What Does Thankful Look Like?

 

The sky is streaked with windswept brushstrokes in a monotone grey. The air is calm, but above our heads the chilly air moves with speed. My body feels the cold, and I am thankful for the sweater that warms my arms. I look around and appreciate how the greyish, subdued morning light awakens different scenes of the day. The leaves on the trees have a muted, autumnal hue. The reflection on the lake is like glass, revealing another world on the other side of the water's surface in my imagination.

A few days later, an opposite scene greets me with a blue-hued sky reflecting in a blue tinted lake. Not one wisp of cloud dots the perfectly smooth sky. The air feels warmer. A slight breeze dances over the lake water and the green leaves are vibrant.

Both days I was filled with a thankful heart. Much as I prefer the grey scale sky because it is more interesting to me, I look at each day and appreciate what it is giving me. It is a gift I can choose to enjoy. It is not about circumstance - it's a posture of the heart. No matter what the day looks like I can choose to let thankfulness blanket my soul. 

Both/And not Either/Or

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 we are reminded to - 

... give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

These photos were taken just a few days apart on my way to work. I am blessed to have this view every single day. Something I love is how it looks different every morning. Whether by the light cast down from the sky, by the wind chopping up some waves, by the wildlife (swans, geese, ducks, pelicans), and by the activity of people who are walking or taking some quiet time. 

As we celebrate a time of Thanksgiving in our American culture, it might be different from recent years. Families might be scattered, travel might look different, it might be quieter than usual. But our lives are different so we are still dealing with what that looks like. My hope is that we will all be able to be thankful in all circumstances, even amidst the strangeness, because I believe that is the way to see the goodness of God in every day and to foster a thankful heart.

You're So Medieval

 

"When overdone, true virtue wanes.
Indulgence, surplus & excess
do not equate to more, but less,
& what goes on relentlessly
infuriates eventually."
The only everlasting good
is found within the realm of God:
its basket constantly provides
yet stays replenished to all sides.
God's wondrous empire knows no end,
forever giving, never spent.

- Lines 350-362

A narrator overhears an owl and a nightingale debating in the trees. They speak as if they are human, which is never explained in the poem, and other than referencing some bird-specific aspects and characteristics, they could be any two humans having a debate at a coffee shop. Within these lines I heard two humans disagreeing and differing in their ideas on morality, personality, habits, and particular ways of living. Two different cultures or personalities.

The dating of this poem is not fully determined. Somewhere between 1189 and 1279 is the range. The author is unknown, though the original poem mentions Master Nicholas of Guildford, who is the person of sound judgement in the poem. This would traditionally be the author (Simon Armitage, the poet laureate and translator of the original in this new version, cleverly inserts himself into this translation as the person of sound judgement). Even the location is unclear (somewhere in southern or southwest England?)

Why do I appreciate the translations that Simon Armitage has done? He makes Middle English Medieval poems approachable and able to be discussed in our modern day. We do not have to be a scholar to discuss the themes and topics being addressed in the poems he has translated (yes, translated from English to English - but can you understand all the nuances and obscure words of Middle English?).

Something else I enjoy is even though it is a translation, and not Simon's original poem, his translation adds his own personality into the verbiage, and I can hear his poetic voice in these lines. I really enjoy these Medieval poems translated so we can explore them today. This is a poem so Medieval and yet now so easy to read and enjoy with modern minds.

But what is the purpose or meaning of the poem? It is unclear, and yet I sense that these two different creatures who cannot seem to understand one another or agree on anything is a pathway for us to see how we should be willing to listen to others who do not share our beliefs and practices, or who have different personalities, to be able to practice good listening and empathy with one another, even amidst debate. Maybe there are things an owl can learn from a nightingale and vice versa? Maybe they will stop arguing one day and see that.

Bookstack

 

And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused...

- William Wordsworth

What books have you been reading this autumn?

If I tried to hold all the books I have read, my arm would be crushed.

Keeping with my goal of reading a new classic each month (a classic I have never read), I am also intertwining poetry and mystery at the same time. This is just a little stack of the books I have recently finished, books that have continued to stay in my mind since closing the cover on the last page.

My poetry book lately has been the collaboration of Wordsworth and Coleridge in their Lyrical Ballads, published first in 1798, which is a bit of an oxymoron, as something lyrical being emotional and a ballad being structured and storytelling. And yet their revolutionary poetry established the romantic poetry of the 1800s incorporating emotion and feeling through nature and story. This collection was the start of a shift in English poetry, with many other poets to come along following their pen marks.

On the theme of poetry, Simon Armitage's collected Oxford lectures, that he gave whilst he was the professor of poetry (a 4 year term), are a thoughtful, expanding meditation on poetry in the modern view, using the old and new to fuse into the generative environment we have now. I always enjoy reading or listening to Simon's thoughts on poetry and our modern age.

Murder mysteries in the spirit of the golden age of mysteries (Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers) are always appealing to me. Such books from the 1920's - 1950's are dubbed cosy murder mysteries, which may seem contradicting, but I totally get it. What is cosy about murder? It is about getting lost in a case, losing yourself in solving that mystery, and in some sense they are fantasy books because the murder and the situation is so fantastical it is an escape from the everyday. I've always liked solving mysteries and finding clues along the way. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was such a good murder mystery with a general classic look at first glance, but one that throws people way off at the end. The Devil and the Dark Water was written in this kind of tradition of mystery, but written today with a modern voice. This story takes on a historical aspect as well, taking place in the 1640s. 

My classic of the month was The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. It was my $1 find at a library sale a few months ago. I had not read any books by Hardy yet, and I will say his prose descriptions on nature and people is beautiful, yet his characters are set-up for doom. There is a sense of futility of life and the mishaps and bad decisions made over time will catch-up to you. When I felt some hope of a character looking to redeem their past, they would turn back like a magnet, setting up their future doom. There were so many instances of wanting the characters to choose differently, which reminds me that every choice we make will impact our future (good or ill, loving or cruel). That is a realistic thought to meditate on - consequence.

He rose the morrow morn

 He went, like one that hath been stunn'd 

And is of sense forlorn:

A sadder and a wiser man

He rose the morrow morn.

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

To be reflective and meditative is to give yourself the space to grow into wisdom. The air of melancholy may accompany such depths, but is not always linked to be a replica of the word, depressed, but it can hold a sadness that lingers because of story, life, the world. We can feel the sadness in the state of our planet, our divisive culture, the negative views/actions of others, and the changes it all may cause which will shape our future.

We can grow in wisdom and feel melancholic about it as it can be a sobering experience. We can dwell there to process through it all. In my mind, I always need to let my thoughts walk around. It is not that we look for a state of melancholy, but it comes to find us, and when it does, it can be a catalyst for development and creativity. Many of the best poets and writers wrote when feeling downcast. I myself have done the same, and if I have been able to embrace what it is, that part of the experience of being human, my words come flowing from a deeper, more meaningful place.

Upon hearing a tale of lesson and loss, like the ancient mariner in the quote above (from that marvelous poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"), one can walk away grateful, wiser, and melancholy all the same, feeling like one just dipped into a tale much bigger than themselves.

When we see things are much more complex than just our own struggles, a sense of thoughtful melancholy can sweep over the atmosphere, not because one is sad, but because the state out of control of the big things and the little influence we have. But we can choose to do good in even the small ways we have at our fingertips.

If you are interested in this topic, I will be exploring it more. I have been diving into the new exhibit (and hope to visit in person) at the Bodleian Library on The Anatomy of Melancholy, the 400 year old book written by Robert Burton.