"The Gift," by Mary Oliver

Be still, my soul, and steadfast.
Earth and heaven both are still watching
though time is draining from the clock
and your walk, that was confident and quick,
has become slow.

So, be slow if you must, but let
the heart still play its true part.
Love still as once you loved, deeply
and without patience. Let God and the world
know you are grateful. That the gift has been given.

+ Mary Oliver

Gratitude is a theme threaded through virtually all of Oliver’s work, in one way or another, explicit or implicit. At its heart, the way of life to which she often calls her readers is, among other things, a grateful life. And in this poem, she concludes with the dazzling suggestion that the act of gratitude itself is part of what makes or “completes” a particular act of gift-giving, so that, indeed, “the gift has been given.” In other words, without thanksgiving, all we have is mere possession, or “use,” or theft, or entitlement, or taking a thing, as we say, “for granted.” In this sense, the more thankful we are, the more gifts appear in our lives, all around and within us.

Happy Thanksgiving!