In the heart-sick shadows of grief from daily outbreaks of violence and hate: what else but to rise and walk with reverence and vigilant humanity.
(With acts and prayers for New Zealand.)
To walk with reverence under the conversation of trees,
to lie in the still-warm deer-flattened circles of fescue,
to know the wind by the bend of willows,
to watch the way a diving duck takes wing,
to sow silence among the rank shoots of disquiet,
to fend for the rivers that carry the waste of our industry,
to pray beneath the electric icicles in the centre of a decaying city,
to stop for Lucille who begs beside the Royal Bank,
to release regret to waves, the woods, the wind,
to flee the noose of comparison,
to trust the nail in your heel to strengthen you,
to be true to a moment of insight for the rest of your life,
to wonder at the extravagance of stars,
to travel beyond your treasured conclusions,
to serve a calling through every failure,
to bear the weight of heartache,
to resist the lie of fear that leads to violence,
to speak against the militant spirit of division,
to rise and set out in the absence of hope,
to sing under the sentence of chance and oblivion,
to exhale the horizon and breathe the landscape at hand,
to study the fog for a small flame,
to be shade for the fevered,
to light the time you’re in,
to love the whole day through,
to watch for the homeward angel,
these are instructions for the pilgrim.
May it be so…
Thank you adela. In hope.
This will be my inspiration and direction going forward….manifesto …if you will.
Thank you for sharing your brilliant, creative, timely wisdom. It is for everyone.
Thank you so much Liz. That means a lot to me.
Amen Liz, we’ll said.
And thank you Jeff!
Your writing lifts me up and inspires me. Always has, always will. Thank you.
Thank you Linda. So gracious and kind, and encouraging.
I think this is one of your best, Stephen. Thank you. The words swell my heart in the belief that, “yes, I can actually aspire to do these things,” knowing that living this way takes more than simple belief. It takes day in and day out practice, doesn’t it Thank you for this beautiful invitation to live our lives with such conscience intention.
You humble and inspire me Ann. Thank you for this.
Beautiful nourishment.
Alison, thank you so much. Wonderful encouragement, and so lovely to have you drop by.
This radiant psalm has taken me for a hike robust enough to cause me to exhale the horizon and breathe the landscape at hand. Deeply grateful
Thank you so much Ray! Grateful for your encouragement, always.
Lines I loved:
“To walk with reverence under the conversation of trees,
“travel beyond your treasured conclusions, (especially this one!)
“to serve a calling through every failure,
“these are instructions for the pilgrim.
And, do I recognize the picture?
Thanks Sam! And yes, you recognize the picture. That was a memorable hike big brother.