Journal of Sacred Work

Mary Oliver

  • Days 89-90 Awe Moments

        “Your heart and my heart are very, very old friends.” -Hafiz Such Singing in the Wild Branches It was springand I finally heard himamong the first leaves––then I saw him clutching the limb in an island of shadewith his red-brown… Continue reading

  • Days 341-345 “…everything I have ever learned”

    “,,,To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go,… Continue reading

  • Days 116-117 Springtime

    Such Singing in the Wild Branches It was springand I finally heard himamong the first leaves––then I saw him clutching the limb in an island of shadewith his red-brown feathersall trim and neat for the new year.First, I stood still… Continue reading

  • Days 62-66 – What is the Soul?

    Our soul is apparently “unknowable.” We rely on belief instead of scientific evidence. I believe that it exists beyond, & ultimately separate from, the bodies we occupy. Mystically, some credit listening to their unknowable soul as the source of their… Continue reading

  • Days 19-20 Something Precious

    I was introduced to Mary Oliver's marvelous poems by Erie Chapman through the years on this Journal. I recall the first time I experienced "Wild Geese." It was life changing! Wild Geese You do not have to be good.You do… Continue reading

  • Days 230-231 A Summer Garden

    Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way: A Poem by Mary Oliver If you’re John Muir you want trees to live among. If you’re Emily, a garden will do. Try to find the right place for yourself. If you can’t find… Continue reading

  • Days 162-163 Vanishing

    I thought the earth  remembered me, she  took me back so tenderly, arranging  her dark skirts, her pockets  full of lichens and seeds. I slept  as never before, a stone on the riverbed, nothing between me and the white fire… Continue reading

  • Days 272-276 – Where the Temple Begins

    There are hundreds of lessons that can be gleaned from watching geese in flight. Yet, the most important appears in three lines from Mary Oliver, “There are things you can’t reach. But/you can reach out to them, and all day… Continue reading

  • Days 257-261 – Serenity From The Saints

    Poems are prayers, fine photographs are meditations & music is a bed on which to rest the tired heart. I classify great artists as saints. Continue reading

  • Days 213-214 Landscape A Poem by Mary Oliver

    Note: This reflection  is shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel Landscape  Isn't it plain the sheets of moss, except thatthey have no tongues, could lectureall day if they wanted about spiritual patience?  Isn't it clear the black oaks   along the… Continue reading