Steadfast

Notes from a Sojourn
March 31, 2020

Steadfast

HOW IT IS WITH US, AND
HOW IT IS WITH THEM

We become religious
then we turn from it,
then we are in need and maybe we turn back.
We turn to making money,
then we turn to the moral life,
then we think about money again.
We meet wonderful people, but lose them,
in our busyness.
We’re, as the saying goes, all over the place.
Steadfastness, it seems,
is more about dogs than about us.
One of the reasons we love them so much.

Mary Oliver, 1935 - 2019
from Dog Songs

In a thoughtful note I received last week, a parishioner mentioned in passing how a relative of hers was absorbed in the task of obedience training a young dog. With the imperative of social distancing in mind, she lightheartedly – yet seriously – observed that humans may be more difficult to teach how to “sit and stay” than the puppy. I laughed out loud. She’s right.

As a dog owner myself, I was inspired to reflect on the quiet beauty of my dog’s life by turning to Mary Oliver’s collection of poems Dog Songs. Her poem “How It Is With Us, And How It Is With Them” explores one of the many reasons people like dogs: steadfastness.

Although my restless and prodigal self roams distant lands in search of the next thing I think I want, my dog waits patiently for me at home, ready to bowl me over whenever I return. I’m what she wants. Steadfast. Resolute. Unwavering. What a gift.

Colin+