A few nights ago, during a telephone conversation, a friend in his twenties shared, “You’re telling me I’m good enough just the way I am? That’s hard for me to believe. How come we never hear that message?”
I am sad. His words ring true.
I encouraged, “You are good enough. Just like this, right now. You are, and I am. We all are. No matter the circumstance. Certainly we can always be better, and there is value in striving for more. But, today, right now, you are good, enough.”
His words and my response wrestle in me during this week of thanksgiving. I ponder, “what is good, enough?”
Then I remember “Wild Geese” a favorite Mary Oliver poem found in Dream Works (1994). I dare you to toss her words into your heart. Give thanks.
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
–Mary Oliver
Giving Thanks …
I gaze into my own heart, notice the specific people in my life, and the increasing thirst in the world for healing and hope. I am grateful, for my life and yours, for breath and life, no matter how abundant or fragmented.
It is time to announce our place in the world, invite others in out of the cold to break bread, gather at our table. There is enough when we share with love. Let us love what we love, and love one another with welcoming presence. We all belong. This starting place is good, enough.
Who will you invite in out of the cold to join you at table?
What lives in your heart of thanksgiving?
A wonderful poem and beautiful photo. It saddens me how often I talk with students and freinds who feel they don’t measure up. I always try in gentle ways to persuade them otherwise. Keep up your efforts!
Thank you for persuading students and friends to believe and think otherwise. I’m certain your gentleness is encouraging, and makes a difference. Blessings to you.