showing up
“Invitation”
Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy
and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles
for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,
or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air
as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine
and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude –
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
Mary Oliver, “Invitation,” A Thousand Mornings (New York: Penguin Books, 2013).
Late summer is when I like to watch the sunrise, the air is warm and not shocking. Late summer the sunrise happens at a reasonable hour. Watching it one morning I hatched a plan to see who would enjoy a sunrise practice, and people came. We sat and marveled at daybreak, something that happens EVERY SINGLE DAY, but we made the time and effort to show up, and what a treat it was. We practiced with gratitude for Mother Nature’s beauty, our nourishing breath, and the body that carries us, truly -“it is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in a broken world.”