DIFFERENCES — EVEN APPRECIATE THEM.” I have always lived my life by the golden rules as I was raised that way. But I have also learned over the years that you should treat people the way they want to be treated, because sometimes the way I want to be treated may be different. This requires finding out how they wish to be treated and appreciate their differences.
You’re so right about treating people the way they want to be treated, and it has taken me time to learn this.
i agree,
Darlene, what a brilliant observation. I would guess that your living in different cultures (Canada, Spain, and other European lands) has helped you tune into the subtle differences in each. It strikes me now that your knowing these nuances has affected how Amanda behaves in your books!
Thanks for starting the conversation here today, and Liz and Shirley for chiming in!
“We have the opportunity many times a day, every day, to be the one who listens to others, curious rather than certain.”
—Margaret J. Wheatley from Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future
My favourite stanza from the poem above is:
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
A good reminder for my morning!
Thanks for showing up here with more insights,. I am really enjoying your poetry, Arlene!
This is a great poem, Marian. I’m embarrassed to say that until recently, I hadn’t read any of Mary Oliver’s poetry, since I don’t usually read poetry. But her poems are extraordinary. Thank you for sharing this one.
No need for embarrassment on this score, Barbara. We can’t read everything. I am amazed at the prodigious amount of reading & reviewing I notice on your blog. I’m glad this poem hit the spot for you!
It did and guess what, I was watching a show later last week and one of the characters quoted Mary Oliver. It’s that thing where once you become aware of something you discover it everywhere!
I know the feeling! 🙂
“My Work Is Loving the World” reminds me very much of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty.” As Darlene noted, I was brought up on the Golden Rule. Nowadays, Jiminy Cricket alights on my right shoulder from time to time to whisper in my ear, “If you say this, will it be helpful?” (When he asks, the answer is always No!)
What a neat “fit,” Liz. To refresh my memory and those of other readers: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44399/pied-beauty
Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
About the last part: More people need to have a Jiminy Cricket perched on their shoulders, including mine sometimes!
Thank you for posting the “Pied Beauty” for your other readers to enjoy.
My pleasure, Liz!
Thank you for recommending this poetry from Mary Oliver I’m going to look up her work. I try everyday to live by the golden rule in treating others as I would want to be treated. To who much was given much is expected. God has blessed me immensely I live to bless others for them to glorify my God.
Thank you Marian for blessing us with your weekly blog. I love when I can join.
And I love having you here. Mom would be so happy to read your comments here. You may also like the poem Liz suggested (above). Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poems were often influenced by his experience as a preacher.
Thanks for joining the conversation here today, Gloria!
Lovely poem, Marian, Thank you for giving me a good start for this day.
You are an early riser with lots to do these days. I’m glad this early-morning posting gave you a good start, Shirley.
Good morning, Marian! A lovely post and reminder. I think this past year has shown us the best and the worst in people.
Happy Poetry Month!
Yes, when people are under pressure, what’s inside comes out. I hope the worst is behind us, and I hope even more that we continue to see the best. Thanks for checking in here and paying homage to Poetry Month in every season, Merril!
💙
Beautiful post, Marian! Laura Bruno Lilly also mentioned Mary Oliver in a post, so I’m so glad to be reminded of this treasured poet.😊 (I didn’t know it was poetry month I am so behind the times!)
If you are “behind the times,” as you say, it’s only because you are very busy writing, editing, and more. Thanks for introducing me to Laura Bruno. I checked her website but couldn’t find the post with Mary Oliver. Hmmmm
I hope you can spend some time enjoying nature today, if only a short walk, L. Marie. Blessings!
Marian — Len and I had the privilege of seeing Mary Oliver in person when we lived an hour’s train ride north of Chicago. We had second row tickets and got to listen to her read her poetry for an evening. The poem you shared here today is lovely. Thank you.
Wonderful, Laurie, that you heard Mary Oliver read.
When you see & hear an author in person, you never respond to their work the same ever after. I think this is happening with your book signings, I’ve noticed. We write in solitude, but we rejoice in community. I am taking your book with me when I relax with my sisters next week.
By the way, thanks to you, I’m starting to sign my books with first-name only. Maybe it’s a “thing” – ha!
Respecting each other’s differences while rejoicing in our common needs for respect as we see it. A topic of in-depth conversations with a good friend who has chosen a path radically different than mine. And loving each other for the sameness of our human plight. Truly a gift in these times.
