The Hea(r)t of a Summer Day

The Summer Day

by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean-

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

—     From New and Selected Poems, 1992

   
      This Mary Oliver poem is a favorite of mine, and I think of it often, because I am haunted not just by its beauty but by its last sentence - a most touching question for her readers to ponder.

I have used “The Summer Day” within a prayer group for contemplatives, hoping that not only will its imagery prepare our hearts to go into silence, but that its final line will cause us to ask that all-important question of our purpose.  Not an easy question and not an easy answer.  But a good one to ask and then to sit with in silence to wait for an answer, a stirring, a feeling that could point us toward fulfillment in this life... and in the next.

God has given us this one irreplaceable life, whether it is full of happiness or full of sorrow or whether it falls somewhere in between.  Regardless, to me, it is a magnificent life, because we were created by an extravagant God.  The Creator who made the grasshopper with all its simplicity and complexity, made countless gifts of wonder for us to enjoy and be thankful for. And our simple and heartfelt gratitude can be prayer enough. Oliver acknowledges that her prayer cannot always be easily defined – but she knows it when she sees it, when she does it… when she simply lives it.  And God hears and sees and is, I believe, pleased.

During these long days of summer, when the heat starts to get to us, take moments throughout the day to enjoy what this season brings specifically to you.  And like Mary Oliver, “be idle and blessed.”  Know that all the abundance of summer (yes, even its abundant heat) was made by our loving Creator for you to enjoy and to share.  And then, in moments of silence, consider with me, friend: What is God asking us to do with our own "wild and precious" lives?    💙

Midweek Meditation - Becoming Like the Heart of Jesus

       David Fleming, SJ describes Ignatian Spirituality in several ways, and one way he defines it is a “Spirituality of the Heart” (What is Ignatian Spirituality? 2008) He writes that the “heart does not mean the emotions … but refers to our inner orientation, the core of our being… Jesus observed that our heart can get untethered from our actions” when Christ said in the Gospel of Matthew – “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Fleming continues to write, “When we say to someone ‘my heart goes out to you,’ we mean something more than a feeling of concern.  If said sincerely, it communicates a sense of solidarity with someone… It means something like, ‘I stand with you in this.’ It is an expression of a fundamental choice.” (p.15)

The very fact that God chose to become a human being in all ways but sin (Hebrews 4:15) shows us the Heart of God.  God loves us so much that God wanted to experience life the way we experience it.  But with one exception – the Son of God lived a human life with a Heart like no other.

Jesus came to show us how to live as our Heavenly Parent wants us to live, with compassion, mercy, love, forgiveness, and devotion to our Creator.  Jesus’s heart went out to the poor, the sick, and the marginalized.  Jesus ate and drank with those who needed him most, as the Healer of bodies and hearts.  He stood in solidarity with the “least of these” and will continue to do so until the end of time.

So now, I ask who have we been standing with this week?  Whose story or life has caused us to feel our heart going out to them?  With whom do we stand during these trying times?  Are we honoring God with more than our lips but also with our hearts – by the very way that we move throughout our day, interacting with people, interacting with the earth? 

How are we becoming like the Heart of Jesus?

 💙

Click here to read a free online copy of David Fleming’s book

What is Ignatian Spirituality?

The Heart's Thirsting for God

        I hadn't written in a number of days, and I realized that I missed the time I spent in writing.  I also realized that when I sit down to write, I am also in prayer, in a sense, and so I missed that too!

I hope you enjoyed your weekend and were able to find ways to stay cool during these blisteringly hot summer days.  On Sunday afternoon I was able to spend time with other contemplatives, other spiritual directors, and people who were interested in learning more about contemplative prayer and possibly forming community in a new and different way.  It was an amazing turnout, and it demonstrated a longing within people to spend time in prayer and to be part of community.

Longing for God is how I saw this group of 50+.  It could have just been the 96 degree temperature outside, but to me it felt like everyone was thirsting for God - seeking a closer relationship with the Divine and wanting to share time with others who feel the same.  

No matter what you did this weekend, I hope that it too brought you an awareness of God, a sense of wonder, and a feeling of hope!  💙

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 

When shall I come and appear before God? 

- Psalm 42: 1-2