{"id":3037,"date":"2019-08-09T00:00:19","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T04:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=3037"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:43:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:43:00","slug":"august-9-first-full-work-week-academic-year-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2019\/08\/09\/august-9-first-full-work-week-academic-year-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"August 9 &#8211; First full work week, academic year, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Friday, August 9, 2019<\/p>\n<p>This Friday recalls Friday May 31 &#8211; when the Poetry List went on summer break. \u00a0 Together with last Monday\u2019s Mary Oliver voice, Thomas Merton opens week one with the same words with which he concluded last May: words of mysticism.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">*****<br \/>\n*****\u00a0*****<br \/>\n*****<br \/>\n*****\u00a0*****<br \/>\n*****<br \/>\n*****\u00a0*****<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor this last poem of the academic year, I looked back to May of 2015 for a strong poet\u2019s voice. \u00a0I found as short poem written by Thomas Merton. \u00a0 In his later years, Merton\u2019s awareness of the power of mysticism kept on maturing. \u00a0More than many sacred writers, Merton dove deep into the secular west (Paris, London, New York); \u00a0into Eastern Mysticism\u2019s creative tension with Western mysticism; \u00a0 into U.S. Trappist monastic living (i.e., Gethsemani Abby Kentucky) from his entrance on Dec 10, 1941 until his accidental death the same day and year that theologian Karl Barth died, Dec 10, 1968).<\/p>\n<p>Mystics respect the poverty of human language. Words are not the author\u2019s property. \u00a0Words are not the reader\u2019s property either. \u00a0A poet\u2019s words invite you to find yourself somewhere \u2014 mysterious and alive.<\/p>\n<p>Best to read the poem out loud, with pauses.<\/p>\n<p>Back to a more regular rhythm this first week of August.<\/p>\n<p>Have a blest summer.<\/p>\n<p>john sj\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2019\/06\/Sunflower.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3029\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2019\/06\/Sunflower.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"508\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2019\/06\/Sunflower.jpg 508w, https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2019\/06\/Sunflower-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Today\u2019s Post \u2013 A Song to Nobody<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A yellow flower<br \/>\n(Light and spirit)<br \/>\nSings by itself<br \/>\nFor nobody.<\/p>\n<p>A golden spirit<br \/>\n(Light and emptiness)<br \/>\nSings without a word<br \/>\nBy itself.<\/p>\n<p>Let no one touch this gentle sun<br \/>\nIn whose dark eye<br \/>\nSomeone is awake.<\/p>\n<p>(No light, no gold, no name, no color<br \/>\nAnd no thought:<br \/>\nO, wide awake!)<br \/>\nA golden heaven<br \/>\nSings by itself<br \/>\nA song to nobody.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2019\/06\/Thomas-Merton.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3030\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2019\/06\/Thomas-Merton.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"132\" height=\"188\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n\u201cThere is no way of telling strangers they are all walking around shining like the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thomas Merton<\/strong><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thomas_Merton\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thomas_Merton<\/a><br \/>\nJanuary 31, 1915 \u2013 December 10, 1968<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Friday, August 9, 2019 This Friday recalls Friday May 31 &#8211; when the Poetry List went on summer break. \u00a0 Together with last Monday\u2019s Mary Oliver voice, Thomas Merton opens week one with the same words with which he concluded &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2019\/08\/09\/august-9-first-full-work-week-academic-year-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/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\/3037"}],"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=3037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3038,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3037\/revisions\/3038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}