When I looked for a poem, this one by William Stafford found me. Mountains appear to be immovable and unchangeable, yet as people do they do so without immediate notice. Yet, when we revisit them, we realize the changes that occurred.
In the case of teachers, Parker Palmer speaks about asking the question “who is the self who teaches?” We are each teachers in our own particular ways, so asking this question is essential. We often overlook this question in pursuit of easier to answer questions about the what, when, where, why, and how.
When we ask who we are, we explore the values that anchor us in living life. In times of crisis, those values guide us and help us through those tough times. Attending to them in mindful ways each day as a gardener would her/his garden grounds us in them in times of real need. They have spiritual meaning that come to life in living and expressing them daily through who we are as a human being.
If we serve our values well, “we will hear the world say, ‘Well done.'” The patience of living a good life, which in Aristotle‘s terms, is indefinable will be the reward. Like a mountain guiding us on our journey, the values we live and express guide us and others on a shared journey.
To be a mountain you have to climb alone
and accept all that rain and snow. You have to look
far away, when evening comes. If a forest
grows, you care; you stand there leaning against
the wind, waiting for someone with faith enough
to ask you to move. Great stones will tumble
against each other and gouge your sides. A storm
will live somewhere in your canyons hoarding its lightning.
If you are lucky, people will give you a dignified
name and bring crowds to admire how sturdy you are,
how long you can hold still for the camera. And some time,
they say, if you last long enough you will hear God;
a voice will roll down from the sky and all your patience
will be rewarded. The whole world will hear it: “Well done.”
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
The voice has been singing to me for years. Be by the waters and smell the silence of the mountains. I got close on my visit to Jasper. Wonderful post. ❤
I find the mountains are a great place to be in the silence. Nature has its own sounds we can hear more fully in that silence.
Well done, indeed.
Thank you Russ.
They are. I regret not hearing Leonard Cohen live. He was here, but we chose not to go.
Interesting. I don’t consider whether or not I’m ‘serving my values,’ as it’s automatic. And sometimes the edges sharpen around my integrity when I need to let things loosen a bit. Not everything must be my level best. It’s the bane of the Perfectionist, and actually benefits me to deconstruct it once in awhile. I realize for others the lesson is to shape values, to mine for them. So thankfully we’re not all the same! 🙂
Just my own thoughts prompted by the post. Aloha, Ivon!
Bela, you are so right: “thankfully we’re not all the same.”
post is a gem
Thank you Bonny.
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