By: Allison Grundy
A few years ago, I searched a bookstore for the poetry book I had heard so much about: Devotions by Mary Oliver, an award-winning poet. At the time, I didn’t know much about Oliver or her work, but I just had a feeling this collection of poems would be worth reading.
Finally, I found a second-hand copy.
I didn’t know what to expect but was surprised to find that a book so rooted in faith could resonate so widely in secular reviews.
Oliver writes her poems with earnest simplicity. She repeatedly combines spiritual life with what’s tangible: prayer with an encounter in nature, praises with a bird flying by, worship with watching her dogs run in the woods.
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work,” she writes in her poem “Yes! No!”
Unlike some poets who pose unanswered questions, Oliver gives moral direction in her work by saying that we need to love, be watchful or be quiet.
“Why wonder about the loaves and the fishes?” Oliver writes in the poem “Logos.” “If you say the right words, the wine expands… Accept, too, each spoken word spoken with love.”
Simply stated, the writing beckons reflection. I’ve realized that not all meaningful things need to be complicated. Words don’t have to be dissected and torn apart to be worthwhile literature.
Simplicity is found not only in her writing style, but also her message.
Oliver’s emphasis on the ordinary is what makes her work special: the beauty of a simple life and the quiet moments of the day. This passage from her poem “Storage” captures this idea: “Make more room in your heart for love, for the trees! For the birds who own nothing—the reason they can fly.”
Jesus lived a simple life on Earth. He regularly withdrew into quiet places to pray and, in many cases, when Jesus talked to His Father, He uttered simple prayers. “Not as I will, but as you will,” we read in Matthew 26:39 NIV, and “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” He prayed in Luke 23:34 KJV. Even “Jesus wept” in John 11:35 shows how weeping, perhaps even silence, can be a prayer of its own.
Oliver never got a degree, never married and never talked about a specific Christian denomination or doctrine that she followed. However, her work is rich in biblical allusions and an emphasis on prayer.
Whether or not Oliver intended to align with Christ’s example, her writing echoes the spirit of it: acknowledgement of need, expression of gratitude and longing for something outside of herself.
In her poem “The Gift” she put things plainly: “Love still as once you loved, deeply and without patience. Let God and the world know you are grateful. The gift has been given.”
Oliver’s poetry is rooted in a profound sense of gratitude.
In Matthew 13:16 NIV, a verse can remind Jesus’ followers of how much they have to be grateful for: “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”
Almost as though a response to this verse, Oliver writes in her poem “It Was Early,” “Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed.”
This sentiment resonates with me because actively pursuing some form of gratitude has become an important part of my life. This is also true for Oliver, evident in her poetry, and for all of us, wherever we can find it.
