(selected passages from Aimless Love by Billy Collins)
…

In the shadows of an autumn evening,
I fell for a seamstress
still at her machine in the tailor’s window,
and later for a bowl of broth,
steam rising like smoke from a naval battle.

This is the best kind of love, I thought,
without recompense, without gifts,
or unkind words, without suspicion,
or silence on the telephone.

…

But my heart is always propped up
in a field on its tripod,
ready for the next arrow.

…

– Billy Collins (U.S. Poet Laureate, 2001-2003)

I’ve noticed the beauty of life is everywhere around us, and have reverence for the “little” things. This poem by Billy Collins speaks to me as do the lyrics of Peter Mayer in the song “Holy Now”

“This morning, outside I stood
And saw a little red-winged bird
Shining like a burning bush
Singing like a scripture verse
It made me want to bow my head
I remember when church let out
How things have changed since then
Everything is holy now
It used to be a world half-there
Heaven’s second rate hand-me-down
But I walk it with a reverent air
‘Cause everything is holy now.”

Peter Mayer, in Holy Now

Is there any thing – any single thing – which isn’t part of creation? Is there any way to look at the world without a sense of wonder, whether through the lens of religion, spirituality, or science?

Please tell me, what have you noticed today which isn’t wonder-ful?

(Out of respect for the artists, only a portion of each original passage is shown)