This has been a mantra for several years. And living in Minneapolis these past few months a daily touchstone. There has been beauty and terror here and the directive to just keep going important when the daily onslaught triggered a freeze response.
Yes, Diane: beauty and terror. Such a hard winter. Here in Saint Paul, ICE not as visible but every bit as insidious. And yet, inspiring in the way neighbors came together to support each other, to help the community. None of us were strangers. And thank you, Padraig, for your visit when we needed it most. Your words brought solace as we grieved Renee Good’s death.
I was born and raised in Mpls. I now live across the river in North Hudson, Wi...which I still consider a Twin Cities suburb. (My apologies to those of you Wisconsinites who find that a bit of heresy.) The helicopters are making multiple flyovers everyday and night as though to remind us that we are not far from Minneapolis and that they have their eyes on us, too. I drive through Mpls and I stand with others who are concerned in Hudson street corners as a reminder to ICE that we will not bend nor break.
See the beauty, see the terror but continue on our chosen journey. Thank you for this reminder, Padraig.
Hudson is part of the Twin Cities community. I’ve always believed that. Such a beautiful town. I’m sorry to hear about the helicopters. We have our own regular sites here, certain days for each one. It continues. But it will end.
Yes, and I echo Mary’s response. It WILL end. The World Democracy report says that no government can sustain power once 3.5% of the population is in the streets protesting. There will be a U-turn. Saturday, March 28 is the next No Kings Day. Time for more people to stand with you on all the street corners and witness. One preacher recently cited the contrast of the Palm Sunday King who enters Jerusalem seated on a donkey, compared to Pontius Pilate, who entered the same weekend on the other side of town, mounted on a war horse. What an echo of history. One sign for this weekend might say: We Are Here and We Give a Shit!
These lines really struck home, at a time when I have been struggling to find a way to be in the world that both nourishes me and gives something of service back:
“… You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me…”
Too often, I have put myself at the bottom of my own ‘to do’ list, always thinking that there were more important things that needed my time and energy. This has only amplified recently, with so much that is dark and threatening in the world, so that tending to my own desires feels like indulgence. Only slowly have I come to the realisation that not honouring myself and my potential may actually be dishonouring whatever being or power enabled my existence to come about in this time and place. So maybe I need to spend less time rationalising why I do or don’t “matter” and more attention to the practice of “embodying” whatever that higher power may wish to manifest through me.
And once again, I come back to these words from Pablo Neruda as a guide for this work:
It is so difficult to find that balance you are seeking Anne and I very much relate to the feeling that the woes that are clamoring for our attention need more tending than ourselves. I love your realisation about dishonoring whatever power holds us in its palm. So lovely. Thank you.
Glad it resonated, Lisa Marie. I've been wrestling with this for a long time but finally feel I am making some headway. I managed to bundle my thoughts into a poem which I hope to share on my own substack shortly...
I also think we are being further derailed in trying to balance both elements in our lives by the deliberate ongoing attempts to keep us in a state of uncertainty, which saps our energy and agency to make change happen. I just read an interview with the writer and activist Rebecca Solnit, who makes exactly this point:
“The politics of chaotic spectacle, disinformation and outright untruth leaves you endlessly trying to prove gravity, your own priorities derailed. The pattern is similar to that in an abusive relationship… The purpose is to lock you into the engagement so that it becomes your reality.”
“Flare up like a flame and make big shadows I can move in.” Don’t be afraid to occupy and fill space and time, to DO the things you long to do. The Creator depends upon the Creation for the capacity to act.
“Just keep going. No feeling is final.” Since December I found I have a wonky gene and will have 2+ surgeries and multiple screenings. I was bereft. In January my son and daughter in law lost their housing and suddenly needed a secure place to live. We are building a mutual aid relationship as we make plans to build them a permanent home on my land. In October I didn’t have a clue how different -in the best way - my life would become.
"Don't let yourself lose me". Recently I had a few moments of an amazing warm glow in my chest. An experience that I chose to interpret as that of unconditional love. The feeling was very expansive, unleashed from any external or internal relationships. I still wonder, was this warmth, sense of full peace, an awareness of this life force that we all are filled with, as well as animals, trees, and on and on? An unnamed life force that we humans often name as the divine, God, Allah, Yahweh, so many names and traditions. And I can imagine this life force whispering to each of us "Don't let yourself lose me", for I love you, am you, am All of this Universe. And, can I remember this when I gaze at another person, saying to myself "Don't let yourself lose me". Me to you, and you to me. We. "don't let yourself lose We."
"Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror." Speaks to me of the times we live in. The beauty of my neighbors, the beauty of meals shared and of my children and their children. But the terror of living and working in the capital city theses days. The terror of neighbors losing jobs without notice. I find comfort in the reminder that beauty and terror travel together and probably always have.
Cheryl, thank you for reminding us of the terror imposed on government employees for purely ideological fantasies. Thirteen years ago I was accepted into a Federal job after an IT career, mostly in telecomm companies. I had heard for decades about ‘entitled and lazy employees’ in government. What an awakening! The dedication to mission and work ethic in our Federal agency was inspiring. If there was a need to reduce labor costs due to valid budget concerns, an intelligent approach would have been to notify agency heads and allow them to prioritize programs, consolidate, etc. Instead, employees were randomly let go because the DOGE geniuses didn’t think the names of their departments had value. What a travesty! I’m retired now, but was able to contribute to a group assisting cut Federal employees.
I am from Germany and I've read Rilke in German. He is one of the few authors that don't work for me translated. The translation is brilliant, fitting but I just need to read him in German. Thanks for sharing though. May all of you find islands of peace and creativity in your lives.
Thanks for your kind words. It's never too late to learn a language and reading Rilke is a great motivation 🤗 I don't think it's a general rule that meaning gets lost in translation. Most translation from German to English and vice versa are wonderful and translators are artists in my mind. However, there are certain people who use language in a very special way, that cannot be translated. To me, Rilke is like that. On the contrary I enjoy Erich Fried's poetry both in English and in German.
“Flare up like a flame and make big shadows I can move in.” The way a fire can do, get big all of a sudden, and the idea that shadows are both shelter and space. We need each other - one burst of energy creates room for others to move and act and be.
As a pastor who walks with people in challenging times, the line "No feeling is final, don't let yourself lose me" is a message, or rather maybe a state of being, that I would love to be able to give as a gift to all those who face challenges and struggle to see the pathway ahead. Powerful stuff for sure.
Patricia Smith Joined my high school poetry class last week and we were discussing that I write the word courage at the top of my whiteboard at the beginning of each class. She was then asked by a student what emotion she tends to feel most often these days. And if there are cycles or eras of emotions. Patricia Smith said that anger is one that tends to come up for her a lot. So I underlined the word rage in the word courage. The beginning of the word courage comes from the Latin word COR, which means heart. Heart rage.
What do I long for? A world where mistakes are accepted and forgiven, where people are instinctively kind to, and assume the best in each other. So Rilke says to me to go beyond, to stretch my limits almost to breaking point in my kindness, my forgiveness and my looking on others as equals.
Wow, yes, the lines “Nearby is the country they call life./ You will know it by its seriousness./ Give me your hand.” really grab my attention. This feels like a supremely loving ‘warning’ that what’s coming has previously-unknown levels of both vitality and solemnity, and then the assurance (/invitation) we won’t be alone, the Divine “walks with us silently out of the night.”
Ann, I reacted to the word “serious” as well. As someone who has always been way too serious about everything I try to view the world and my place in it lightly.
Early this morning I heard my mother's voice call my name. (She died in 2011.) I asked her why she called me, and later today I read this post which quoted Rilke. I had pulled "Rilke's Book of Hours" from my shelf last night, thinking it would be good to read it. Just now I opened the book, and there was my mother's address label, with an arrow pointing to my name, proving she had given her book to me. Now I know why she called me this morning....Mystery abounds in our amazing world!
Marian, yes mystery and serendipity. Padraig has spoken about Rilke’s work with Mark Burrows and others at The Poet’s Corner for three years now. I think you can access the talks on you tube https://youtu.be/fkprVP1w4zo?si=Ma5SqwH0nKB_tXg2.
"Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final."
This helps to remember to be open and that there is variability in feelings and I need not feel
stuck. Change comes.
oh yes ! absolutely perfect!
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going.
This has been a mantra for several years. And living in Minneapolis these past few months a daily touchstone. There has been beauty and terror here and the directive to just keep going important when the daily onslaught triggered a freeze response.
Yes, Diane: beauty and terror. Such a hard winter. Here in Saint Paul, ICE not as visible but every bit as insidious. And yet, inspiring in the way neighbors came together to support each other, to help the community. None of us were strangers. And thank you, Padraig, for your visit when we needed it most. Your words brought solace as we grieved Renee Good’s death.
