May
As Well Be Happy
“...But
happiness floats.
It doesn't
need you to hold it down.
It doesn't
need anything.
Happiness
lands on the roof of the house next door, singing,
and
disappears when it wants to.
You are
happy either way.
Even the
fact that you once lived in a peaceful tree house
and now
live in a quarry of noise and dust
cannot
make you unhappy.
Everything
has a life of its own,
it too
could wake up filled with possibilities
of coffee
cake and ripe peaches,
and love
even the floor which needs to be swept,
the soiled
linens and scratched records...”
Naomi
Shihab Nye (excerpt from “So Much Happiness”)
I woke at four, and lay
in bed worrying about the enormous limb that fell on my house
yesterday, pounding my brand new, not-even-paid-off-yet roof, and
hauling power lines and cable into the grass of the back yard.
Another tree now has to be cut down, another chunk of money I don't
have. And then there's that crazy man building walls and deporting
children. So much to worry about. What can I possibly do but read
poetry! And, yes, why not poetry about love! Already, I feel better.
Honestly, I have a worry
quotient that's kind of like an egg timer. It dings when it runs out
of steam. How much time and energy can I put into hand wringing and
pacing before I have to take an extended break and actually do
something constructive. I figure, I'm still alive, still breathing,
still mostly healthy. I still have Miss Liza, two strapping
man-sons, one gorgeous, brilliant daughter-in-law, and some highly valuable friends and family. What on earth
am I whining about. As my mountain daddy would say, “Get over
yourself, girl, and get going!”
So, what you get this
morning is love poetry. Poetry that celebrates life in the midst of
strife, and knows that as long as breath lasts, hope lasts, joy
lasts. We can focus on what is good and right, or we can focus on all
that is wrong. I choose to see the possibilities, and to do my part
to find solutions for the rest.
In the Spirit,
Jane
1 comment:
Amen, Sister
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