Tuesday, November 14
After some wet and gray days, today just knocks me out with classic November sun on crisp November air. Mary Oliver writes of buttoning down for winter’s coming. Her poem is all about welcoming improbable visitors into one’s life.
I missed yesterday — my new MacBook pro only got operational (thank you Mark Paulik) last night. Very sweet to have a fresh working system.
I’ll be flying to Santa Clara tomorrow, so no post then. One more post one day this week, I hope. Next week back to normal until Christmas break.
john st sj
Today’s Post, “Making the House Ready for the Lord”
Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but
still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example, is an
uproar of mice – it is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under
the eaves
and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances – but it is
the season
when they need shelter, so what shall I do?
And the raccoon limps into the kitchen and
opens the cupboard
while the dog snores, the cat hugs the pillow;
what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling
in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly
up the path to the door. And still I believe
you will
come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox,
the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering
sea-goose, know
that really I am speaking to you whenever I say,
as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in,
Come in.
Mary Oliver