Friends, I bring glad tidings! It turns out there is some great utility to social media. I learned from a friend’s post that the Boston Symphony was about to finish its sweeping production of Beethoven’s symphonies. Lo and behold, the last ticket in the last section for the last performance was waiting for me, and now the echoes of the extraordinary Ode to Joy are ringing in my ears, and my eyes are all misty from the powerful emotions it stirs.

This in turn brings to mind the poem below, one I originally encountered through the wonderful Elizabeth Lesser at the Omega Institute.

ODE TO THE JOYFUL ONES, BY THOMAS LUX

Shield your joyful ones.    

         – from an Anglican prayer

 

That they walk, even stumble, among us is reason

to praise them, or protect them—even the sound
of a lead slug dropped on a lead plate, even that, for them,
is music. Because they bring laughter’s
brief amnesia. Because they stand,
talking, taking pleasure in others,
with their hands on the shoulders of strangers
and the shoulders of each other.
Because you don’t have to tell them to walk toward the light.
Because if there are two pork chops
they will serve you the better one.
Because they will give you the crutch off their backs.
Because when there are two of them together
their shining fills the room.
Because you don’t have to tell them to walk toward the light.

 

Dear ones, whether percussion or poetry or pork chops,

I wish us joy.