August 13 to 19 – a week of hard news

Friday, August 18

These past few days I’ve read several news reporters who wrote something like this: “I will be so glad for this week to end!  So much hard news,  so confusing and frightening as well.  It’s not clear either, whether things events will not seem more threatening a week from now.

Keeping up with the world’s news always requires courage and patience but these past weeks! !   They test our mettle.

What, then, might make a helpful Friday read?

A love poem, a poem about revolutionary love, a brave poem.     I often think this is my all time favorite.

Best to read out loud, with pauses.

Have a blest weekend.

 

john sj

 

Today’s Post – “Prayer for Revolutinary Love”

That a woman not ask a man to leave meaningful work to follow her
That a man not ask a woman to leave meaningful work to follow him.

That no one try to put Eros in bondage
But that no one put a cudgel in the hands of Eros.

That our loyalty to one another and our loyalty to our work
not be set in false conflict.

That our love for each other give us love for each other’s work
That our love for each other’s work give us love for one another.

That our love for each other’s work give us love for one another.
That our love for each other give us love for each other’s work.

That our love for each other, if need be,
give way to absence.  And the unknown.

That we endure absence, if need be,
without losing our love for each other.
Without closing our doors to the unknown.

Denise Levertov


1923 – 1997

 

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