Something to say

The wise speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.  -Plato

Plato’s warning haunts all of us who teach, write, or speak.  Which of us has something to share with the world that might be meaningful, loving, helpful, liberating, empowering, enlightening?  Still, the cardinal virtue of courage moves us to share the infinite varieties of Truth, Beauty, and the Good when we encounter those riches in our lives. 

In my email signature line, I have two quotations that daily remind me to see brilliant glimpses of eternity in the mundane – those commonplace, yet fully divine, gifts to us all:  moments, persons, animals, insects, plants, trees, rocks, stars, sentences, words. 

Writes the Sufi poet, Rumi:

Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.

And, the American poet, Mary Oliver, encourages her readers:

Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

I have much to learn about genuinely paying attention

And, I want to tell about my astonishment.  And be grateful for it.