Don’t flowers put on their
Prettiness each spring and
Go to it with
Everything they’ve got? Who
Would criticize the bed of
Yellow tulips or the blue
Hyacinths?
So put a
Bracelet on your
Ankle with a
Bell on it and make a
Little music for
The earth beneath your foot, or
Wear a hat with hot-colored
Ribbons for the
Pleasure of the
Leaves and the clouds, or at least
A ring with a gleaming
Stone for your finger; yesterday
I watched a mother choose
Exquisite ear-ornaments for someone
Beloved, in the spring
Of her life; they were
For her for sure, but also it seemed
A promise, a love message, a commitment
To all girls, and boys too, so
Beautiful and hopeful in this hard world
And young.
Yesterday Mary spoke of children who look out on a broken world. We the readers, and certainly myself, wondered what to do with that deep sorrow, and perhaps even despair. Here, a day later, Mary speaks to my heart and outlines my strategy. Let us know that there is both tragedy, and beauty in the world, and let us help our children see this. Surely every child born will look out on fragmented and wounded lives. We cannot stop this. This doesn’t keep us from doing all we can to mend that brokenness that seems far too difficult a task to “fix” in one lifetime or even thousands. Knowing that the arc of the moral universe bends so very slowly towards justice, what can we do while we wait for the beloved community to come into being? I think we might also commit our lives to beauty and to joy. For when we do, if even for one fleeting moment, we give others a chance to rejoice in the splendor of our world . May we so do this, giving hope in our hard world.
Where do you adorn your life for the sake of beauty and hope?
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