I was born and raised in Mpls. I now live across the river in North Hudson, Wi...which I still consider a Twin Cities suburb. (My apologies to those of you Wisconsinites who find that a bit of heresy.) The helicopters are making multiple flyovers everyday and night as though to remind us that we are not far from Minneapolis and that they have their eyes on us, too. I drive through Mpls and I stand with others who are concerned in Hudson street corners as a reminder to ICE that we will not bend nor break.
See the beauty, see the terror but continue on our chosen journey. Thank you for this reminder, Padraig.
Hudson is part of the Twin Cities community. I’ve always believed that. Such a beautiful town. I’m sorry to hear about the helicopters. We have our own regular sites here, certain days for each one. It continues. But it will end.
Yes, and I echo Mary’s response. It WILL end. The World Democracy report says that no government can sustain power once 3.5% of the population is in the streets protesting. There will be a U-turn. Saturday, March 28 is the next No Kings Day. Time for more people to stand with you on all the street corners and witness. One preacher recently cited the contrast of the Palm Sunday King who enters Jerusalem seated on a donkey, compared to Pontius Pilate, who entered the same weekend on the other side of town, mounted on a war horse. What an echo of history. One sign for this weekend might say: We Are Here and We Give a Shit!
“go to the limits of your longing.” Wow; so hard and scary to do that.
Yes. This can be hard and scary to do.
These lines really struck home, at a time when I have been struggling to find a way to be in the world that both nourishes me and gives something of service back:
“… You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me…”
Too often, I have put myself at the bottom of my own ‘to do’ list, always thinking that there were more important things that needed my time and energy. This has only amplified recently, with so much that is dark and threatening in the world, so that tending to my own desires feels like indulgence. Only slowly have I come to the realisation that not honouring myself and my potential may actually be dishonouring whatever being or power enabled my existence to come about in this time and place. So maybe I need to spend less time rationalising why I do or don’t “matter” and more attention to the practice of “embodying” whatever that higher power may wish to manifest through me.
And once again, I come back to these words from Pablo Neruda as a guide for this work:
“And something ignited in my soul,
fever or unremembered wings,
and I went my own way,
deciphering
That burning fire…”
No feeling is final.
It is so difficult to find that balance you are seeking Anne and I very much relate to the feeling that the woes that are clamoring for our attention need more tending than ourselves. I love your realisation about dishonoring whatever power holds us in its palm. So lovely. Thank you.
Glad it resonated, Lisa Marie. I've been wrestling with this for a long time but finally feel I am making some headway. I managed to bundle my thoughts into a poem which I hope to share on my own substack shortly...
I look forward to reading it!!
I also think we are being further derailed in trying to balance both elements in our lives by the deliberate ongoing attempts to keep us in a state of uncertainty, which saps our energy and agency to make change happen. I just read an interview with the writer and activist Rebecca Solnit, who makes exactly this point:
“The politics of chaotic spectacle, disinformation and outright untruth leaves you endlessly trying to prove gravity, your own priorities derailed. The pattern is similar to that in an abusive relationship… The purpose is to lock you into the engagement so that it becomes your reality.”
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/mar/25/rebecca-solnit-slow-revolution-far-right-cannot-tolerate
“unremembered wings.” Beautiful. How about that for embodiment of the soul?! Wonderful thoughts, Anne.
Thanks, Kate! I so love that phrase...
“Flare up like a flame and make big shadows I can move in.” Don’t be afraid to occupy and fill space and time, to DO the things you long to do. The Creator depends upon the Creation for the capacity to act.
I love the idea of us making a shadow god can move in. I expected the opposite image.
“Just keep going. No feeling is final.” Since December I found I have a wonky gene and will have 2+ surgeries and multiple screenings. I was bereft. In January my son and daughter in law lost their housing and suddenly needed a secure place to live. We are building a mutual aid relationship as we make plans to build them a permanent home on my land. In October I didn’t have a clue how different -in the best way - my life would become.
Debra, indeed keep going, keep sharing and supporting your clan and enjoying the adventure of being alive. Wishing you healing, peace and joy.
"Don't let yourself lose me". Recently I had a few moments of an amazing warm glow in my chest. An experience that I chose to interpret as that of unconditional love. The feeling was very expansive, unleashed from any external or internal relationships. I still wonder, was this warmth, sense of full peace, an awareness of this life force that we all are filled with, as well as animals, trees, and on and on? An unnamed life force that we humans often name as the divine, God, Allah, Yahweh, so many names and traditions. And I can imagine this life force whispering to each of us "Don't let yourself lose me", for I love you, am you, am All of this Universe. And, can I remember this when I gaze at another person, saying to myself "Don't let yourself lose me". Me to you, and you to me. We. "don't let yourself lose We."
