How Would Your Life Be Different …

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

– Mary Oliver

“You do not have to be good.  You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.”  How would your life be different if you knew you were completely accepted without trying to prove yourself?

“Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.”  How would your life be different if you shared your heart freely with others …  and connected deeply?

“You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”  How would your life be different if you listened to your heart and were true to its calling?

“Whoever who you are, no matter how lonely, the world … calls to you like the wild geese …  over and over announcing your place in the family of things.” How would your life be different if you knew you belonged, that your place was guaranteed unconditionally?

How would your life be different …

In peace and love, Teresa

P.S.  I want to remind you of my offering this coming Sunday at the Congregational Church of San Mateo.  Read here for more details. I hope to see you there!