Here's a gem from the gospel of Mary—Mary Oliver, that is.
We discussed this poignant poem recently in my weekly live online Yoga Nidra class that created some beautiful dialogue so I wanted to share it with you.
Maker of All Things, Even Healings
All night under the pines the fox
moves through the darkness
with a mouthful of teeth
and a reputation for death which it deserves.
In the spicy villages of the mice he is famous,
his nose in the grass
is like an earthquake,
his feet on the path
is a message so absolute
that the mouse, hearing it, makes himself
as small as he can as he sits silent
or, trembling, goes on
hunting among the grasses for the ripe seeds.
Maker of All Things,
including appetite, including stealth,
including the fear that makes
all of us sometime or other,
flee for the sake
of our small and precious lives,
let me abide in your shadow-
let me hold on
to the edge of your robe
as you determine what you must let be lost
and what will be saved.
This poem SLAYS me.
It's so powerful for me because I believe the healing suggested in the title is the moment when one realizes that EVERYTHING is sacred, even those most difficult parts of life, the parts that make all of us some time or other flee for the sake of our small and precious lives.
Somehow, it's all part of the sacred whole.
Whole means healed.
The fox has long been a symbol for wisdom.
How is the absolute message of the unequivocal teeth of the fox a wise teacher?
Standing in the teeth of life means being willing to acknowledge the Maker Of All Things even and especially learn to accept what seems most difficult in life.
What is it in your life that is the hardest to accept yet because it exists, it comes from the Maker Of All Things?
How can accepting or at least acknowledging it bring healing?
Here's my short list:
Human suffering
The injustice of a broken political system
The extreme and fabricated political polarization which causes people to view those with different political views as "other."
The annihilation of our environment as the result of short-sighted greed
Massive world-wide social and financial inequality
The lack of role models for compassionate discourse around difficult issues like race, gender, politics, and the environment
What's your list?
That's not to say that we should just throw our hands up in the air and say that there is nothing to do about such difficult matters in life. Rather it's suggesting that acceptance is the first step to healing which can include responding compassionately to life's challenges.
I'd love to hear your list. Leave a comment below or email me.
