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A Singing Leaf -- Mary Oliver Poem #2

Picture
A Reading from Luke 12

 27 And Jesus said: “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 

“29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

 

What Can I Say -- A Poem by Mary Oliver

What can I say that I have not said before?

So I’ll say it again.

The leaf has a song in it.

Stone is the face of patience.

Inside the river there is an unfinishable story

            and you are somewhere in it

and it will never end until all ends.

Take your busy heart to the art museum and the

            chamber of commerce

but take it also to the forest.

The song you heard singing in the leaf when you

were a child

is singing still.

I am of years lived, so far, seventy-four,

and the leaf singing still.

 

A Few Questions to Ponder for Prayer

Have you ever sensed God speaking truth to you through a small thing in the natural world? If so, what was it and what was said through it? Can you give thanks for the experience?

What is the interplay between busyness and stillness in your life? Between work are rest? Labor and Sabbath?

Are there things that you realized at an earlier stage of your life, perhaps even as a child, that you should considering recapturing today and for the future? If so, what might they be?

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