For once I’m writing my blog post before noon. Why? Because inspiration hit early for once!
My friend, Lisa — who feels, as do I, a deep love for the poetry of Mary Oliver — shared a poem that really spoke to me today. And I felt to distill its message down to these words to live by: Go easy; be filled with light; shine.
Trees remind us that we, too, have come into the world to do this. But how quickly we forget…
WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
@2006 by Mary Oliver
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
Published by Beacon Press in Thirst, p.4