Time. Precious. Beautiful Moments. Taking Time to Appreciate Life in the Present (Apr. 2007)

April 19, 2007 Susan’s Newsletter
Time.  Precious.  The moments.  
Concentrating on the beauty of  our present day, not living for future or living in the past. (Alexander Yelchaninov)
Poem Briefly it Enters Briefly it Speaks by Jane Kenyon

Good morning!  I have had two cups of coffee, but only one eye has willingly opened.  Regardless of the cooperation from the right side of my face, I think my brain has decided to kick in, and my fingers seem to effectively be typing, so I believe I can coherently write down my thoughts for you this morning!  There are two different ideas I have been debating on writing to you, but can’t decide which to go with, so I’m going to just write both venues that have been playing in my mind this morning.

Last night before bed I read the following quote, written by a Russian priest, Alexander Yelchaninov (1881-1934) during his exile in France.  He wrote,

“Our continual mistake is that we do not concentrate upon the present day; the actual hour, of our life; we live in the past or in the future; we are continually expecting the coming of some special hour when our life shall unfold itself in its full significance.  And we do not observe that life is flowing like water through our fingers, sifting like precious grain from a loosely fastened bag.”   

How many times a day do we think sentimentally of a past experience or long for a time or person from our past?  How many times a day do we just think, “When this happens, when that happens… then I’ll be happy.”  The quote above was so specific.  Time.  Precious.  The moments.  We must cherish our moments, no matter what pain surrounds the moments.  We must notice the little teeny purple flowers popping up, the birds we hear singing, the breeze.  Life.  Open your windows – God’s personal gifts to us are this exact moment – just observe his creation.  Take the time to smile at a child.  Take the time to actually listen when we ask someone how they are.  Time.  Precious.  Moments.  Carpe Diem.  We must continually work our minds to seize the day.

Now, to flip to what else I wanted to type to you…  On Friday on my way to Omaha I was absolutely mesmerized by a poem being read by Garrison Keillor.  Every morning for five minutes on NPR Garrison Keillor exposes us to different poets.  I have now made a shortcut to the web site http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/ where we can daily listen to his voice reading us current poems, or poems in the archive.  I’m going to make a goal of trying to expose myself to poetry, for this is a foreign language to me, that actually scares me.  If you go to this site I encourage you to listen to him read the following poem that I will end with today.  So many lines to mull over.  Beautiful mind pictures.  I encourage you to go to the site and listen to April 13 as he reads it, for his voice is mesmerizing.  I mull over which emotions he was trying to put into pictures for us.  The line of the blossom from 200 years – I love that line!

“Briefly It Enters, and Briefly Speaks”  by Jane Kenyon, from The Boat of Quiet Hours.  © Graywolf Press.

I am the blossom pressed in a book,
found again after two hundred years…  .

I am the maker, the lover, and the keeper…  .

When the young girl who starves
sits down to a table
she will sit beside me…  .

I am food on the prisoner’s plate…  .

I am water rushing to the wellhead,
filling the pitcher until it spills…  .

I am the patient gardener
of the dry and weedy garden…  .

I am the stone step,
the latch, and the working hinge…  .

I am the heart contracted by joy…  .
the longest hair, white
before the rest…  .
I am there in the basket of fruit
presented to the widow…  .

I am the musk rose opening
unattended, the fern on the boggy summit…  .

I am the one whose love
overcomes you, already with you
when you think to call my name…  .

Okay, there you go!  My other eye is now open and I just want to say – THANK YOU for your business, your notes, and your friendship.  We have our back entry of the store open – just park behind the store.  The streets are all torn up – it’s all quite exciting, I think!  Go take on your days – they are flowing like water – we must take the time to notice the tiniest treasures, or life will be gone before we know it.  The years glide by.  Enjoy spring – I told you it was almost here!!!!  I at least got that prediction right!  Susan