A needle in the haystack of delight

Today I am taking a break from the pulpit. Ann Willms is back from her vacation and is preaching. For those interested in the lessons she is using today: Jeremiah 23:23-29, Psalm 82, Luke 12:49-56

Here is a poem by Mary Oliver, a gift from our friend Karen in Tennessee. Enjoy your Sunday, the day the Lord has made!

Mindful

by Mary Oliver

Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less

kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle

in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for -
to look, to listen,

to lose myself
inside this soft world -
to instruct myself
over and over

in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant -
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help

but grow wise
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light

of the world,
the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?