As you mention here, many of my blog friends too “have chosen a radically different path from” mine. In fact, the neighbor I walk with has religious and political views which contrast to mine. However, we both like reading, watching Netflix, and are about the same age, so we concentrate on what we have in common, including grandchildren. Thanks for mentioning the “gift” of human connection, however it arrives, Ginger.
I don’t think I have seen that beautiful Norman Rockwell painting before! Neither did I know the word “cathexis”. And for some unknown reason, I was not aware that April was National Poetry Month, so I have learned a lot from your blog post today! Thank you! I often read your post to Hardy at the breakfast table and he enjoys it too!
Like you, this particular Norman Rockwell painting was new to me too. I was startled when I saw it, so appropriate for these times.
About the word “Cathexis” – Long ago when I was still teaching I had a green index card with the positive definition on it. Recently, when I looked the word up in the OED, the connotation was mostly negative. Thus, I assume the meaning has changed over time, OR the lecturer I once heard teased out the positive meaning.
I am blessed that you (and Hardy) read my posts, Elfrieda. Thank you!
Hi,
This is a beautiful proclamation about being gracious. I have often found that people who have a problem with being gracious to others often have a problem with being gracious to themselves.They cannot accept others because they cannot accept themselves.I believe if we learn to truly love ourselves , we are compelled from within to walk circumspectly in the world, accepting and treating others as we want to be treated.
Shalom aleichem
Pat, you are correct! What you say is rooted in scripture: Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. … And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22: 35-40).
Self-love is not being vain. We are wonderfully created in God’s image and He loves us no matter what. Thanks for your wise observation here, Pat.
No one can say it better than Rumi:
“Your acts of kindness
are iridescent wings
of divine love
which linger and continue
to uplift others
long after your sharing.”
I try to notice beauty and kindness (especially on a cold snowy day in April when we want flowers instead of snowflakes) and it’s always there, somewhere. My friend asks if she can pick up something for me in town. My son stops by to take the heavy bags of potting soil out of my car. A FB acquaintance begins a Go Fund Me campaign for a friend my son’s age with aggressive breast cancer and I can offer a gift from my family–so the kindness is giving me a way to help. The return of the Bluebird, the song of the Eastern Phoebe, the swoop of the Tree Swallow–always surprising acts of Nature’s and the Creator’s generous kindness. Thank you, Marion, for touching my heart.
Elaine, what a paeon to nature you’ve given us. I can picture the iridescent wings, and if I go outside I may see a butterfly fly by with such a description. This sounds idyllic but nearby I see and feel summer licking its fiery tongue, coming in May, just as you wish for snow to be gone already.
I hear the gratitude all the way through. And even if we have disappointments a-plenty, we have SO much to be thankful for. Thanks for the specific reminders here!
“Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.”
Psalm 37:8
Those words have served me well over the years. They don’t exactly speak directly to the Golden Rule, but they have guided me in the direction of it. I try to be kind as I fret not.
Being mad saps our energy + then we have to go back and make amends (maybe). I join you in fretting not, dear Ally!
You may have read Liz’s comment above, which relates so well to your point: “Nowadays, Jiminy Cricket alights on my right shoulder from time to time to whisper in my ear, “If you say this, will it be helpful?” (When he asks, the answer is always No!)” 🙂
“which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.” I love this line, Marian. This is exactly how we should spend our lives. Thank you for sharing this beautiful poem.
I’m glad you could relate to a specific line. As a poet, you know the value of standing still to observe. Thank you, Robbie!
My sister-in-law has the courage and patience of a saint. She is caring for two of her grandsons, full time at the moment. The issues are like those many families face. She keeps going with medicines to ease her pain, but loves the children with all her heart. They adopted six children. These are some of the grandchildren. She has given her all.
It sounds as though your sister-in-law should be canonized. Oh, my!
I wonder if she has any help since she is probably past middle-age when energy wanes. Thanks, Melodie, for saluting all those who go beyond the call of duty, including this wonderful woman. 🙂
Her daughters help out a lot. I say daughters because she has just one son, with 3 children of his own to help with. Her husband helps as he is able but he can’t go running after kids either … likes to hold them etc.
I wonder if the topic of your sister-in-law could be a follow-up blog post, Melodie. People like this don’t get noticed enough and probably don’t seek recognition either, but we serve El Roi, the God who Sees!
Yep. I’m a fan of the Golden Rule and I totally live by it. I think. 🙂 Our house sitting days come to mind as well, where we would assure home owners we would leave the house as we found it (often cleaner) and how we would treat their home and pets as if they were our own. Not quite the same, but similar sentiments. An open mind, kindness, tolerance, and respect all attribute to understanding and appreciating the peoples and cultures of the world.
