I have some Super-Great News. Jan's father wants to meet Jeff. Yay!!!! One can only love Jeff, so we are on the way. I feel quite content and gratified with the news.
I have been reading Emerson today, specifically his Divinity School Address in 1838. It is easily found in anthologies, and I highly recommend it. Rilke and Emerson complement each other very well, in the recognition of, honoring, and celebration of soul.
Petra sends this gift of Rilke. What more does one need? And then, a bird flies across the sky, and all is drawn even more complete.
As Once the Winged Energy of Delight - Rainer Maria Rilke
As once the winged energy of delight
carried you over childhood's dark abysses,
now beyond your own life build the great
arch of unimagined bridges.
Wonders happen if we can succeed
in passing through the harshest danger;
but only in a bright and purely granted
achievement can we realize the wonder.
To work with Things in the indescribable
relationship is not too hard for us;
the pattern grows more intricate and subtle,
and being swept along is not enough.
Take your practiced powers and stretch them out
until they span the chasm between two
contradictions...For the god
wants to know himself in you
I especially love the last lines of this poem.
"For the god
wants to know himself in you."
May this be so, in me, and in you.