In her poem “Sometimes,” Mary Oliver writes:
Instructions for living a life:a
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
It strikes me that Mary Oliver and the Apostle-evangelist John may be kindred spirits.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, the apostles were awake (well, mostly) to experience firsthand, through their senses, his presence in first century Palestine.
They basked in the astonishment of fellowship with Jesus, which revealed to them who God is and who they were.
Finally – and this is crucial – their joy was made complete in the telling of the story.
This is the heart of our identity as Christians and as “Ignatians” – people attentive to “God in all things,” who stop and savor the wonder of it all, and who rejoice in sharing it with others.
What is keeping me from paying attention to God? What has astonished me lately? With whom can I share my noticing?
—Katie Davis is a former member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and JVC Magis currently working as a Chaplain and Religious Studies teacher at Saint Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. She serves on the Advisory Board for Jesuit Connections in Chicago and the Chicago Women’s Team for the Ignatian Spirituality Project.
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