November 11th, 2010
As we celebrate our United States veterans today, let us reflect on the uniquely human qualities of courage, hope and gratitude that help guide us all through life’s most challenging journeys.
“Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.”- Michel de Montaigne
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”- John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Today, let us also be reminded that acts of courage and heroic deeds come in many shapes and sizes. At the recent 2010 Women’s Conference in Long Beach, California, First Lady Maria Shriver invited the prolific poet Mary Oliver to read “The Journey.” This poem below reminds us that while helping others in need, we must also remember the one life closest to home…
Enjoy, and a Happy Veterans Day to all!
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.
- Mary Oliver
