{"id":2309,"date":"2017-05-03T00:00:34","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T04:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2309"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:47:01","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:47:01","slug":"may-3-david-whyte-praise-for-the-holy-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2017\/05\/03\/may-3-david-whyte-praise-for-the-holy-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"May 3 David Whyte – praise for the holy dark"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, May 3 –<\/p>\n

“Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
\nconfinement of your aloneness
\nto learn \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think I began to appreciate darkness as an ally in 1968, living in Oglala, South Dakota with Luke and Rose Weasel Bear. \u00a0 I had asked them if I could live with them for c. 6 weeks so they could teach me about how\u00a0many\u00a0Lakota people lived, could teach me some wisdom. \u00a0They had no electricity or running water; \u00a0we hauled the water and went to bed soon after the sun set. \u00a011 miles down the road was \u201cThe Mission,\u201d \u00a0our K-12 boarding school where I had already learned many life lessons \u2014 how to challenge students with respect and affection while they lived through a young person\u2019s hope and sweet energy interwoven with waves of anger and despair. \u00a0 The mission was, as schools go, poor (sometimes you lived with a broken toilet, or a broken window, for weeks \u2014 things like that). \u00a0We did our teaching and learning on shoestring budgets. \u00a0 But seen from Luke and Rose\u2019s little family camp, the mission was staggeringly wealthy; \u00a0running water in every building, electricity, regular, healthy food in the girls\u2019 and boys\u2019 dining rooms. \u00a0The cars and trucks had five tires each and got fixed when they broke down. \u00a0 {\u201c . . . . \u00a0I had asked them if I could live with them for c. 6 weeks so they could teach me how\u00a0many\u00a0Lakota people lived, could teach me their wisdom. . . .\u201d}<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where I learned, too, that the hour or so before real dark, the dim light of dusk, could open my soul to my own sorrows and wounds, just standing still on a shallow hill as the light left the land and opened itself to the holy dark. \u00a0 That\u2019s probably why David Whyte is one of the poets who help me to keep renewing my long-term kinship with the holy dark, at least on my good days. \u00a0On crazy days, I run around wired and edgy. \u00a0 Best to read his poem out loud, with pauses.<\/p>\n

Mid-week after final exams on the McNichols Campus. \u00a0 Have a blest day and week.<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Post \u00a0\u201cSweet Darkness\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

When your eyes are tired
\nthe world is tired also.<\/p>\n

When your vision has gone
\nno part of the world can find you.<\/p>\n

Time to go into the dark
\nwhere the night has eyes
\nto recognize its own.<\/p>\n

There you can be sure
\nyou are not beyond love.<\/p>\n

The dark will be your womb
\ntonight.<\/p>\n

The night will give you a horizon
\nfurther than you can see.<\/p>\n

You must learn one thing.
\nThe world was made to be free in<\/p>\n

Give up all the other worlds
\nexcept the one to which you belong.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
\nconfinement of your aloneness
\nto learn<\/p>\n

anything or anyone
\nthat does not bring you alive<\/p>\n

is too small for you.<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u201cSweet Darkness\u201d by\u00a0David Whyte,\u00a0House of Belonging<\/a><\/p>\n

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

sunset, about 7 miles south of where Luke and Rose lived, \u00a0between Oglala and Calico<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, May 3 – “Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0.\u201d I think I began to appreciate darkness as an ally in 1968, living in Oglala, South Dakota with Luke and … 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\/2309"}],"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=2309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2311,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309\/revisions\/2311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}