Things take the time they take. Don’t worry.
How many roads did St Augustine follow before he became St. Augustine?
– Mary Oliver, Felicity
Roses
Everyone now and again wonders about those question that have no ready answers: first cause, God’s existence, what happens when the curtain goes down and nothing stops it, not kissing, not going to the mall, not the Super Bowl.
“Wild roses,” I said to them one morning. “Do you have the answers? And if you do, would you tell me?”
The rose laughed softly. “Forgive us,” they said. “But as you can see, we are just now entirely busy being roses.”
– Mary Oliver, Felicity
Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way
If you’re John Muir you want trees to live among. If you’re Emily, a garden will do.
Try to find the right place for yourself. If you can’t find it, at least dream of it.
When one is alone and lonely, the body gladly lingers in the wind or the rain, or splashes into the cold river, or pushes through the ice-crusted snow.
Anything that touches.
God, or the gods, are invisible, quite understandable. But holiness is visible, entirely.
Some words will never leave God’s mouth, no matter how hard you listen.
In all the works of Beethoven, you will not find a single lie.
All important ideas must include the trees, the mountains, and the rivers.
To understand many things you must reach out of your own condition.
For how many years did I wander slowly through the forest. What wonder and glory I would have missed had I ever been in a hurry!
Beauty can both shout and whisper, and still it explains nothing.
The point is, you’re you, and that’s for keeps.
– Mary Oliver, Felicity
