Consider these few lines by beloved poet Mary Oliver:
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
In many ways, the last line is the most challenging! When the life we are living expands beyond busy superficialities to include an inner, spiritual dimension, “tell about it” is not so easy. All the forms of artistic expression come into play, since words alone are often inadequate. Every expression, no matter how inspired, falls short in some way, simply because we are trying to tell about the untellable. And yet we never stop trying. “That which you seek is causing you to seek,” as St. Francis would say.
The spectrum of our faith and praise,
the art that serves through craft or phrase,
brings vital energy and power
to colour this and every hour.
O God, in whose image we are made,
Be in the folding of our hands, the bowing of our heads, the closing of our eyes, that we may be conscious of Your inward presence.
