{"id":1045,"date":"2015-01-05T00:00:02","date_gmt":"2015-01-05T05:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1045"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:49:54","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:49:54","slug":"1045","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2015\/01\/05\/1045\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Jan 5 — “All that is harsh and dissonant in my life, melts . . .” Tagore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday January 5 \u2014 start-up time<\/strong><\/p>\n

About 5:30 this morning the western sky over Livernois showed off the moon\u2019s sharp edges as if the first full week of Term 2 were sheer magic. \u00a0 Made me want to dance into the day. \u00a0 By 7:00 cloud cover had erased that moon from sight, but not from memory. \u00a0Time to settle in and get used to work weeks again. \u00a0This post, taken mostly from last January 14, is dedicated to the beauty of what universities do, as crisp and wonderful as today\u2019s early morning moon. \u00a0Dedicated to our primary identity of teaching and learning.<\/p>\n

We are a university. \u00a0\u00a0Here, people listen, take each other seriously. \u00a0Teachers listen to students. \u00a0 When I taught full-time, some students told me one day that I was most scary when one of them would say something and I would turn around and write her\/his words on the board, circle one word then turn around and ask: “Why did you choose that<\/strong><\/span> word?” \u00a0Teachers do that. \u00a0Listen for the voice, call it forth; expect respect for words. \u00a0 Not only teachers though. \u00a0Universities call on students to listen to each other, to expect meaning from each other. \u00a0Also, \u00a0administrative assistants, \u00a0staff in the registrar’s office, \u00a0nurse practitioners in the student wellness center, \u00a0campus security officers, coaches; \u00a0lots of listening. \u00a0 \u00a0On good days, each of us knows that. \u00a0And on hard days, maybe one of our peers will notice and ask how we are doing, and listen to our story.<\/p>\n

Rabindranath Tagore writes of God expecting a song from human beings, thrilling us by sacred attention.\u00a0\u00a0(Gitanjali # 2)<\/p>\n

Have a good week.<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tagore # 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Thou commandest me to sing
\nit seems that my heart would break with pride
\nand I look to Thy face
\nand tears come to my eyes.<\/p>\n

All that is harsh and dissonant in my life
\nmelts into one sweet harmony
\nand my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird
\non its flight across the sea.<\/p>\n

I know Thou takest pleasure in my singing
\nI know that only as a singer I come before Thy presence
\nI touch by the edge of the far spreading wing of my song
\nThy feet which I could never aspire to reach.<\/p>\n

Drunk with the joy of singing
\nI forget myself
\nand call Thee friend
\nwho art my lord.<\/p>\n

Tagore\u00a0 Gitanjali<\/span>\u00a0 # 2<\/p>\n

\"Tagore\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1913<\/strong>
\nRabindranath Tagore<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday January 5 \u2014 start-up time About 5:30 this morning the western sky over Livernois showed off the moon\u2019s sharp edges as if the first full week of Term 2 were sheer magic. \u00a0 Made me want to dance into … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1045"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1048,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045\/revisions\/1048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}