Newness of Life
Celebrating my tiny teacher, and how he opens my eyes to life all around me...
This week is all about the miracle of life—a newborn baby, a reflection on baptism, a living poem, a wise life lesson from a classic story…oh, and there’s a goofy humor piece in there too, lest this all get too serious!
He’s here!! And we already can’t imagine how we ever managed without him. Dimitri Gabriel is a force to be reckoned with (and fed, and diapered, and held), and a beautiful reminder that every minute of the day, something new and wonderful is born…and if we just pay attention, new and wonderful things will be born in our hearts as well.
ESSAY: EMERGENCE
My essay for Gather magazine looks at baptism. Maybe the most important thing is not our ritual immersion IN, but our triumphant emergence FROM, water that makes our baptisms sacred…
POEM: “the best poem ever” by Brian Doyle
Another gem from a favorite writer (and a loving father), Brian Doyle, who elevated the simplest moments, like a child’s conversation, and showed us how precious and profound they are.
What if, says a small child to me this afternoon,
We made a poem without using any words at all?
Wouldn’t that be cool? You could use long twigs,
And feathers, or spider strands, and arrange them
So that people imagine what words could be there.
Wouldn’t that be cool? So there’s a different poem
For each reader. That would be the best poem ever.
The poem wouldn’t be on the page, right? It would
Be in the air, sort of. It would be between the twigs
And the person’s eyes, or behind the person’s eyes,
After the person saw whatever poem he or she saw.
Maybe there are a lot of poems that you can’t write
Down. Couldn’t that be? But they’re still there even
If no one can write them down, right? Poems in
Books are only a little bit of all the poems there are.
Those are only the poems someone found words for.
MUSIC: MAKE OUR GARDEN GROW (FROM CANDIDE, BY LEONARD BERNSTEIN)
A New York theatrical experience I’ll never forget…in 1975, Steve and I, having pinched our pennies until they screamed, were able to buy tickets to a Broadway revival of Bernstein’s musical Candide. Based on Voltaire’s classic satire, and ingeniously directed by Harold Prince, the naive young Candide encounters endless sadness and suffering, insisting that this is the “best of all possible worlds,” even as that world comes crashing down around him. The music and acting were incredible, and there was plenty of madcap comedy. But the last song is what I remember most. Candide finally realizes that this may not be the best world, but he—and all of us—can find our joy and purpose by simply tending our own gardens (watch out for falling cows, though)!
HUMOR: A HOPEFUL AUTHOR APOLOGIZES TO A LITERARY AGENT FOR AN EMAIL ERROR
I love writing humor. I love reading humor even more. Once in a while a piece I read REALLY speaks to me, like this one, by Kristen Tsetsi. As someone who has made more than my share of email mistakes, this escalating comedic chain of messages from a writer to a prospective agent rang so true!! Enjoy (with a little side of cringe)…
BLOG PREVIEW: SIGNS, SIGNS, EVERYWHERE SIGNS
All around us, there are unmistakable signs. Bumper stickers and highway billboards and lawn signs…signs that direct us to exits, sell us donuts, invite us to visit Atlantic City casinos, to hire certain personal injury lawyers, to vote red or blue, to honk if we heart Jesus. Join me over at Working Title for a fun look at the signs we see everyday!!
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Sometimes the quotes I choose here, have chosen me. Actress Marian Seldes’ emphatic words challenge me in this week of complicated emotions. My sister Maureen passed away 43 years ago this morning, October 1, 1981, Mom died on September 29, 2006. Peter Britten was born September 23, 2016, and Dimitri Gabriel arrived just last week, September 25, 2024. Can I see my mom and sister next to me as I hold tiny Dimitri? Is this new sweet little soul part of the great cloud of witnesses to love that never dies? Can we, this week, spend time thinking about our loved ones who are just ahead of us on the path? I wish you all comfort and peace in your remembering…
“People and things that you love never die. They don’t. We can’t let them. Everyone and everything I ever loved is still with me every day. You have to do the same. You have to honor them with your memory and with your words. Tell the stories. Remind people of other people. Share everything. Prove to people that death ends nothing.”—Marian Seldes