You have practiced the Golden Rule and then some. Now see where it has gotten you – and Mark too. What you send out into the world comes back to you in spades. I’m so happy for your success with more to some, Liesbet! 🙂
This blog post comes at a pivotal time in our history. It is vital to love each other and love our earth. Most importantly when we love God, things have a way of falling into place.
I am posting my website here because this site never recognizes my URL:
http://www.drkatherinehayes.com
Presto! When I see your profile face as I do now, and not an anonymous “quilty” design, that means that your comment has come through without my moderating it. Woot woot!
I hope things are going better for you these days. And I wonder if I will see you Saturday, Dr. Katherine. 🙂
Wonderful reminder, Marian! 💞 Sharing the love… xoxoxo
Thank you, Bette! 🙂
I love that philosophy. My belief is that we all have a responsibility to look out not only for ourselves but for others, including the unborn of the next generation. Leave your part of the world in better shape than when you first got there.
You are certainly doing your part, Pete, and I’m trying to do the same. I think we feel more committed to the next generation as the years fly by. Thanks for always echoing positivity here. 🙂
Thank you Marian, a beautiful poem. I’m familiar with it and Mary Oliver and she always delights.
Treat others as THEY would want to be treated – just changing the emphasis a little. But it’s a good yardstick to use one’s self assuming one wants the best for one’s self.
Harm no thing does it for me ..
Susan, I’m not surprised that you are familiar with Mary Oliver’s poetry. I like your emphasis too and also the add-on: Harm no thing for me includes all living things, including our environment. Thanks for chiming in again! 🙂
Lovely, lovely post which I haver re-read two times, because I need this reminder of love of the world, and all the people within it. Norman Rockwell was a genius, and greatly underappreciated by artists at the time. HIs painting here IS poetry. Lastly, my writing students are not going to thank you, because in the next prompt I give them, they must include the word: cathexis!
Ha! Ha! Your students will be all the wiser–how lovely they have you, Ms. Wight-ing.
Like you I have been amazed with Rockwell’s work. I’ve always thought he was a genius, but slightly sentimental. Now I know what an activist he actually was: Remember little Ruby Bridges escorted to school by US marshals in the 1960s.
Always good to hear from you, Pam. 🙂
Yes, and I think we’ve talked about visiting the Norman Rockwell Museum in western Mass. It is eye-opening about his artistic finesse and activism.
🙂
Hello Marian, I am so happy with this post and for the chance to read all the comments. My work to love the world currently includes the chance to be worship leader for a May 2nd worship service where the sermon is going to be: “In the World AND of the World.” It is such an exciting time to feel how a swell for loving the earth, including people, is building.
Oh, how I love your reply, underscoring our kinship with earth and with others. God bless you as you bring glory to Him as worship leader very soon.
I believe we are seeing ways our craving for connection is being satisfied as we leave lockdown. Thanks for adding to the conversation here, which reminds me of a verse that echoes your sentiment: Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Blessings, Dolores!
Such a beautiful poem by Mary Oliver . Poetry is such a great way to express yourself . As you are aware , we lost Prince Philip a couple of weeks ago , I don’t know whether you have heard Simon Armitage’s poem that was written for him at his funeral…worth a gander .
Cherryx
Oh, Cherry, without your comment I would have been deprived of a simply stunning poem. I will put the link here for others to read too, an elegy for Prince Philip: https://www.the-sun.com/news/2725738/prince-philip-poem-simon-armitage-funeral-elegy-duke-edinburgh/#:~:text=What%20is%20Simon%20Armitage's%20funeral,occasion%20in%20the%20prestigious%20role.
Yes, I was well aware of his passing, put did not hear or see this great tribute, so HUGE THANKS!
My favorite line: “major oak in the wood.” Though the Prince was never a monarch, he was definitely a patriarch to quite a motley crew of a family, especially the grandchildren. Actually, when you think about it, their antics remind us of the ups and downs of regular families too. xox
That is one of my favourite Mary Oliver poems!
I’m glad you could revisit it here, Fiona! 🙂
Marian…I always told my children that I would be proud of them as long as they were truthfully the best they could be…this excerpt highlights this beautifully x
If you can’t be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail —
Be the best of whatever you are!
An excerpt from a poem by Douglas Malloch
I love this, Carol! Thanks for introducing me to the poetry of Douglas Malloch. He is wise and worth remembering!