There were some difficult things at work last week. Worrisome things beyond my control. I am a pastor within an organization that serves adults with intellectual disabilities. My mentor (who was pastor before me) once said that he felt that part of his role was to be the least anxious person in the room at times of stress and tension.

Last Friday morning when I arrived at work, I would have struggled to be the least anxious person in the room.

In an attempt to ground myself before my colleagues arrived for the day, I asked myself—or maybe I asked God—what my response should be to the turmoil. And Mary Oliver came to mind:

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird –
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.

…

(from “Messenger”)

Ah, yes. “My work is loving the world.” And in that sense, nothing has changed. That is always a helpful, and grounding, reminder.

So I went out into the courtyard at the office, reminded myself to love the world, and then allowed the world to love me back.