Serendipity

Even during Lent, serendipity can surprise and gratify us.  This morning I received an email from a bookstore in Oxford, Mississippi (I'd ordered a book from the shop a few years ago and was added to their mailing list).  The lead story in their newsletter was about the late poet Mary Oliver, who was clearly beloved and admired by readers despite being looked at as less than serious by the poetry establishment because she wrote about things like nature and God.  The piece was admiring and ended with this poem by Oliver:

Praying
It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

 a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway

 into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

If you're having trouble praying during this Lent, I encourage you to read and ponder Mary Oliver's words, which should liberate you and get you on your way to talking with God.

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