Wednesday, May 15, 2019<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve read quite a few memorials these past days in which the word \u201cgiant\u201d appears frequently. \u00a0Both these men matter in my life, as do my university\u2019s graduates who\u00a0\u201cwalked\u201d last Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n
Judge Damon Keith:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cBut he was also the neighbor who strolled the track at the University of Detroit Mercy with Ann Brothers Smith, who would become associate superintendent of Detroit Public Schools. And he was the friendly face who called out to her lawyer son the first time he appeared in Keith\u2019s court:<\/p>\n \u2018How\u2019s your mama?\u2019\u201d Bill Clarke, sj:<\/strong>\u00a0(edited from the note I posted on our Jesuit Community bulletin board last night)<\/p>\n “Bill Clarke called me yesterday evening.\u00a0 We had planned that I would drive to Guelph today for one of our ordinary overnight spiritual direction conversations. \u00a0However last night, Bill called to tell me that in the past few days two important men in his life had died, both in their early 90s. \u00a0One is his older brother; the other is Jean Vanier, the soul and founder of the world-wide L\u2019Arche\u00a0movement.\u00a0 Bill is a co-founder of L\u2019Arche; Bill\u2019s brother \u00a0was perhaps his closest soul friend, even closer than Jean was.\u00a0\u00a0 Our conversation fills me with tenderness for Bill who has been my soul\u2019s companion since my 30 day retreat in 1980.\u00a0\u00a0 We had planned that I would drive to Guelph today.\u00a0 I won\u2019t. We settled on 2+ weeks from now before we take to our calendars to schedule an alternative date. \u00a0I told Bill that I will carry him in my soul these days,\u00a0 as he has so often carried me.\u00a0 I want to invite your prayers too.<\/p>\n p.s. \u00a0Bill wrote an early account of L\u2019Arche,\u00a0Enough Room for Joy: The Early Days of L\u2019Arche.<\/u>\u00a0 2006\u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Enough-Room-Joy-Early-LArche\/dp\/2895075549<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Today\u2019s \u00a0Post: \u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe Writer\u201d \u2014 Richard Wilbur<\/p>\n “And wait then, humped and bloody, Richard Wilbur\u2019s contemplation of a daughter, laboring to write on what would now be an antique typewriter, writing, in my reading, of the aftermath of World War I, \u00a0during the 5 years of\u00a0the rolling\u00a0shock waves of chemical warfare horrors twisting the faces and bodies of maimed soldiers returning from World War I in Europe and, far too often, not finding jobs to honor their broken bodies. 1919 began a half-decade of fear and rage, of \u00a0contempt for most immigrants, and for fellow citizens with whom one differed. \u00a0A year not unlike the years in which we now live.<\/p>\n I love it that Wilbur recognized the wonder of young human beings risking so much to launch into their futures. \u00a0So, along with the passing of Judge Keith and Jean Vanier, Richard Wilbur’s understated celebration of a brave young writer is meant to recall the sheer beauty of 1473 women and men who walked to receive their diplomas and certificates from our President Antoine Garibaldi this past weekend. \u00a0Our basketball arena was filled with immensely excited moms, dads, plus lots of friends and kin. \u00a0Sheer beauty.<\/p>\n Have a blest day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n john sj<\/p>\n \u201cThe Writer\u201d \u00a0Richard Wilbur<\/p>\n In her room at the prow of the house I pause in the stairwell, hearing Young as she is, the stuff But now it is she who pauses, The whole house seems to be thinking, I remember the dazed starling And retreated, not to affright it; And iridescent creature And wait then, humped and bloody, It lifted off from a chair-back, It is always a matter, my darling, Richard Wilbur Wednesday, May 15, 2019 I\u2019ve read quite a few memorials these past days in which the word \u201cgiant\u201d appears frequently. \u00a0Both these men matter in my life, as do my university\u2019s graduates who\u00a0\u201cwalked\u201d last Friday and Saturday. Judge Damon Keith: … Continue reading
\n\u201cJudge Keith recalled as a giant in law, life\u201d \u00a0Neal Rubin
\nThe Detroit News<\/u>\u00a0 May 14, 2019<\/p>\n
\nFor the wits to try it again\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhere light breaks, and the windows are tossed with linden,
\nMy daughter is writing a story.<\/p>\n
\nFrom her shut door a commotion of typewriter-keys
\nLike a chain hauled over a gunwale.<\/p>\n
\nOf her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy:
\nI wish her a lucky passage.<\/p>\n
\nAs if to reject my thought and its easy figure.
\nA stillness greatens, in which<\/p>\n
\nAnd then she is at it again with a bunched clamor
\nOf strokes, and again is silent.<\/p>\n
\nWhich was trapped in that very room, two years ago;
\nHow we stole in, lifted a sash<\/p>\n
\nAnd how for a helpless hour, through the crack of the door,
\nWe watched the sleek, wild, dark<\/p>\n
\nBatter against the brilliance, drop like a glove
\nTo the hard floor, or the desk-top,<\/p>\n
\nFor the wits to try it again; and how our spirits
\nRose when, suddenly sure,<\/p>\n
\nBeating a smooth course for the right window
\nAnd clearing the sill of the world.<\/p>\n
\nOf life or death, as I had forgotten.\u00a0I wish
\nWhat I wished you before, but harder.<\/p>\n
\n1921-2017
\nhttps:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_Wilbur<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"