Today is poet William Stafford’s
birthday. In “The Way It Is,” William
Stafford says:
There’s a thread you
follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
Love is the thread. The joyful love which makes us who we are:
beloved and cherished children of God. The
tender and tenacious love in which there is “no condemnation” and from which there
is “no separation.” The healing love which
restores us amid brokenness and forgives us after failure. The transforming love which turns fear to
compassion and anger into a passion for justice. The reconciling love which makes strangers
into friends and enemies into companions.
beloved and cherished children of God. The
tender and tenacious love in which there is “no condemnation” and from which there
is “no separation.” The healing love which
restores us amid brokenness and forgives us after failure. The transforming love which turns fear to
compassion and anger into a passion for justice. The reconciling love which makes strangers
into friends and enemies into companions.
To be sure, things change. We inflict hurt and get hurt. Tragedies
happen. Time passes. Death comes. But
we’re never lost and never alone. We have the thread, and we won’t ever let go.
happen. Time passes. Death comes. But
we’re never lost and never alone. We have the thread, and we won’t ever let go.
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