The Beauty of the Earth

In this time of pain and uncertainty, we encourage you to look up. Although it’s not always easy to see, God loves us all. He loves us through the kind actions and words of others. He loves through the beauty of our earthly home. Its beauty inspires and comforts us...as seen in the poetry of Robert Frost and E.E. Cummings.

A Prayer in Spring

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees,

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,

The which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which it only needs that we fulfil.

Robert Frost, 1874 - 1963

when faces called flowers float out of the ground

when faces called flowers float out of the ground

and breathing is wishing and wishing is having —

but keeping is downward and doubting and never

- it's april (yes,april;my darling)it's spring!

yes the pretty birds frolic as spry as can fly

yes the little fish gambol as glad as can be

(yes the mountains are dancing together)

when every leaf opens without any sound

and wishing is having and having is giving —

but keeping is doting and nothing and nonsense

- alive;we're alive,dear:it's(kiss me now)spring!

now the pretty birds hover so she and so he

now the little fish quiver so you and so i

(now the mountains are dancing,the mountains)

On when more than was lost has been found has been found

and having is giving and giving is living —

but keeping is darkness and winter and cringing

- it's spring(all our night becomes day)o, it's spring!

all the pretty birds dive to the heart of the sky

all the little fish climb through the mind of the sea

(all the mountains are dancing;are dancing)

e.e. Cummings 1894-1962

© 1923, 1925, 1926, 1931, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1940 and 1944-1962 by E. E. Cummings. © 1961, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968 by Marion Morehouse Cummings. © 1972-1991 by the Trustees for the E.E. Cummings Trust. Reprinted by permission. From Complete Poems, 1904-1962, by E.E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage. Used with the permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation.