{"id":2686,"date":"2018-05-31T00:00:02","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T04:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2686"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:45:24","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:45:24","slug":"summer-break-for-the-work-day-hard-time-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2018\/05\/31\/summer-break-for-the-work-day-hard-time-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer break for the Work Day\/Hard Time List"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, May 31<\/p>\n

Much of this May I have been learning how to prepare for hip surgery (on June 20); learning again since this Beaumont Hospital surgical team already replaced my left hip early in 2008. \u00a0 This year that team will replace my right hip. \u00a0 Lots of prep work; remembering how to manage a walker and get around my Jesuit house slowly and carefully. \u00a0One major difference between 2008 and 2018; \u00a02008 the surgery happened Jan 14 and recovery had it\u2019s time and disciplines play out well before May, when I try to spend time on Pine Ridge.<\/p>\n

For this year\u2019s pre-summer break post, I went back to May 27, 2016 when my contextual paragraphs talk about the sensual experience of Pine Ridge for me. \u00a0I won\u2019t get to Pine Ridge this year so this post serves as a contemplative thanksgiving for what Pine Ridge has meant to me all these years. \u00a0 Next May? \u00a0Days on the Rez and days with Lakota soul friends once again. \u00a0Who knows? \u00a0I might stand still in the badlands and let meadowlarks woo me with their spring songs until I am dizzy.<\/p>\n

By the time August arrives this year I have a hunch I\u2019ll be walking like a younger man.<\/p>\n

Have a blest early summer,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s post<\/p>\n

Friday May 27, 2016 \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0\u201cEnough. These few words are enough.\u201d \u00a0David Whyte<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRemember\u00a0sunscreen\u201d \u2014 \u00a0 Pine Ridge, SD is about 3400 ft above sea level, \u00a0sun shines more directly here than in Motown at 300 ft elevation. \u00a0 In most years, about a week after commencement and Eastern Market Flower days, I pack for a week on the Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation. \u00a0It sits in western South Dakota; you can see the profile of The Black Hills 70 miles off to the north and west; \u00a0you can stand still near wild Badland formations, created mostly by wind. \u00a0Improbably with desert-like terrain, \u00a0you can also stand still to listen to meadowlarks, and frogs, in marshy water holes 100 yards across. \u00a0 It\u2019s because I lived here a long time that this particular beauty melts my soul and refreshes my spirit.<\/p>\n

So do conversations with soul friends of 40 years or more. \u00a0I come to Pine Ridge to renew the origins of my adulthood in this place of beauty and laughter and grief. \u00a0It slows my steps and my breathing. \u00a0And reminds me that the normal work year has ended and summer has begun. \u00a0There\u2019s \u00a0still plenty of work time but the pace is different. \u00a0 For you too, I hope.<\/p>\n

I looked for a short poem that reminds me of why I come out to Pine Ridge each year.<\/p>\n

David Whyte wrote the poem, \u201cEnough.\u201d \u00a0Readers of the list have heard it before. \u00a0 Below the poem are 3 wisdom sayings learned on Pine Ridge over the years.<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

john st sj<\/p>\n

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

Enough. These few words are enough.
\nIf not these words, this breath.
\nIf not this breath, this sitting here.<\/p>\n

This opening to the life
\nwe have refused
\nagain and again
\nuntil now.<\/p>\n

David Whyte,\u00a0Where Many Rivers Meet<\/u><\/p>\n

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

a wisdom-saying born on the Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation
\n<\/u><\/strong>\u201cTime spent baking bread follows the\u00a0pace\u00a0of yeast\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMotorcycling alone; I move as\u00a0a\u00a0 tiny person in a vast world\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I pause long enough, I \u00a0hear the sound of grass growing, \u00a0and trees, each\u00a0at its own pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Thursday, May 31 Much of this May I have been learning how to prepare for hip surgery (on June 20); learning again since this Beaumont Hospital surgical team already replaced my left hip early in 2008. \u00a0 This year that … 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\/2686"}],"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=2686"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2687,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2686\/revisions\/2687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}