"When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world."
"Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every
thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would create new religions overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead, the stars come out every night and we watch television.
This extraordinary time when we are globally aware of each other and the multiple dangers that threaten civilization has never happened, not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand years. Each of us is as complex and beautiful as all the stars in the universe. We have done great things and we have gone way off course in terms of honoring creation. You are graduating to the most amazing, stupefying challenge ever bequested to any generation. The generations before you failed. They didn’t stay up all night. They got distracted and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every
moment of your existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. You couldn’t ask for a better boss.
The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer. Hope only makes sense when it doesn’t make sense to be hopeful. This is your century. Take it and run as if your life depends on it."
holy moly.
and then of course there is this bit:
...can you feel your body? Stop for a moment. Feel your body. One septillion activities going on simultaneously, and your body does this so well you are free to ignore it, and wonder instead when this speech will end. You can feel it. It is called life. This is who you are.
yup. i think are bodies are pretty damn "perfect" indeed. as are paul's words.
8 comments:
WOW... i just got chills... amazing, poignant.
thank you for sharing
Every time I read that I find something new I love. Glad you love like I did!Have a great holiday weekend Meg!
thank you. feeling a little weepy today, and this brought more tears (which I've come to appreciate as another reason why my body is perfect...) I have drops of salt water that form somewhere inside of me and come out as evidence that I can actually feel something. Every tear is a miracle.
This was just what I needed to read this morning. Yesterday was so brilliantly disastrous, that waking up seemed like a chore. Now, I'm just going to keep repeating to myself, "every day is a miracle."
Just letting you know I tagged you on my blog!
Meg, I just read Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, on your recommendation, and I really loved it. It inspired me. Thank you. :)
oh wow i loved this. so much.
wow
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