Tag: Mary Oliver

Categories
attention light and darkness Scripture

Jesus, the light of the world

Rembrandt portrait of Jesus

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12, NRSV Bible with Apocrypha

Jesus is all flame; he is the light of the world, the light of life for all people. Our desire to become all flame, as Abba Joseph puts it, is simply another way of saying we want to love Jesus so much we will follow him no matter what, just to be with him in his mission of truth, mercy, healing, provision, redemption, justice, and love.

I regret that I regularly and habitually focus on the ashes and not the light, as Thomas Merton writes; every time I do that, I forfeit an experience of the very best for something less than that. As Mary Oliver says, when I do that “there is something wrong, I know”.

  • What is  your response to Jesus’ claim to be “the light of the world”?
  • How do you manage in our culture that is designed and engineered to capture our attention in a million different ways?
  • What is your experience of “light” vs. “darkness” in your life?
  • Take a moment to write down what comes to your mind. Maybe share it with a loved one later.

Gracious God, in your mercy, enable us to follow Jesus more and more each day.

Grace and peace to you…

dw

Image – Rembrandt portrait of Jesus from wikiart.org

Categories
attention Poetry prayer

Praying – a poem by Mary Oliver

Praying

It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

— Mary Oliver, Thirst

I first encountered Mary Oliver and this poem when reading Common Prayer, the book I mentioned in last Friday’s post. I was an immediate convert.

  • Does this poem change your thinking about prayer?  In what ways?
  • Are there things that seem to block you from praying? What are they?
  • How would you like prayer to be for you?
  • Take time to write down your thoughts…and consider reading them aloud to God…in prayer.
Grace and peace to you…
dw
 
Photo by dw

p.s. Notice she’s talking again about paying attention, a growing theme for us (see this, quoted from her book Upstream; see also Wednesday’s post where I emphasize it’s importance in living out our faith.)

Click below to see other posts on the theme of prayer:

Pages on Prayer
Categories
attention

Mary Oliver on ‘Attention’

Water splashing over rocks in stream.

Something is wrong, I know it, if I don’t keep my attention on eternity.

…

Attention is the beginning of devotion.

Mary Oliver, Upstream

I love Mary Oliver’s poetry and now am coming to love her prose as I read her book of essays Upstream.  In these two sentences from the first chapter, she seems to focus on at least part of the antidote for the problem posed by the quote from Thomas Merton last week.

  • I think what we pay attention to is what seems most important to us at any given moment.  What do we find ourselves paying attention to and what does that tell us about the things we value most?
  • How do we cope with keeping ourselves focused? How do we avoid constant distraction?
  • Are we as perceptive as Mary Oliver, knowing something is wrong when our attention strays from eternity?
  • Write down the things that you pay attention to. Which ones are ‘keepers’, things you definitely want to keep front and center? Which are definitely distractions? Are there some that are in between? What are they?

Grace and peace to you…

dw

Photo by dw