I write this from bed where I am recovering from one of many fierce migraine attacks this month. I mention that because, though I will no doubt edit this many times as usual, I am more likely to miss the obvious because both the attacks and the medicine to abort them make my cognitive challenges more difficult to overcome. So, please forgive me if this is rougher than usual.
Yet, all that said, I feel compelled today to write about something I’ve been mulling over since my last post – another lesson reinforced through a visit to the pond. Though the necessity of stillness, rest, quiet, peacefulness, is enforced through this illness – it is far more than what might seem at a glance (sometimes even to my glance!) a physical necessity and consequence.
Be Still
Quiet electric cart for legs,
I am carried to a refuge.
Sun and breeze caress painful skin.
Difficult times without and within.
A bench awaits but the way is hard,
Though I know it’s always worth it.
Body in pain and spirit longing,
True rest comes inside belonging.
I sit and look, very small inside.
Silent plea to God, teach me.
Thoughts drift, words disappear.
Vision ranges from far to near.
Reflections on water first blind my eye.
A breeze disturbs and clears the way.
From cold dark depths a turtle rises to drift,
No thoughts to sort, no dilemmas to sift.
Vision focuses even nearer to hand,
I feel my face light with joy,
Red dragonflies I’d thought never came this year,
Sit here with me, how long were they here?
They sit in the sun on blades of long grass,
Wings held low to absorb and soak.
Then I look closer, through the weeds,
And there I see more of my Lord’s seeds.
Still as a statue, one of this year’s youngsters,
Beautiful, intricate, so easily missed!
A tiny frog sits between water and land,
Hidden and patient, a jewel here at hand.
In the midst of suffering, a lesson,
A grace, confirmation again,
In stillness and quiet are the finest of treasures,
Each shall have what is needed, in infinite measure.
“Be still and know that I am God.”
Psalm 46, verse 10 (verse 11 NAB)
Peace.
My dear friend….I read this and realized something that you have been forced to see. Too many of us do not take the time to “be still”. I think we should all take time to step away from the pace of our lives and watch a turtle, or a frog, or even the fireflys….so, I thank you again for inspiring me to “think”!! Love and prayers always…
If there is any inspiration, it didn’t come from me
I think you are right, too many of us do not take the time to be still. The ability to find peace in stillness in the midst of being ill is a rich blessing, though it seems to me I must remember always to seek it out – it is not a passive thing. I find myself more and more grateful for being removed from the larger world, though I still struggle sometimes in accepting the hardest aspects.
Then again, God makes use of all things.
With love and prayers for you, too,
May we all attain true
Peace.
Dear HL, thank you for your effort to post your visit to your special place. Your poetry is a comfort to me and others. Despite the pain of migraine (which am too familiar with) you soldier onward. We went through recent hurricane w/mandatory evac which I dreaded. It was both torture and a learning experience by those I met including a Red Cross volunteer, not healthy herself but we bonded over prayer and meditation. Learned that St. Theresa suffered migraines. She is one that my Dad, a nurse friend and myself have a fondness for. Also a song by Joan Osbourne St Theresa. We keep on, don’t we, because the strength of His Mercy and Grace. You are in my prayers, always…hope you feel stronger soon. Peace.
Sue H.
Dear Sue,
I am so glad to find your note and learn you’ve made it through the hurricane! I was thinking of you and praying for you and all in its path. Concerned that posting might seem callous, I wondered if I should post at all yet and am glad to know it did not offend.
It seems you and the volunteer you met were blessings to each other – isn’t it marvelous how things work both ways if only we are receptive to seeing it? I’ve read that St. Teresa suffered terribly with headaches among other ailments and yet she is always described by those who knew her as vibrant and quick of thought. Thank you for reminding me of that aspect of her!
“We keep on, don’t we, because the strength of His Mercy and Grace.” Yes, that’s exactly how I do it and why I can
Thank you for your prayers – I will take all I can get – and know you are in mine. May your life now settle back to a more comfortable routine.
Peace.
I did not find your poetry rough at all but actually found it to be very real. Thank you for sharing it. It was beautiful.
I hope you are feeling better soon.
Coming from such an accomplished writer as yourself, that is so very generous of you!
Even more generous is your time in visiting and commenting at all especially given how very hard your own struggle is. I am so grateful for all that you do on behalf of all of us! Thank you.
You are in my prayers, Dominique.
Peace.
The poem is s beautifully written. “Body in pain and spirit longing” struck me as it does epitomise it! Thank you so much for sharing it!
You are very kind to leave such a lovely comment for me to find, thank you.
I am happy that you’ve found something to relate to in my post!
Peace.
[...] a poem I posted recently, “On the Necessity of Being Still” I mentioned the return of the red dragonflies I’d thought had not come back this year. The gift [...]