{"id":1366,"date":"2015-05-11T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2015-05-11T04:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1366"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:49:24","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:49:24","slug":"may-11-summer-season-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2015\/05\/11\/may-11-summer-season-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"May 11 – summer season begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, May 11 \u2014 \u201cyou had better get \/ your eyes checked \/ or, better, still, \/ your diminished spirit”<\/strong><\/p>\n

How many encounters could I remember if I worked at it, when someone took the trouble to tell me, bluntly and lovingly, to pay attention to the way I was not paying attention? \u2014 An old Lakota grandmother when I was just 24, her eyes alight with humor, knowing that I was just young. An older Jesuit telling me that I’d pushed too hard, a new priest daunting the congregation unnecessarily. An atheist scholar friend observing that when I spoke at MIT, I excluded my listeners from the heart of my thinking. This list is long and deeply refreshing, people who took the trouble to be allies to me. Their voices run as deep as those of people who worked to be precise when telling me I was beautiful. Mary Oliver writes of clouds to remind us of our allies, when scolding, when celebrating, our pilgrim selves.<\/p>\n

Commencement is like that too. A campus full of memories when tough professors criticize and praise. Commencement gives graduates time to celebrate both as the voices of allies.
\nEvery now and then Mary Oliver just smacks me . . . . to get my attention and helps me pay attention to the depths in my life.<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post – Mary Oliver: “The Fist”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

There are days
\nwhen the sun goes down
\nlike a fist,
\nthough of course<\/p>\n

if you see anything
\nin the heavens
\nin this way
\nyou had better get<\/p>\n

your eyes checked
\nor, better, still,
\nyour diminished spirit.
\nThe heavens<\/p>\n

have no fist,
\nor wouldn’t they have been
\nshaking it
\nfor a thousand years now,<\/p>\n

and even
\nlonger than that,
\nat the dull, brutish
\nways of mankind\u2014<\/p>\n

heaven’s own
\ncreation?
\nInstead: such patience!
\nSuch willingness<\/p>\n

to let us continue!
\nTo hear,
\nlittle by little,
\nthe voices\u2014<\/p>\n

only, so far, in
\npockets of the world\u2014
\nsuggesting
\nthe possibilities<\/p>\n

of peace?
\nKeep looking.
\nBehold, how the fist opens
\nwith invitation.<\/p>\n

\"Mary-Oliver\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“The Fist” by\u00a0Mary Oliver.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Text as published in\u00a0Thirst: Poems<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(Beacon Press, 2007).<\/p>\n

Art credit:<\/em>\u00a0“Hand of Peace,”\u00a0photograph<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0taken on September 12, 2009,\u00a0by\u00a0Aidan McRae Thomson.<\/strong><\/a>
\nCaption:<\/em>\u00a0“Peace sculpture on the seafront in Kusadasi [Turkey] town centre in the form of a giant white concrete hand releasing birds.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, May 11 \u2014 \u201cyou had better get \/ your eyes checked \/ or, better, still, \/ your diminished spirit” How many encounters could I remember if I worked at it, when someone took the trouble to tell me, bluntly … 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\/1366"}],"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=1366"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1370,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366\/revisions\/1370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}