Mtr Mary Trainor

Jesus, Me, and Mary Oliver

Dear friend,

Sometimes, I’m just not ready for the words that come my way. I trust, though, that it isn’t the fault of the words.

I need time to arrive at the spot where their message intersects my life. It’s not their fault. It’s not my fault. It’s all about timing.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination…*

Mary Oliver** is a poet I always wanted to “get.” Everyone around me raved about her work, so I kept trying. And yet her words eluded me. For years.

And then one day I tried again, and I was overcome by the beauty of her words, their meaning—elegant yet simple, simple yet profound. 

…calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —

Jesus’ words sometimes elude me, too. Yet, I keep trying, reading, listening, sitting with them to allow time and space for his words and me to align.

In today’s Gospel from John, I find Jesus’ cascade of words a bit hard to manage. As Jesus teaches in the temple, detractors challenge his authority, his place, his message, his truthfulness. It’s a drawn-out sparring match that tells me little of use. Or is it of great use?  In time, I may know.

…over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

It’s like that with words, I believe. It’s not necessarily that they in themselves are dull, uninspired, confusing, or uninteresting. More likely, I am simply not ready to hear them, not yet open to their message.

Mtr Mary

*Wild Geese by Mary Oliver, who the New Yorker magazine called “One of the most beloved poets of her generation.”

Special Note: Check out the Lenten study led by Fr Michael Anderson and Dcn Susan Erickson. It will focus on The Poetry of Lent, A Lenten Companion to Mary Oliver’s Devotions, a product of The Salt Project.