An Invitation to What Matters

Van Goph Sunflowers by David Pyatt

My Work is Loving the World

Mary Oliver

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird –
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,

Which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

This is the first poem in Mary Oliver‘s collection Thirst, titled, “The Messenger.”

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It is lovely, isn’t it? This invitation to be mindful of what matters:

Let me keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.

So go ahead; stand still, be astonished, pray.

Enter the New Year with a desire to do the work.