Thank you, Mary, for your kind words here. I'm a bit overwhelmed, to tell you the truth. Yes, I've had a few challenges along my journey but I never thought of them as very significant in the scheme of things, you know, compared to what others have had to deal with. So I'm happy and surprised to know that anything I've shared here has given you something more to think about.
In these later years of my life I have found myself having a deep desire to search for deeper understanding and meaning. So, I'm grateful for you as well because your writing has inspired me to do just that.
I have, of course, read some of Rilke's poetry, but I didn't know about his "Letters to Young Poets".
I've briefly looked it up and can see that I need to read that. Although it's meant for the young, it's probably not too late for me to benefit from the wisdom it contains.
I really appreciate your willingness to open up the discussion on this comment section. It's helpful to me and I'm sure to others as well. I look forward to reading what you post next week. Peace be with you.
Sorry to be late in responding to this essay. We were leaving on a 10 day road trip and I read it before we left and wrote this first paragraph, but so much more begged to be said about your essay that I decided to wait until we returned. Now you can see I’ve added a second paragraph.
1) Mary, this piece, your thoughts, were so profound and moving, and desperately needing to be said, especially now. Kathleen’s story is tragic, enraging, and inspiring. I’m sure it speaks to so many who are going through a similar health crisis whether personal, or that of a family member or close friend. These last couple of years have caused great anguish for many due to conflicting feelings about the virus and the vaccine. I suspect that many deeply regret the choices they made to comply with mandates that made no sense to them. Kathleen chose to give in to pressure at first, but she showed that it wasn’t too late to still emerge victorious. Although she was not able to extend her life, she came through as her own strong, courageous, free and true self in the end. All things considered, I’d say she lived a “full” life, not in the traditional sense, but her example shows us that there’s more than one way to live a full life. Thank you, Mary, for sharing her story. I will definitely pass it on.
2) In reference to the part about Gnosticism, I related to this given my Catholic upbringing. I never knew anything about the Gnostic Gospels until so much later in life. If only we had been taught that the way to know God was to go inside your own self. Back in my day, we all accepted what the Church dictated to us, what was considered moral, its interpretation of the word of God, what was a sin and what was not and we didn’t dare to question the hierarchy (the experts), at least not out loud. As a result, many people made decisions for their lives following those dictates and lived unhappy lives, or did course corrections some where along the way, but it wasn’t easy.
Fortunately, I was able to shrug all that religious indoctrination off later after being dismissed from the convent for not being compliant enough and have, since then tried to become my own person. That hasn’t been easy either because I doubt myself constantly. This whole crisis that we have lived through these last few years has turned me into a major skeptic though after all that’s happened and the loss of my brother. Now I try to listen to myself first.
I have to laugh now, years ago I used to tell my mother, “Mom, you don’t have to put that doctor, or that priest, or that nun on any pedestal. You could stand up to them any day.” (I should have taken my own advice.) And the sad thing about my mother was that she died early (69) from medical malpractice during surgery.
Thank you, Mary for taking on these far-reaching, deep issues.
Thank you for sharing this, Mary. It is exquisitely beautiful to read of Kathleen and painfully familiar to the story one one of my dear friends, who passed two years ago this month. I recognize the joy of existing in this life with someone so special, who listened to what she *knew* in the face of doubt. I am glad you knew her and am sorry for your loss of her in this realm of our existence. What a beautiful friendship you shared with her; thank you for sharing it with us.
As an aside, I've been on a bit of a Gnostic dive this year, so I'm choosing to take your writing on this in the same setting as a story that so closely mimics my friend as a little wink from her to keep digging inward. Truly: thank you.
Nodding my head and crying my tears, Mary. This is beautiful. I’m so sorry about Kathleen. Thank you for sharing. Really loved this: “I became committed to inventorying that closet. Working from the tenet that a belief deserves to become knowledge only when it is successfully put into action, I began a process I still follow: I question any hand-me-down beliefs, get rid of anything that underperforms when pressed into service, and keep the stuff that actually fits me.”
A gorgeous, poignant piece of writing!
Beautiful and powerful. Thank you, Mary.
😭🤗❤️ Thank you for sharing.
