A PRAYER  FROM YEATS

As Yeats put it in his poem, 

The Land of Heart’s  Desire (1894) 

there is an imaginary land 

“Where nobody gets old 

and bitter of tongue.” 

Well, Lord, I don’t believe 

such a place exists, so 

I know I’m going to get old, 

but please save me from 

having a bitter tongue. 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

William Butler Yeats [1865-1939]

The Land of Heart’s Desire (1894)

p. 12

June 17, 2018 

Thought for today:

“Too long a sacrifice 

Can make a stone of the heart.”  

W. Butler Yeats [1865-1939] 

Michael Robartes and the Dancer

(1920), “Easter, 1916”

THE   GARDEN

I lost my soul there for a while ….

Actually -  it was a long slow while ….

Work, relationships - some iffy

for a while -  family -  the weekend life -

and then stuff - some forbidden fruit -

the basic indoor ingredients of actual  -

verbal and non-verbal  atheism -

when I  had to move east of Eden ….

I was not  running from God - just floating

downstream to avoid HINTS of God ….

Then I hit 67 plus - when I found myself

in the open sea of life - and death - when

I began  attending more frequent funerals

of  specific relatives and people I had met.

It was then, then, then, I began to know

I had this vast ruined - forgotten garden -

within me. It was overgrown with weeded

paths and a rusty wrought iron bench that

needed attention  - that is, if I wanted 
to meet and sit with God in the cool of the
evening after the heat of the day weeding.

God, once more, you asked, “Where am I?”

“Here,” I answered. Then I asked, humbly,

“Can I come back into the garden?”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

Cf.  Genesis 2: 4b to 3: 24

June 16, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“A translation is  no  translation.” he said, “unless  it  will  give you the music of a poem along with the words of it.” 

John Mllington Synge [1871-1909], Aran Islands (1907), pt. 3

June 15, 2018

SHADE

God, at least some 5 billion years ago -

came up with the idea of all of this - gnats,

hippos, stars - lots of them - mosquitoes,

rocks - lots of them as well - and then us -

but something was missing - water, no, there

was lots of water, sun, no, that was central

and necessary - something was still missing,
till it hit God one hot afternoon: shade, lots
of shade so we can hide from the heat.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018

June 15, 2018 

Thought for today: 

“She would only point  out the salvation that was latent in his own soul, and in the soul of every man.  Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon.  Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height.  Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die.”  

E.M Forster [1879-1970], 

Howard’s End  (1910), chapter 22 

(The title-page also has “Only connect…”)

[This is a visual and an interactive prayer. You just  have to do the following gesture - take two fingers - hold them up -  like a sort of sideways - like a peace sign and point those two fingers towards your eyes when I say the word “optics” - as in asking people to see or to look - and then point those two fingers out at something or someone to be seen - as in Mary officially retiring today - as in cleaning 200,000 toilets and vacuuming 567,853 miles of carpet these 35 years.  Okay and then take your two hands and cup them around your ears - as in gesturing to another -   listen - listen - listen.] So a prayer called, “Optics and Earicks”.

OPTICS AND EARICKS

Lord, remind me -  each day -

to see and to hear

all the good that is happening

all around me.

Lord, give me good optics and good earicks.

Help me to see and to sense whether the other person

is in a good place or a bad place or a so so place today.

Help me to see if they are tight jawed or relaxed,

hands drumming or hands and heart at ease.

Lord, give me good optics and good earicks.

Help me to listen to tones and sounds, hesitations and hurries,

in the other person’s voice - to hear if they are anxious or calm,

nervous or at ease,  so much so that I can  ask by listening,

“Are you okay?” or simply say, “You sound happy today.”

Lord, give me good optics and good earicks.

Help me to see the body language and to hear

the soul sense of those celebrating retirement,

awards, as well as years of service here at St. Mary’s.

Thank You, Lord, for their presence amongst us. Amen.