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“Teach the children. We don’t matter so much, but the children do. Show them daisies and the pale hepatica. Teach them the taste of sassafras and wintergreen. The lives of the blue sailors, mallow, sunbursts, the moccasin-flowers. And the frisky ones–inkberry, lamb’s-quarters, blueberries. And the aromatic ones–rosemary, oregano. Give them peppermint to put in their pockets as they go to school. Give them the fields and the woods and the possibility of the world salvaged from the lords of profit. Stand them in the stream, head them upstream, rejoice as they learn to love this green space they live in, its sticks and leaves and then the silent, beautiful blossoms. Attention is the beginning of devotion.”
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3 Comments
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Oh wow Polly. This morning on BBC Radio there was a Thought for the Day given which included a quote from Mary Oliver. I had not heard of her …. but the message was all about paying attention to NOW and the beauty it encapsulates.
So a few hours later I open your Blog and find this!
Thank you so much….. and with love.-
Author
She’s one of my favorite poets. She passed on last Thursday. Check out her book Devotions. https://pollycastor.com/books-of-poetry-ive-been-enjoying/. Also, if you type her name in the search bar on my blog you’ll find me quoting her poems rather often. Xxxx
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I’m the mom of three grown sons: Matt, 44, Zach, 41, and Josh, 38. I send them “mom’s thought for the day” notes now and then. Just sent the “attention is the beginning of devotion”. I told them that even at their advanced ages, it’s still my duty to guide them. I’m happy to have been able to send this idea to them today. Thank you for sharing with me. Jeanne Baumgartner Lenexa, Kansas
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