Wednesday, \u00a0August 9, 2017 \u2014 \u00a0\u201cthen it is that the miracle walks in, on his swift feet . . .\u201d<\/p>\n
Is it harder to stand still in a place of grief or a place of joy? \u00a0 Last evening, on the phone, a friend was finding words to describe a liberating moment of joy that took her\/his breath away and promised to require weeks or months of revisiting the joy, learning not to be afraid of such a depth of hope. \u00a0 My friend and I agreed, as it turned out, that learning to be still with grief, hard as that is, \u00a0can come more readily than learning to be still with joy.<\/p>\n
St. Ignatius has a teaching about contemplation that suggests that both are equally important. \u201cAttention should be paid to some more important places (i.e., in my memory of already lived experience) in which I have experienced understanding, consolation or desolation.\u201d (Sp. Exercises par # 118). \u00a0 \u00a0Ignatius suggests that when I notice any of these three memories wanting my attention, I try to experience the specific memory with as much sensual recollection as possible (e.g., what time of day was it? \u00a0who was there? what were you saying to each other? what was the weather like? \u00a0what did the place smell like? . . . etc.\u201d ) The teaching is that finding my way into a memory that wants my attention is best understood as a sensual journey that helps me get there, and stay there for a while.<\/p>\n
Both\u00a0of us were surprised that we had encountered this invitation to deep presence in a moment of shocking joy. \u00a0 The memory will take some living into, perhaps for months and years.<\/p>\n
All of which reminded me of one of Denise Levertov\u2019s deepest poems. \u00a0 Try it out, \u00a0reading aloud with pauses. \u00a0N.B., the poem\u2019s core metaphor is a Houdini-like supple risk-taker on a high wire above a deep pit.<\/p>\n
Have a blest work week,<\/p>\n
john st sj<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Post<\/p>\n
The Poem Rising By Its Own Weight
\nThe poet is at the disposal of his own night.
\nJean Cocteau<\/p>\n
The singing robes fly onto your body and cling there silkily,
\nYou step out on the rope and move unfalteringly across it,<\/p>\n
And seize the fiery knives unscathed and
\nKeep them spinning above you, a fountain
\nOf rhythmic rising, falling, rising
\nFlames,<\/p>\n
And proudly let the chains
\nBe wound about you, ready
\nTo shed them, link by steel link,
\npadlock by padlock\u2013<\/p>\n
but when your graceful
\nconfident shrug and twist drives the metal
\ninto your flesh and the python grip of it tightens
\nand you see rust on the chains and blood in your pores
\nand you roll
\nover and down a steepness into a dark hole
\nand there is not even the sound of mockery in the distant air
\nsomewhere above you where the sky was,
\nno sound but your own breath panting:
\nthen it is that the miracle
\nwalks in, on his swift feet,
\ndown the precipice straight into the cave,
\nopens the locks,
\nknots of chain fall open,
\ntwists of chain unwind themselves,
\nlinks fall asunder,
\nin seconds there is a heap of scrap-
\nmetal at your ankles, you step free and at once
\nhe turns to go \u2014
\nbut as you catch at him with a cry,
\nclasping his knees, sobbing your gratitude,
\nwith what radiant joy he turns to you,
\nand raises you to your feet,
\nand strokes your disheveled hair,
\nand holds you,
\nholds you,
\nholds you
\nclose and tenderly before he vanishes.<\/p>\n
Denise Levertov in\u00a0The Freeing of the Dust<\/u><\/p>\n
Denise Levertov Wednesday, \u00a0August 9, 2017 \u2014 \u00a0\u201cthen it is that the miracle walks in, on his swift feet . . .\u201d Is it harder to stand still in a place of grief or a place of joy? \u00a0 Last evening, on … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2016\/09\/Denise-Levertov.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nb. October 1923 \u00a0d. December 1997<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"