It Bears Repeating…

Searching for a poem to use for an event, I stumbled upon another treasure from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. Her poem, It’s Like This, ends with this phrase:

“…it feels right to say thank you, thank you, eyes lifting, heart trembling, the improbable earth so solid beneath our feet.”

Thinking this poem would be perfect for today’s newsletter as part of a thank you to our donors for raising $10,000 in our Summer Boost campaign, I noted it and went about my day.

But that’s the funny thing about gratitude and saying thank you, even amidst trying times. It’s quite catchy!  Or it’s a reminder that unseen support and affirmation is always available when we choose to take note of it.

From references to being thankful to prayers saying thanks offered by friends, I could feel my well of gratitude filling over the last 24 hours. And this morning, I was blessed by an email from Sharon Lowe in which she shared her recently written poem in response to a glimpse of a hummingbird (see below). She closes her poem, Afternoon Hummingbird, with this wisdom:

“Thank God, I still know magic when I see it.” —Sharon Lowe

Last week I wrote about antidotes to the times we feel despair or the loss of hope. What if the best antidote is simple, corny, and oh-so-powerful words of gratitude or an awareness of the magic all around us when we see, hear, touch, or taste it?

Normally ending my message in the form of a blessing, I found a quite powerful one for these times while searching for quotes on gratitude. As I close with appreciation for your presence and engagement in the Eremos community, I offer this wisdom to you:

“May you be strengthened by yesterday’s rain, walk straight in tomorrow’s wind and cherish each moment of the sun today.”

—Ojibwe Saying

Afternoon Hummingbird

The hummingbird hovers a few inches
from my window
allowing me to witness the
miraculous mechanics of its wings
fanning the hot, humid air of August.
There is nothing red in sight
(unless the bird can see my open, astonished mouth),
only the sun above
painting the live oak leaves white with light.

And I wonder what animates this hummingbird
in this moment.
Maybe it dances for its own delight.
Maybe the purpose is to winnow onlookers —
separating casual, even careless observers
from devotees.

Thank God, I still know magic when I see it.

—Sharon Lowe

The Miracle

“The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see.”

―Dr. Robert Holden

It’s Like This

“The odds of you being alive are basically zero.” —Dina Spector reporting the work of Dr. Ali Binazir, Business Insider, June 11, 2012

It’s like this. The sun itself
is constantly moving through space,
wherever and whatever that is,
and yet it never leaves us.
Add this to the list of marvels—
like how a glass of water
was once a cloud,
like how love can grow in us
despite despair, fear.
Given such gifts,
one must wonder how it is
our arms aren’t constantly raised
in spontaneous praise for life.
I know and you know
why sometimes our hands stay down.
But now, standing still together,
even as we’re spinning
and racing through space,
even if it’s only a whisper,
when faced with the truth
that great forces hold
our lives in place,
it feels right to say
thank you, thank you,
eyes lifting, heart trembling,
the improbable earth
so solid beneath our feet.

―Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, The Unfolding. The poem and so many other treasures can also be found on her poem-a-day website A Hundred Falling Veils.

Offered in thanksgiving to the generous donors who co-create a firm foundation, “so solid beneath our feet” for Eremos to be of service, inspiration, and love in the world.