How surely gravity's law,strong as an ocean current,takes hold of even the smallest thingand pulls it toward the heart of the world.Each thing--each stone, blossom, child--is held in place.Only we, in our arrogance,push out beyond what we each belong tofor some empty freedom.If we surrenderedto earth's intelligencewe could rise up rooted, like trees.Instead we entangle ourselves in knots of our own makingand struggle, lonely and confused.So, like children, we begin againto learn from the thingsbecause they are in God's heart;they have never left him.This is what the things can teach us:to fall,patiently to trust our heaviness.Even a bird has to do thatbefore he can fly.-Rilke
How surely gravity's law,
ReplyDeletestrong as an ocean current,
takes hold of even the smallest thing
and pulls it toward the heart of the world.
Each thing--
each stone, blossom, child--
is held in place.
Only we, in our arrogance,
push out beyond what we each belong to
for some empty freedom.
If we surrendered
to earth's intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees.
Instead we entangle ourselves in knots of our own making
and struggle, lonely and confused.
So, like children, we begin again
to learn from the things
because they are in God's heart;
they have never left him.
This is what the things can teach us:
to fall,
patiently to trust our heaviness.
Even a bird has to do that
before he can fly.
-Rilke