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md wheatley's avatar

Bucolics is so fire

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Devin Kelly's avatar

an all time great by an all time wonder

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John Mark's avatar

Devin, thank you for writing such a beautiful meditation on this poem. I love the poems in Bucholics so much. I love the familiarity, the playfulness, that the speaker addresses the divine with. There is familiarity and love, but also wonder and curiosity in these poems which open up my heart.

Your words on devotion, your journey with it as well as your observations of devotion in the world, also open up my heart. An absolutely beautiful thing to read this morning. Thank you .

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Devin Kelly's avatar

thank you always, John. Appreciate you deeply.

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Ann Collins's avatar

The freedom to adore. It’s what we have. Thank you, Devin.

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Devin Kelly's avatar

thank you for reading, Ann

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Priscilla Stuckey's avatar

Omg, Devin, I love this so much. All of it.

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Devin Kelly's avatar

thanks always, Priscilla!

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Amanda Wald Rachie's avatar

Thank you so much, Devin, for this sublime and earthy meditation that reads like music.

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Devin Kelly's avatar

thank you, Amanda!

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dhd's avatar

Yes, sometimes we wrap ourselves in the vitriol of politics, casting about for a solution that perhaps doesn't exist, when devotion/kindness/care in our lives might suffice. The pope lived a good life and may we all, in our way, be there for others.

"you’re up to something Boss

you’re like a treetop there

against the sky a wave

you’re like a neighbor Boss"

Thank you for a great poem!

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Cass Freeland's avatar

Loved this so much. Thank you for reading it out loud.

"Imagine all the things that exist at once, and how they are so many, and how they are so beautiful." This, and how to appreciate their beauty, juxtaposed with all the trouble in the world.

"We build our house to make room for the questions, rather than to keep them out. It is every question that we are devoted to. It is every question that upholds our belief. Without asking anything, we believe nothing. Is that you, is that you? I believe it is." I loved your reflection on religion. I gave up on organized religion nine years ago, much of the dogma before that. I have told more than one person that your Sunday morning reflection is pretty much my religion right now. A lapsed or recovering Catholic also, I get the nod to "I believe it is" there. When I was a communion minister at a church I loved where there were no special people, one parishoner would reply to "the body of Christ" with "I believe it is." I thought of her immediately when I read this.

"Devotion, a kind of display of longing and curiosity and the beautiful grace of belief, seeks companionship in doubt, I think." I have always loved the concept of devotion but not considered it closely enough. Thank you.

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Karin Andersen's avatar

"so many of us care about the same questions. Questions of justice and questions of power and questions of meaning and questions of grace." It's such a comfort to my soul to read your essays and also to be reminded of just this.

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ElizaLou's avatar

Thank you for this meditation. You draw the reader along so gently and beautifully and yet the point, the conclusion, if you want to call it that, that you bring your reader to is powerful and elegant. As a lapsed Catholic herself, who turned away from a doctrine I found repressive, especially as a woman, I am still enthralled by a quiet church as it brings me a stillness that I cannot often find in other places. Thank you 💚

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