Grace follows Sadhana

Each of the past eleven mornings, I've read one poem by Mary Oliver. Just one from her "Why I Wake Early."

I find that eating just one at a time allows me to really savor the flavor, take the rhythm of that one poem in and really hear it, let it echo for a day. It helps that each poem is a gem, this morning's "Have You Seen Blacksnake Swimming?" closing with the image of the snake's "usual gentleman's smile." Each one makes me want to jump around, reminds me to go outside and soak it in.

The theme in yoga yesterday was that "grace follows sadhana." Practice, devotion, commitment brings grace in its wake. This fits in so well with the recent focus on resolution as the year comes to a close and a fresh opportunity presents itself.

But also it puts me in mind of Mary Oliver. Each of these delicious poems I am enjoying in the mornings is the result of so much devotion and singular focus, that shining bit of grace on the page no accident but the happy consequence of a poet's constancy in pursuit of her vision.