You have brought this line so alive for me. I am with you: in these times especially we need to not lose We.
Gorgeous reflection here, David. That glow, was it during meditation? What a moment to embrace...
David, your reflection is that very Life Force whispering! Thank you.
"Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror." Speaks to me of the times we live in. The beauty of my neighbors, the beauty of meals shared and of my children and their children. But the terror of living and working in the capital city theses days. The terror of neighbors losing jobs without notice. I find comfort in the reminder that beauty and terror travel together and probably always have.
Cheryl, thank you for reminding us of the terror imposed on government employees for purely ideological fantasies. Thirteen years ago I was accepted into a Federal job after an IT career, mostly in telecomm companies. I had heard for decades about ‘entitled and lazy employees’ in government. What an awakening! The dedication to mission and work ethic in our Federal agency was inspiring. If there was a need to reduce labor costs due to valid budget concerns, an intelligent approach would have been to notify agency heads and allow them to prioritize programs, consolidate, etc. Instead, employees were randomly let go because the DOGE geniuses didn’t think the names of their departments had value. What a travesty! I’m retired now, but was able to contribute to a group assisting cut Federal employees.
The line give me your hand.
You are not alone, you have support
I am from Germany and I've read Rilke in German. He is one of the few authors that don't work for me translated. The translation is brilliant, fitting but I just need to read him in German. Thanks for sharing though. May all of you find islands of peace and creativity in your lives.
I have so often wished that I could read Rilke in German. Languages are so singular and translations can never fully relate the original meaning.
Thanks for your kind words. It's never too late to learn a language and reading Rilke is a great motivation 🤗 I don't think it's a general rule that meaning gets lost in translation. Most translation from German to English and vice versa are wonderful and translators are artists in my mind. However, there are certain people who use language in a very special way, that cannot be translated. To me, Rilke is like that. On the contrary I enjoy Erich Fried's poetry both in English and in German.
“Flare up like a flame and make big shadows I can move in.” The way a fire can do, get big all of a sudden, and the idea that shadows are both shelter and space. We need each other - one burst of energy creates room for others to move and act and be.
As a pastor who walks with people in challenging times, the line "No feeling is final, don't let yourself lose me" is a message, or rather maybe a state of being, that I would love to be able to give as a gift to all those who face challenges and struggle to see the pathway ahead. Powerful stuff for sure.
Patricia Smith Joined my high school poetry class last week and we were discussing that I write the word courage at the top of my whiteboard at the beginning of each class. She was then asked by a student what emotion she tends to feel most often these days. And if there are cycles or eras of emotions. Patricia Smith said that anger is one that tends to come up for her a lot. So I underlined the word rage in the word courage. The beginning of the word courage comes from the Latin word COR, which means heart. Heart rage.
Love this unique way of looking at courage—cour. Rage
Wow wasn't aware of this. Thanks.
Wow, heart rage, I did not know that, fascinating.
' go to the limits of your longing.' -
What do I long for? A world where mistakes are accepted and forgiven, where people are instinctively kind to, and assume the best in each other. So Rilke says to me to go beyond, to stretch my limits almost to breaking point in my kindness, my forgiveness and my looking on others as equals.
Wow, yes, the lines “Nearby is the country they call life./ You will know it by its seriousness./ Give me your hand.” really grab my attention. This feels like a supremely loving ‘warning’ that what’s coming has previously-unknown levels of both vitality and solemnity, and then the assurance (/invitation) we won’t be alone, the Divine “walks with us silently out of the night.”
Ann, I reacted to the word “serious” as well. As someone who has always been way too serious about everything I try to view the world and my place in it lightly.
Early this morning I heard my mother's voice call my name. (She died in 2011.) I asked her why she called me, and later today I read this post which quoted Rilke. I had pulled "Rilke's Book of Hours" from my shelf last night, thinking it would be good to read it. Just now I opened the book, and there was my mother's address label, with an arrow pointing to my name, proving she had given her book to me. Now I know why she called me this morning....Mystery abounds in our amazing world!
Marian, yes mystery and serendipity. Padraig has spoken about Rilke’s work with Mark Burrows and others at The Poet’s Corner for three years now. I think you can access the talks on you tube https://youtu.be/fkprVP1w4zo?si=Ma5SqwH0nKB_tXg2.