I came across this poem tonight by William Wordsworth and had to share it. He takes what I’m feeling in my heart and gives beautiful words to it. Nothing makes me happier than reading words from those who have lived before me, and seeing how they were thinking and breathing and feeling the same things that I think and breath and feel. Makes me feel connected to something bigger. Makes me realize my search to understand the great mysteries of humanity and God is not in vain…nor is it alone. We share this journey with countless souls.
Wordsworth’s poem is about the beauty of being childlike and the wisdom in choosing to remain childlike even as we grow older. I love the bit about the child being like a father to the man. I think that is where I am at this year. Even as an adult I have much to learn from the childhood Mandy. As an adult I have much to learn from my own children. I want to learn to find magic and miracles in what have otherwise been come to be known as “ordinary things.” Things like rainbows.
What kind of life would I be living if my heart has learned to stop leaping up? I might be a mature adult, but what does that gain me if my life is mundane and boring and empty and passionless? This year I’m praying for my heart to learn to leap again, as it did as a child. To get my hopes up. To expect and recognize and be smitten by miracles. To let the ordinary once again become extraordinary. To let the ultimate Artist’s creation astound me and woo me ever closer.
What ordinary things make your heart leap up? Be on the lookout.
Enjoy the poem!
My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky. So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I grow old, Or let me die! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.
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My friend Sacha and I loved singing “the rainbow connection” when we were kids! We sang it for hours!
Oh man, I used to love that song too. Still do.
My heart leaps up when I hear the gurgling giggle of my newest nephew. There is just something so pure and breath-taking about a baby’s laugh. The best part? We have no idea what it is that’s making them giggle. Oh, that we adults would feel free enough to laugh and smile without feeling the need to ‘expain ourselves’.