{"id":1261,"date":"2015-03-16T00:00:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-16T04:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1261"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:49:36","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:49:36","slug":"march-16-saying-yes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2015\/03\/16\/march-16-saying-yes\/","title":{"rendered":"March 16 – Saying “Yes”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday \u00a0March 16 \u00a0– \u00a0\u201c. . . \u00a0did Yes get born right then and did you weep?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paying attention has a lot to do with noticing which places in my world invite me to stop and wait for mutuality. \u00a0Which places to notice and wait for and which to overlook, without contempt, just making necessary choices; you can\u2019t make everything important.<\/p>\n

{Years ago a student, having trouble with the weekly quiz, stopped in the office to ask for advice about how to prepare. \u00a0I asked him how he prepared now: \u00a0\u201cI read each reading, I highlight . . . \u201c \u00a0 Then he showed me a reading he had prepared; almost every word was highlighted . . . \u00a0.\u201cI think I can help you,\u201d I said, next time, don\u2019t highlight anything in the first paragraph. Then stop and think until you can decide which one word to highlight. \u00a0Highlight it. \u00a0 Then begin the next paragraph.\u201d}<\/p>\n

Where to stop and where not to? \u00a0\u2014 inside joy; \u00a0inside fear; \u00a0inside grief; inside laughter? \u00a0I\u2019ve come to think of attentiveness as the heart of prayer. \u00a0Today\u2019s poet, Nancy Shaffer, is new to me. \u00a0 She writes well about attention here.<\/p>\n

Best to read out loud, with pauses; perhaps after \u201cseeking one lost sock?\u201d or \u201cplanting radish seeds\u201d; \u00a0lots of places to pause.<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

p.s.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe the snowdrops in our back yard will start to show off by mid-week, some more warm days with a little rain added \u00a0(\u201csnowdrop\u201d \u00a0http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Galanthus<\/a>).<\/p>\n

If you get close to where they grow up in the grass you can see lots of them just getting started on their spring. \u00a0Even, last evening, one very tiny white beginning of a flower.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post: \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cCalling\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you heard that voice and
\nknew finally it called for you
\nand what it was saying\u2014where
\nwere you? Were you in the shower,
\nwet and soapy, or chopping cabbage
\nlate for dinner? Were you planting radish
\nseeds or seeking one lost sock? Maybe
\nwiping handprints off a window
\nor coaxing words into a sentence.
\nOr coming upon a hyacinth or one last No.
\nWhere were you when you heard that ancient
\nvoice, and did Yes get born right then
\nand did you weep? Had it called you since
\nbefore you even\u00a0were,<\/em>\u00a0and when you
\nknew that, did your joy escape all holding?
\nWhere were you when you heard that
\ncalling voice, and how, in that moment,
\ndid you mark it? How, ever after,
\nare you changed?<\/p>\n

Tell us, please, all you can about that voice.
\nTeach us how to listen, how to hear.<\/p>\n

Teach us all you can of saying Yes.<\/p>\n

\"Nancy-Shaffer\"<\/a>
\n“Calling” by Nancy Shaffer. Text as published in\u00a0Instructions in Joy: Meditations<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(Skinner House Books, 2002).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday \u00a0March 16 \u00a0– \u00a0\u201c. . . \u00a0did Yes get born right then and did you weep? Paying attention has a lot to do with noticing which places in my world invite me to stop and wait for mutuality. \u00a0Which … 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\/1261"}],"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=1261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1263,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1261\/revisions\/1263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}