This is so beautiful. Thank you for writing it.
Thank you, Mary, for your kind words here. I'm a bit overwhelmed, to tell you the truth. Yes, I've had a few challenges along my journey but I never thought of them as very significant in the scheme of things, you know, compared to what others have had to deal with. So I'm happy and surprised to know that anything I've shared here has given you something more to think about.
In these later years of my life I have found myself having a deep desire to search for deeper understanding and meaning. So, I'm grateful for you as well because your writing has inspired me to do just that.
I have, of course, read some of Rilke's poetry, but I didn't know about his "Letters to Young Poets".
I've briefly looked it up and can see that I need to read that. Although it's meant for the young, it's probably not too late for me to benefit from the wisdom it contains.
I really appreciate your willingness to open up the discussion on this comment section. It's helpful to me and I'm sure to others as well. I look forward to reading what you post next week. Peace be with you.
Hi Mary,
Sorry to be late in responding to this essay. We were leaving on a 10 day road trip and I read it before we left and wrote this first paragraph, but so much more begged to be said about your essay that I decided to wait until we returned. Now you can see I’ve added a second paragraph.
1) Mary, this piece, your thoughts, were so profound and moving, and desperately needing to be said, especially now. Kathleen’s story is tragic, enraging, and inspiring. I’m sure it speaks to so many who are going through a similar health crisis whether personal, or that of a family member or close friend. These last couple of years have caused great anguish for many due to conflicting feelings about the virus and the vaccine. I suspect that many deeply regret the choices they made to comply with mandates that made no sense to them. Kathleen chose to give in to pressure at first, but she showed that it wasn’t too late to still emerge victorious. Although she was not able to extend her life, she came through as her own strong, courageous, free and true self in the end. All things considered, I’d say she lived a “full” life, not in the traditional sense, but her example shows us that there’s more than one way to live a full life. Thank you, Mary, for sharing her story. I will definitely pass it on.
2) In reference to the part about Gnosticism, I related to this given my Catholic upbringing. I never knew anything about the Gnostic Gospels until so much later in life. If only we had been taught that the way to know God was to go inside your own self. Back in my day, we all accepted what the Church dictated to us, what was considered moral, its interpretation of the word of God, what was a sin and what was not and we didn’t dare to question the hierarchy (the experts), at least not out loud. As a result, many people made decisions for their lives following those dictates and lived unhappy lives, or did course corrections some where along the way, but it wasn’t easy.
Fortunately, I was able to shrug all that religious indoctrination off later after being dismissed from the convent for not being compliant enough and have, since then tried to become my own person. That hasn’t been easy either because I doubt myself constantly. This whole crisis that we have lived through these last few years has turned me into a major skeptic though after all that’s happened and the loss of my brother. Now I try to listen to myself first.
I have to laugh now, years ago I used to tell my mother, “Mom, you don’t have to put that doctor, or that priest, or that nun on any pedestal. You could stand up to them any day.” (I should have taken my own advice.) And the sad thing about my mother was that she died early (69) from medical malpractice during surgery.
Thank you, Mary for taking on these far-reaching, deep issues.
Yet another beautiful and inspiring story! Thank you for bearing the torch so eloquently! Love your articles!
Thank you for sharing this, Mary. It is exquisitely beautiful to read of Kathleen and painfully familiar to the story one one of my dear friends, who passed two years ago this month. I recognize the joy of existing in this life with someone so special, who listened to what she *knew* in the face of doubt. I am glad you knew her and am sorry for your loss of her in this realm of our existence. What a beautiful friendship you shared with her; thank you for sharing it with us.
As an aside, I've been on a bit of a Gnostic dive this year, so I'm choosing to take your writing on this in the same setting as a story that so closely mimics my friend as a little wink from her to keep digging inward. Truly: thank you.
Nodding my head and crying my tears, Mary. This is beautiful. I’m so sorry about Kathleen. Thank you for sharing. Really loved this: “I became committed to inventorying that closet. Working from the tenet that a belief deserves to become knowledge only when it is successfully put into action, I began a process I still follow: I question any hand-me-down beliefs, get rid of anything that underperforms when pressed into service, and keep the stuff that actually fits me.”
Thank you Mary.