This line touched a nerve last week
So I'm sharing the place from whence it came
Last week, I shared with you my thoughts on having reached the second half of life — on losing my ambition, and finding something deeper.
That essay touched a HUGE nerve. And in it, I mentioned the poet Max Ehrmann’s advice: to “gracefully surrender the things of youth.”
Today, I’d like to share with you more of the poem from which that line comes. It’s called Desiderata. It won’t take long to read, yet you’ll probably think about it all week:
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“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself…
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism…
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth…
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.”
by Max Ehrmann
If “Desiderata” spoke to you, I’d love to hear which line, which piece of advice, struck you most?
Please, leave a comment below! And if you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that here, too.
At a discussion in a friend’s cabin recently, the word “faith” came up, and I simply stated that I have faith, and another friend said he did also, but my friend who owned the cabin went into a talk about only believing in provable things. As we were at his cabin, the other friend and I let it drop. What was apparent to me, though, was that he equated the word faith with a belief in the supernatural, and that is not my belief system. I believe in the natural. I’m comfortable saying that I believe in God, but my god is really the Universe, not a supernatural being. I was thinking on a hike just yesterday that what I truly have is trust. I trust in the Universe, in the way it is, the way it was, the way it will be. That to me is faith.
Then just this morning I read the Ehrmann poem you sent, and this passage hit home:
“And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.”
Thank you for that.
Thank you, Susan, for sharing this simple, yet profound poem - and thank you for sharing your thoughts.
This stanza spoke to me:
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
Beautiful. To me, it says “be in peace.”