Heart, I implore you,
it's time to come back from the dark,
it's morning, the hill are pink
and the roses whatever they felt
in the valley of night
are opening now
their soft dresses, their leaves
are shining. Why are you laggard?
Sure you have seen this a thousand times,
which isn't half enough. Let the world
have its way with you, luminous as it is
with mystery and pain-
graced as it is with the ordinary.
It is quite dark now. Election day has passed and soon I'll pick up the paper and wonder if we can ever have the kind of discourse that will bring peace and flourishing to our communities of mixed species. Compounding this I am reading a novel about the Columbine High School shootings. I wonder how we can move from blame and darkness when there is so much pain? My prayer in the graying dawn is for my heart to not give up and to stay engaged instead of painting the world with a brush laden with opaque and dull thoughts. I know of no way to guarantee the course of the heart in a day - except to give into the day where there will always be shadows and always be something illuminated, with a smile shining through it.
How has the ordinary graced your life?
It is 4 November 2024, LoraKim, and tomorrow marks an election that will change the course of American history. I am trusting that we-as a country-will pass through it without violence. The gaslighting narrative of a major candidate has soiled our airwaves and digital and print spaces for almost a decade (and even before if one was familiar with the man as I had to misfortune to be)...It is very dark now. Election day proper will begin in a handfull of hours and I will pray to the Infinite to muster All That Is Good in full force to protect our Country and all of our people. These have been such terribly disorienting times of the loss of decency and the sullying of our American Conversation, but there are always and everywhere the everyday (extra)ordinary miracles of Nature and her creatures and of the kindness and goodness that still shines from the hearts of many. Hope you are safe and at peace. Gratitude again for this blog of Mary Oliver days, from 13 years in your future. Best, Alexandra.
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