{"id":1548,"date":"2015-10-05T00:00:34","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T04:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1548"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:49:15","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:49:15","slug":"oct-5-gone-to-the-fields-to-be-lovely-and-you-what-of-your-rushed-and-useful-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2015\/10\/05\/oct-5-gone-to-the-fields-to-be-lovely-and-you-what-of-your-rushed-and-useful-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Oct 5 – ” Gone to the fields to be lovely .\t. . ” “And you — what of your rushed and useful life?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday October 5\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0“<\/strong>Make no mistake. Of course\u00a0<\/strong>your work will always matter. . . . \u00a0 \u00a0Yet \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0“<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We posted Lynn Ungar\u2019s poem, \u201cCamas Lillies,\u201d a year ago in September. \u00a0As the weekend\u2019s weather change ushers in October and Autumn, this contemplation of beauty in the work lives of busy people bears repeating. \u00a0This gray Monday\u00a0could be a good day to stand still for 30 seconds, or maybe 25 \u00a0. . . . while you are on your way somewhere across campus, to allow some beautiful human being to reduce you to stillness. \u00a0Or some beautiful leaf on a tree? \u00a0\u00a0Or just look out your window?<\/p>\n

Or maybe, if you are crazy busy (this Monday I am, for example) you might want to save the poem for after work. \u00a0 Whenever you read it, it\u2019s best to read the poem out loud, with a couple pauses within it.<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consider the lilies of the field,
\n<\/em>the blue banks of camas opening
\ninto acres of sky along the road.
\nWould the longing to lie down
\nand be washed by that beauty
\nabate if you knew their usefulness,
\nhow the natives ground their bulbs
\nfor flour, how the settlers\u2019 hogs
\nuprooted them, grunting in gleeful
\noblivion as the flowers fell?<\/p>\n

And you\u2014what of your rushed
\nand useful life? Imagine setting it all down\u2014
\npapers, plans, appointments, everything\u2014
\nleaving only a note: \u201cGone
\nto the fields to be lovely. Be back
\nwhen I\u2019m through with blooming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even now, unneeded and uneaten,
\nthe camas lilies gaze out above the grass
\nfrom their tender blue eyes.
\nEven in sleep your life will shine.
\nMake no mistake. Of course
\nyour work will always matter.<\/p>\n

Yet Solomon in all his glory
\n<\/em>was not arrayed like one of these.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Lynn-Ungar\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Camas Lilies” by\u00a0Lynn Ungar,<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Blessing the Bread: Meditations<\/em>. \u00a9 Skinner House, 1995. Presented here as posted on the poet’s website.<\/p>\n

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

Monday October 5\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0“Make no mistake. Of course\u00a0your work will always matter. . . . \u00a0 \u00a0Yet \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0“ We posted Lynn Ungar\u2019s poem, \u201cCamas Lillies,\u201d a year ago in September. \u00a0As the weekend\u2019s weather change ushers … 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\/1548"}],"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=1548"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1551,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548\/revisions\/1551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}