In the Growing Light

 What a beautiful sunrise this morning. I truly believe that our deepest call in these times is gratitude.  I found this quote by Richard Rohr to be illuminating. And who can resist a Mary Oliver poem? I leave you with both.  

 

"God does not directly destroy evil, the way our heroic and dualistic minds would like to imagine. God is much wiser, wastes nothing, and includes everything. The God of the Bible is best known for transmuting and transforming our very evils into our own more perfect good. God uses our sins in our own favor! God brings us - through failure - from unconsciousness to ever deeper consciousness and conscience. How could that not be good news for just about everybody?"

Richard Rohr, Breathing Under Water   

   

Be still, my soul, and steadfast.
Earth and heaven both are still watching
though time is draining from the clock
and your walk, that was confident and quick,
has become slow.

So, be slow if you must, but let
the heart still play its true part.
Love still as once you loved, deeply
and without patience. Let God and the world
know you are grateful.
That the gift has been given.

~ Mary Oliver, First Sip  

   

image: San Leandro, May 2023

Learning to See

 I received this poem from the SALT Project a couple of days ago, and have been pondering it ever since.  There is so much trauma in the world today, and far too much of it is experienced by children.  I am convinced we must deepen our knowledge of the lasting effects of unaddressed trauma. Yet, I think Mary Oliver's understanding that all humans will experience both light and darkness in our lives is a valuable reminder to look deeper into our darkness. There is light to be had there. Trying to avoid the darkness is mostly impossible. We cannot outrun it. So we learn to take root right where we are. There, we find God, and we begin to see.   

   

Someone I loved once gave me 

a box full of darkness. 

 

It took me years to understand 

that this, too, was a gift.   

 

Mary Oliver  

  

photograph was taken in San Leandro several years ago.