Once the World Was Perfect
by Joy Harjo
Once the world was perfect, and we were happy in
that world. Then we took it for granted. Discontent
began a small rumble in the earthly mind.
Then Doubt pushed through with its spiked head.
And once Doubt ruptured the web, all manner of
demon thoughts jumped through.
We destroyed the world we had been given for inspiration,
for life. Each stone of jealousy, each stone of
fear, greed, envy, and hatred, put out the light.
No one was without a stone in his or her hand.
There we were, right back where we had started.
We were bumping into each other in the dark.
And now we had no place to live, since we didn’t know
how to live with each other.
Then one of the stumbling ones took pity on another and
shared a blanket. A spark of kindness made a light.
The light made an opening in the darkness.
Everyone worked together to make a ladder.
A Wind Clan person climbed out first into the next world.
Now, follow them.
Everyone is carrying a light that was given to be shared.
This version of Joy Harjo’s poem is from Crazy Brave: A Memoir, published 2012.
For the version published in 2015 in Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, go to
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/141846/once-the-world-was-perfect.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light
by Jan Richardson
Blessed are you
who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify
to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
who bear witness
to its persistence
when everything seems
in shadow
and grief.
Blessed are you
in whom
the light lives,
in whom
the brightness blazes—
your heart
a chapel,
an altar where
in the deepest night
can be seen
the fire that
shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith
in stubborn hope
in love that illumines
every broken thing
it finds.
From Jan Richardson’s poetry collection Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons.
Also available at Jan Richardson’s blog post https://adventdoor.com/2014/12/12/advent-3-testify-to-the-light/.
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Photo image of the North America Nebula taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, February 10, 2011.
For more information on the image and the North America Nebula, go to
https://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/image/ssc2011-03b-north-america-nebula-disappears.
