{"id":3379,"date":"2020-02-28T00:00:05","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T05:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/?p=3379"},"modified":"2020-02-28T09:42:59","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T14:42:59","slug":"remembering-st-george-herbert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2020\/02\/28\/remembering-st-george-herbert\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering St. George Herbert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, was the feast of the Episcopalian saint, George Herbert. \u00a0 His prayer-poem \u201cLove bade me welcome\u201d has become my most consistent beginning of morning contemplation. \u00a0Its status in my morning prayer originated with Marion Sweetser in Minneapolis on a late summer \u00a0day in 1965; she was the mother of Tom Sweetser, a close Jesuit friend, then and now.\u00a0\u00a0 I and 3 other young Jesuits were driving through Minnesota and most of South Dakota, on our way to a year\u2019s teaching at what was then known as \u201cHoly Rosary Mission\u201d (a K-12 boarding school on the Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation).\u00a0 I was coming back from my first teaching ever.\u00a0 That first year had worn me down;\u00a0 veteran teachers there told me in February or March that this was the toughest year they could remember.\u00a0\u00a0 We lost 33% of the high school girls and boys that year and of the 5 young Jesuits who began the year, 2 left the Jesuits and the school, over Christmas break.\u00a0\u00a0 By that year\u2019s end, my colitis made me \u00a0resemble a gaunt and haggard refugee.<\/p>\n

What I remember that day, when Marion cooked lunch for us, was her intuitive gift for noticing\u00a0what was going on in each us. She recognized that I was a generous young man, who had a hard time letting people welcome me. \u00a0She welcomed me, that day and for the next quarter century. \u00a0I stopped at her home as often as I could, sometimes just for a meal, more often for 3 or 4 days when only the two of us were there.\u00a0 Her husband had died some years before and her many children (seven I think) filled her life. I learned how to be at home in her kitchen where we would talk and talk over the years.<\/p>\n

George Herbert\u2019s poem reminds me of her, especially the lines beginning:
\n\u201cBut quick-eye\u2019d love, observing me grow slack from my first entrance in, drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning, If I lacked anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, all these years later, I honor the poet and Marion for the gift of welcoming people as sacred whether I am in a playful or a hard place.<\/p>\n

Best to read the poem out loud,\u00a0 with pauses.<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

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

Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back
\nGuilty of dust and sin.
\nBut quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
\nFrom my first entrance in,
\nDrew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
\nIf I lacked any thing.<\/p>\n

A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:
\nLove said, You shall be he.
\nI the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,
\nI cannot look on thee.
\nLove took my hand, and smiling did reply,
\nWho made the eyes but I?<\/p>\n

Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame
\nGo where it doth deserve.
\nAnd know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
\nMy dear, then I will serve.
\nYou must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:
\nSo I did sit and eat.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nGeorge Herbert
\n1593-1633
\nhttps:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/George_Herbert<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday, was the feast of the Episcopalian saint, George Herbert. \u00a0 His prayer-poem \u201cLove bade me welcome\u201d has become my most consistent beginning of morning contemplation. \u00a0Its status in my morning prayer originated with Marion Sweetser in Minneapolis on a … 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\/3379"}],"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=3379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3381,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3379\/revisions\/3381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}