Cheney & Company - 2002 Calendar

2002 Calendar

Do geese see God?

Fun with palindromes

Last year's calendar

January 2002

Dear Friends,

For the last several years the Unitarian Society of New Haven has held an annual service around Thanksgiving inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day,” which concludes: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? The minister chooses 10 individuals, each representing a different decade, to reflect about what they will do and have done, what they hold dear and how they have changed their minds. On a bright November Sunday, Molly Stevens, age 9, stepped up on a box behind the lectern and started this year’s testimonials. The personal
stories poured forth: A teenager spoke of the choices that lie ahead; the 29-year-old man talked of getting “serious” with his life; a 50-something reflected on a life half lived, of surviving cancer and resetting priorities. Finishing the sequence, Madeline Erskine, age 91, strode up onto the platform with her erect posture and wry humor and enthralled the assemblage with the plans and dreams she has for the time to come. The end of the year was almost upon us; as individuals and as a congregation we looked forward, we looked back.

Do geese see God? In that place of worship I was moved by the marvelously revealing and varied commentaries. Each story, so specific to the teller and a moment in time, nevertheless carried a theme common to the others: the necessary life ingredient of play. To imagine, to reflect, to dawdle, to just be—ungoverned by time or outcome—these are values deemed essential by people of all ages who allow themselves the luxury to go beyond the mandated obligations of everyday life.

Are we not drawn onward to new era? The events of 2001 have shadowed our lightheartedness, and to some it seems self-indulgent to focus on anything other than productivity and serious issues. But the uncertainty, anger and grief that have limned our conscious lives, I believe can be healed through the creative process, which is nurtured by playing. One of the pleasures of the week at Cheney & Company is our weekly tea. Each Thursday afternoon we all put down our work and spend an hour enjoying each other’s company. The time is filled with chocolate and shortbread, laughter, relaxation, birthday celebrations, small talk and noodling. During one such session, when we were exploring ideas for our 10th Cheney & Company calendar, one of our wordsmiths noticed that 2002 is a palindrome, and we knew we had stumbled upon the theme for this year’s calendar.

A man, a plan, a canal, Panama! Derived from the Greek word palindromos, or “running back again,” palindromes are fun and challenging word play. They remind me of Pushmi-Pullyu, the beloved character in the Doctor Doolittle stories. Metaphorically, the middle of the palindrome is this moment, poised between the past and the future. As we wait for the new year to turn from the old, remember not to dwell on what has come before without balancing your life with some “recess” and dreams of tomorrow.

What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Peace be with you.
Carol