Sometimes
if you move carefully
through the forest,
breathing
like the ones
in the old stories,
who could cross
a shimmering bed of leaves
without a sound,
you come
to a place
whose only task
is to trouble you
with tiny
but frightened requests,
conceived out of nowhere
but in this place
beginning to lead everywhere.
Requests to stop what
you are doing right now,
and
to stop what you
are becoming
while you do it,
Questions
that can make or unmake
a life,
questions
that have patiently
waited for you,
questions
that have no right
to go away.
-Sometimes by David Whyte from River Flow: New and Selected Poems
As I mentioned in my introduction to this project, I am infinitely curious. I find this curiosity about people and ideas a sacred part of my faith. To be curious is to be alive in the world and open to wonder. It is fundamentally a settling into the discomfort of questions rather than the ease of answers.
People are already talking about this moment in history as one that will shift how we live, just like 911 did. I am curious about what this will mean. I have a dear clergy colleague who does amazing activism work with the migrant communities–on 911 they were working in the financial district of Manhattan. The questions that shape and drive our lives, “questions that can make or unmake a life” are present and it’s in these moments that we are given the time and space to listen to them, to consider their weight and what they might say.
In this time of social distancing, I am curious about the questions that nudge at me. That have been patiently waiting for my attention, to help me think about my work and relationships.
Be kind,
Cara
To Find a Steady Center is a daily poem and meditation to offer a short, good word to those who are anxious, fearful or lonely and who might need a gentle word of hope, encouragement or perspective during social distancing.
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